North Texas Daily - 2/2/17 by North Texas Daily

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Celebrating 100 years of journalism in excellence THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

VOL. 109 No. 3

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Tax freeze may lead to $2.6 million deficit by 2027

Top: Guests take their seats as credits begin for the screening of Walk With Me, one of the 43 films being shown at the Denton Black Film Festival from Friday to Sunday. Bottom: As a part of the Denton Black Film Festival, Jazz Vocalist Ashleigh Smith performs for the crowd on Saturday. Smith is a UNT graduate, returning to her stating point her as an artist here in Denton. Katie Jenkins

By Julia Falcon & James Norman On May 6, citizens of the city of Denton will head to the voting booth to vote for a special election on a property tax ceiling for citizens who are 65 and over or are disabled and have a homestead exemption, also known as a tax freeze. The tax freeze will cap how much those who qualify pay in property taxes. For example, say your home is valued at $100,000. The city of Denton’s property tax rate this year was 0.683 for every $100 – you pay 0.68 cents for every $100 your home is worth. Assuming you qualify for no exemptions, this means you would pay $683.34 in property taxes. The next year, though, if your home is revalued higher than when you bought it, you pay more in taxes. This tax freeze caps that. It “freezes” the amount paid. It means that as long as you own that property, you will only ever pay $683.34 a year in property taxes, regardless of an increase in the value of your home. Some of the concerns, however, are how much freezing taxes will cost the city over time. Initial estimates showed roughly $900,000 the first year. A figure elector co-chair Shirley Martin says is overblown. “The property tax freeze for seniors and disabled will cost the city of Denton $200,000 the first year,” Martin said. “Total budget is $114 million.” Documents posted about the issue on the city of Denton’s website, show $200,000 as a conservative estimate. By these estimates, the City of Denton will have lost $2.6 million by fiscal year 2027. Assistant City Manager Brian Langley said that all of the numbers are projections and rough estimates of what they think the financial impact could be with the tax freeze. “[The figures are] highly dependent upon growth of values each year and obviously the number of people who qualify,” Langley said. “We looked at the average annual value growth that we’ve had in those older than 65 exemptions [and disabled], that has been 3.6 percent.” The estimations were measured with an annual value growth of 2 percent. When measured at 3 percent, the deficit rises to over $4 million by 2027. Opponents worry this deficit created will shift a burden on younger generations to make up the money lost from the tax freeze. A growing senior citizen population is also a possibility. The city of Denton’s senior citizen population was at 8.9 percent in 2010. Estimations from the census bureau

SEE TAXES ON PAGE 2

IN THIS ISSUE NEWS Zipcars introduced at UNT pg 3 Zipcar expands transportation opportunities for students living on campus.

ARTS & LIFE Tree Folk pg 5 A Denton couple started an urban farm, Tree Folk, in their own backyard.

Denton Black Film Festival closes out an exciting third year By Abby Jones The annual Denton Black Film Festival, which took place from Friday to Sunday, curated a wide array of film and art for its highly-anticipated third year. “Our first year we had 800 guests, then 2,500 and now this year we were expecting 4,000 to 5,000,” festival director Harry Eaddy said. With 43 film screenings and numerous panels, performances and workshops, the festival provided a jam-packed weekend filled with entertainment and examples of black culture. “[We did] about 50 percent more events than we did last year,” Eaddy said.

Mean Green signing day pg 6 North Texas football signed 18 new recruits to the team on Wednesday during National Signing Day.

OPINION White supremacy on campus pg 8 The Editorial Board explores how the First Amendment protects white supremacy groups’ speech.

Baldwin’s memories of activists Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. The double screening at Silver Cinemas in the Golden Triangle Mall quickly sold out and was the first showing of “I Am Not Your Negro” in Texas. The documentary will hit theaters everywhere Friday. Another highly anticipated film screening was “Jerico”, which showed Saturday at Campus Theatre. “Jerico” chronicles the spontaneous adventure of two black best friends in Minnesota at the turn of the Civil Rights Movement. The political, action-packed comedy

Slam poet turns past into art By Bianca Mujica He stood in front of the microphone, his body moving to the beat of his words and his face revealing the emotions from which those words emerged. At one point, he even twerked. Daniel Garcia, an English junior and slam poet, stood tall in front of the crowd, with powerful things to say. This specific poem was about sexual assault, one of the many topics Garcia has experienced, writes about and performs. His work is metaphorical yet blunt, vulnerable yet witty. To him, the work and world of poetry is what everything else revolves around. “When I discovered slam it was a way for me to use what I liked, writing, and do what I wanted to do, speaking and get in touch with myself,” Garcia said. “The only time I really feel connected to the world is when I’m in front of a

mic. It’s where I feel human.” Despite this determination, Garcia still experiences periods where he cannot produce the work he wants. “There’s this weird thing called life and it gets in the way sometimes,” Garcia said. “If I’m not taking care of myself in small aspects it tends to snowball. If I’m sick, I can’t function. If I can’t function, I can’t work.” Born in Queens, New York, Garcia’s family moved often due to money and various job opportunities for his mother. He lived in Orlando, Florida for nine years before coming to Texas, where they continued to relocate. His family consisted of him, his older brother Franky Gonzalez and his mother. He briefly knew his father, whom Garcia described as violent, abusive and “more in love

SEE POETRY ON PAGE 4 Slam poet Daniel Garcia poses for a photo. Sasha Calamaco

Four mechanical and energy engineering seniors have created UNT’s first team to participate in NASA’s University Student Launch Initiative, where the students will launch and recover a full-scale rocket among 60 other teams from 23 states across the country. Jessica Hampton heard about NASA’s USLI competition in high school, and knowing she had to do a senior design project in college, she said her goal was to start a team to participate. She proposed the idea to friend

Karen Lindsey Smith, and after deciding Hampton would be the team leader, they gathered Luis Gonzalez, who they knew was skilled with computers and programming, and created Team Rocket. Joel Thompson was a lastminute addition to the group and was named the safety officer based on his skills and abilities. He heard about the team while on a trip with Gonzalez and Smith, and was immediately interested in becoming involved. “I’ve always been interested in getting into aerospace, and at UNT we don’t exactly have

also sold out well before its screening. “I Am Not Your Negro” and “Jerico” both seemed to evoke positive responses from audience members. “‘[I Am Not Your Negro]’ really makes you think and want to ask questions,” said Marquis Nuby of Nuby Pediatrics, one of over 15 local sponsors for the festival. “When we can listen to someone’s story without a biased mind, we can learn.” Reanna Rodas, who was volunteering at the screening of “Jerico,” is a member of the African American Association at

SEE FESTIVAL ON PAGE 5

UNT town hall meeting addresses Trump’s executive order By Adalberto Toledo

NASA and UNT team partner up to launch full-scale rocket By Haley Yates

SPORTS

When it came to creating the lineup of films, Eaddy said the festival coordinators typically curate films from other festivals across the country that are centered around black culture. This year, filmmakers were given the opportunity to submit their work for consideration to be screened. DBFF kicked off this past Thursday by screening the opening film “I Am Not Your Negro,” an Academy Awardnominated documentary based on the unfinished manuscript of renowned African-American author James Baldwin. The documentary focused on

a robust aerospace or aircraftoriented engineering program,” Thompson said. “I didn’t feel like I had anything that would impress a future aerospace employer. So when they mentioned NASA rockets, and possibly having Lockheed as a mentor, I was like ‘where do I sign up?’” Preparing for take off In order to participate in the program, each team has to draft a written proposal, giving an outline of the components going into building a full-scale rocket, and proving to NASA that the

team is capable of crafting one that will go up and come down in a designated area. They also had to provide mitigations for everything that could go wrong, like if the university were to shut down access to their laboratory. In October, Team Rocket scored 85 percent at the preliminary design review, where they outlined safety protocols, budget expenses, a timeline and a summary of how they will attempt to protect the

SEE NASA ON PAGE 2

Following protests calling for UNT to become a sanctuary campus for undocumented students, UNT President Neal Smatresk called for a town hall meeting to discuss resources the university already has in place for them. But after President Trump’s ban on seven majority-Muslim countries, the meeting turned to focus on the students with visa status who could be affected by the travel ban. “We are sorting through our understanding about this,” Smatresk said. “We strongly urge the 50 students [affected] here to not travel, or discuss [their status] with our legal office. They can help you with your current visa status.” About 300 people packed a University Union ballroom for the event, moderated by Joanne Woodard, UNT’s vice president for institutional equity and diversity. She was joined on stage by Smatresk, UNT police chief Ed Reynolds and UNT alumnus John Ting of Dallas-based law firm Ting and Tran. Ting criticized Trump’s executive order calling for the travel ban. He said it was vague and gave no notice, something Obama did when he banned travel from Iraq during his presidency. Ting also read through some bills in the Texas Congress that if passed could compel local authorities to release information about undocumented students.

SEE FORUM ON PAGE 2

NEWS Page 2

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD U.S. gets tough on Iranian ballistic missile test Iran test-fired a new ballistic missile Wednesday and has received strong response from President Donald Trump’s senior national security adviser, Reuters reported. Iran’s defense minister Hossein Dehghan said the test did not breach the nuclear deal the country set up in 2015. This is also not the first ballistic missile test since the deal was struck, but it is the first since Trump entered the White House. Trump suggested during his campaign he would stop Iran’s missile program.

ISIS using drones, other innovative tactics

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Denton may join over 200 cities freezing taxes on elderly, disabled TAXES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 show a 0.6 percent increase in that number from 2010-2015. Martin acknowledged the concerns, but said the city should feel encouraged, rather than worried, saying that the tax freeze will attract more citizens. “Why wouldn’t that be an incentive to move to the city of Denton?” Martin said. During the public hearing held on Jan. 10, residents 65 years and older came and

expressed their concerns about the issue at ballot. Some opponents argue that with the exemptions these groups are already given, there is no need for a tax freeze. “The Denton city is already generous in my opinion in the benefits it offers to senior citizens,” resident Michael Hennen said. “This would be an unnecessary tax giveaway to a small group of people who individually may not need this tax relief.”

The Associated Press visited the largest drone workshop ISIS has set up so far in the Shura neighborhood of Mosul, Iraq. Reporters uncovered accounting spreadsheets with purchases totaling thousands of dollars a month on military-grade drone equipment. But they are also testing small drones, which are normally used as playthings, with more deadly intent. Researcher and fellow at Harvard University Vera Mironova said the developments are a sign that ISIS’ program is essentially to let machines make up for a shortage of manpower.

Israel clashes with Jewish settlers resisting eviction Israeli police clashed with Jewish settlers Wednesday that were resisting the eviction of a wildcat outpost in the West Bank northeast of Ramallah, Agence France-Presse reported. The clash happened hours after the government authorized 3,000 new homes in other West Bank settlements. Other minor clashes broke out as hundreds of settlers were escorted out of the Amona outpost by security forces. After Trump’s election Israel issued a series of approvals for new settler homes in the West Bank, further encroaching on Palestinian territory.

CORRECTIONS In the vol. 109 issue 2 edition North Texas Daily, published on Jan. 26, 2017 we reported Candice Adams had her scholarship offer revoked by the University of Texas at Austin after injuring her knee. This was incorrect. A coaching change occurred at UT prior to Adams enrolling, and she then de-committed and came to UNT. The Daily regrets the error. In the vol. 109 issue 2 edition of the North Texas Daily, published on Jan. 26, 2017, we mistakenly reported that Fernanda Ramos was the first and only person in Conroe, Texas to attend college. This was not factual. The Daily regrets the error.

Business Adam Reese | Director 940-565-4265 adam.reese@unt.ed Adela Francis | Advertising Director 940-565-3989 adela.francis@unt.edu

Faculty Advisor Gary Ghioto | 940-891-6722 gghioto@gmail.com

To pitch a story, or contact the Editor-in-Chief, please email northtexasdaily@gmail.com

Larry Wilson and Shirley Martin, two of the electors that helped push through the tax freeze petition, say they are confident it will pass in May. Their petition received almost 9,000 signatures, surpassing their initial goal of 5,000. James Norman

As of 2016, there are 18,297 properties that qualified for homestead exemption out of 27,857 single family homes. There were 6,874 properties that qualified for the over 65 exemption, and 260 properties qualified for the disabled exemption. Resident Alfred Sanchez told the council that he believes each generation should provide for each other. “Because people that lived here in past generations felt it was important enough to provide for the next generation, I feel the same way,” Sanchez said. “I’m 65 years old and it’s my responsibility to provide for the next generation. I believe we as baby boomers should take the same responsibility instead of acting like ‘we don’t have to pay for the next generation.’ That isn’t America.” Langley also said that if a person receives a freeze depends on the circumstance. “Someone who gets a tax freeze may decide to sell their home, or they may pass away and it goes to a spouse or the spouse

sells the home,” Langley said. “We estimated conservatively at 2 percent but also 3 percent because it’s less than those numbers. We don’t know exactly what the value will be. There could be someone moving out of the city and the person moving in wouldn’t be an over 65 person who gets the freeze.” The petition, according to a Denton Record-Chronicle, interview with Don Duff, only needed six weeks to reach the amount of signatures necessary. Larry Wilson, one of the electors behind the petition, said he, along with Martin, feel very confident about it passing. The freeze has been petitioned for in 218 cities across Texas. According to Wilson, not one of them failed to pass. If this is adopted by ordinance or approved by election, it is permanent and cannot be revoked.

@falconjulia22 @jamestnorman_wl

Concerned students gather to have questions about travel-ban answered FORUM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 DACA and immigrant students Reynolds assured that UNT police do not hold any records on residential status and do not share that information. Additionally UNT police would only cooperate with federal authorities only in the event of potential terrorist activity on the campus, or unless “specifically asked to by the law.” “We don’t ask people about their citizenship, even if they are arrested,” Reynolds said. “We don’t keep these records, even if the feds asked us. It would have to go through a court order and go through the university.” But UNT students allowed to pursue their degree under Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy

remain afraid of deportation under the new administration. One student stepped to the microphone to ask Smatresk what UNT would do to fight back and be the “speaker of the unspoken.” “We don’t know what will happen if DACA will or will not be replaced,” Smatresk said. “It’s hard to react to, we don’t know the threat or what to predict. DACA is a strength, not a weakness. I favor DACA.” Smatresk emphasized his position disallows him to lobby on behalf of any public policy, as he is the president of a public institution. He said he is allowed to share information and offer his opinion as an educator and said he personally signed a letter of protest to congress on the potential repeal of DACA. “We don’t want you to be worried, we don’t want you

to be afraid,” Smatresk said. “I believe we are doing what virtually every other university has done.” He added he would like to see a “crisp, clear path to citizenship” for immigrants and will speak up for DACA students on a personal level. “I will testify to anyone who asks,” he said. But students participating in the discussion felt the president wasn’t doing enough. Many felt frustrated at the meeting and interrupted the regular f low of it to demand Smatresk answer their questions. White supremacist fliers Beginning this week f liers appeared in various university buildings espousing white supremacist beliefs. Photos of the f liers on Twitter warned students not to tear them down as the groups behind them

tended to place razor blades on the underside. UNT administrators condemned the actions and reminded students there is a system in place to post f liers on campus. Because whoever put the f liers there did not go through the proper procedure, Vice President for Student Affairs Elizabeth With said they would be taken down. “I deplore these posters,” Smatresk said. “It’s not something we tolerate or accept on campus. Posts that do not have approval will be removed. And let me just say what a shabby cheap trick it was.”

@aldot29

UNT hopefuls build rocket in NASA competition NASA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 fragile payload. This particular payload requires the team to create a bay that can house a random 4-ounce object, and make sure it survives the launch and landing. This method mimics the popular egg-drop concept many did in high school. Over winter break, the team completed the critical design review where they launched and successfully recovered a subscale model of their rocket. On March 6, they will complete the same process with their full-scale competition rocket at the final readiness review. After that, the team has until April 4 to tweak the design for the competition, which will take place at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The group’s goal is to use carbon fiber to construct the rocket, which will hopefully be funded by one of the team’s sponsors, Raytheon. But carbon fiber presents its own design challenges. “There’s an art to it, and if you do it wrong, things can go south real quick,” Thompson said. “The

rocket could potentially tear itself apart. We shelved carbon fiber for the sub-scale. Now that we have some time and we’ve been able to re-approach, and we’ve practiced everything, we’re re-exploring [using] it.” In case the carbon fiber doesn’t work, Thompson said the backup plan is to use a tubing called Blue Tube and tweak the design accordingly. Getting the help they need NASA does not provide funding for any teams competing in USLI, leaving it up to students to seek out mentorships and sponsors. Smith said she used her LinkedIn connections to gain sponsorships, reaching out to places like defense contractor company Raytheon, and aerospace company Lockheed Martin. The team also gained partnerships with the local National Association of Rocketry chapter and Dallas Area Rocket Society. “My Lockheed connection basically transferred like 30 different places in the company until I found a person willing to fund it $12,000,” Smith said. “I’m persistent. Needless to say,

I worked my butt off using my resources to get us going.” Thomas Allsup at Anida Technologies is also sponsoring the team, giving them access to his machine shop, where the four have been using a CNC mill – a robotic arm with a cutting tool that can design specifications for the model. The team used the shop for their sub-scale model and plan to use it for the full-scale model as well. The team’s mentor, George Sprague, is the outreach coordinator at Dallas Area Rocket Association and has been mentoring for 15 years, mostly with high school students participating in the Team America Rocketry Challenge, a smaller scale rocket launch competition. He said the biggest differences when working with Team Rocket are that they have more experience and knowledge than the high school students he is used to and it’s a much smaller group. “There’s an old saying: too many cooks spoil the broth,” Sprague said. “One advantage this team has is being a cohesive and small group. They can get

in contact with each other and me easily and fixes can be made quickly.” NASA requires mentors to be hands-off, so Sprague’s main role is to offer help with planning building techniques, helping find parts and explaining why and how building methods are used. Most importantly, he holds a high power level three license that gives him purchasing power to get materials the team needs access to, and Sprague has given the students access to a launch site. Team Rocket has been applying engineering concepts they have learned at UNT. The group finished their senior design one class a month ahead of schedule and is four months ahead of their senior design two class. “NASA’s schedule is pushing us so far ahead because they are treating us like actual engineering employees,” Gonzalez said. “We’re having lots of fun and learning a lot.”

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#Delaware

Four Delaware Department of Correction employees were reportedly being held hostage at a prison Wednesday.

#BenAffleck

The actor dropped out as ‘The Batman’ director this week. He starred as the caped crusader in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

#BarackObama

The former president and his family have been spotted vacationing in the Caribbean this past week.

#Beyoncé

The star announced Wednesday she is expecting twins with husband Jay-Z.

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After nine months in captivity, child abduction survivor to share story at UNT By Jackie Guererro On June 5, 2002, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped and kept in captivity for nine months at the age of 14, according to her interview with NBC News. She was returned home in Utah, to her family in March 2003. After being raped multiple times a day and abused, Smart recalls it as a “nine-month long nightmare,” during a TED talk at the University of Nevada. She thought she was going to be raped and killed the night she was captured. From what she had seen on the news in the past, she expected the worst. “Nobody survives being kidnapped,” Smart said during the talk. “Nobody ever comes home. I had never seen a happily-ever-after in a kidnapping story.” Released in 2001, the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) estimated around 2,000 kids a day are reported missing, which adds up to 800,000 children a year. Smart continues to share her story almost 15 years after her abduction in order to help these kids. According to the press release for her Distinguished Lectured Series speech, she advocates for overcoming adversity and encourages her audiences to fight back. The child abduction survivor and advocate is set to speak at UNT at 8 p.m. next Thursday in the Union Lyceum as part of the Distinguished Lectured Series. Smart published her first book in 2014 titled “My Story.” It is a memoir written by Smart and co-written by Chris Stewart, in which Smart shares her survival story. She explains how her Mormon faith helped her stay strong. The main reasons for her writing the book was to “reach out to those survivors and victims,” Smart said in a CNN interview. “It does not mean you have to be defined by it for the rest of your life. You can move on from it and can be happy.” She often shares the advice her mother gave her to her audiences. Her mother told her the best punishment you could ever give them is to be happy, to live your life, move forward

Elizabeth Smart will be the speaker at UNT’s Distinguished Lecture Series next Thursday. Courtesy and do all of the things that you want to do. Smart goes on to explain that victims “feeling sorry” for themselves and ”holding onto the past” allows the abductor to continue to steal their lives away. The victim should move forward. Journalism junior Amairani De La Sancha said Smart speaking at UNT is a move in the right direction. “Rape and abuse should never be ‘normalized,’” De La Sancha said. “We need to come together and help each other out, not just for our community, but for the world we live in.” After Smart was rescued, she said the best feeling in the world is to have somebody who loves you. She is grateful for what happened to her because of what it taught her. With her platform now, she can speak out for those who are also scared. Tickets can be purchased online at the union tickets website. Admission is free to UNT students with a student ID and guests (up to two) will pay a $5 fee. Tickets are $8 for UNT faculty, staff and alumni and general admission tickets stand at $10. Smart has started her own foundation, the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, in an effort to bring hope and stop victimization. Anyone can donate and find out more about Smart’s cause at www.elizabethsmartfoundation. org/.

Zipcars come to campus in effort to discourage cars By Celeste Gracia Zipcar now offers its ser vices to the students and faculty of UNT in an effor t to discourage bringing cars to campus. Zipcar is a car rental ser vice that provides a new way to get off campus by utilizing its website or mobile app. Gear y Robinson, director of parking and transpor tation ser vices, said the university is looking into alter native methods of transpor tation for new students. “Zipcar provides another alter native for students coming into campus, par ticularly inter national students and freshmen,” Robinson said. “This is to encourage them that they don’t have to bring a car because they have the transpor tation system and Zipcar.” Students can sign up for a Zipcar membership for an initial fee of $15, according to the Zipcar website. Students signing up online will have to wait for their Zipcard to be mailed to them, whereas signing up on the app will instantly send an e-version of the card. Zipcards are used to unlock the Zipcars by using

a scanning device located on the windshield. The keys are inside of the car. Gas and insurance are included with membership, and if a driver needs more gas, there is a gas card available for use. Before getting behind the wheel, students must request a specific time for car usage and only after requesting do they receive access to the car. Students can rent these cars at any time for hours or days, with hourly fees ranging from $7. 50 to $9. 50 and daily fees from $69 to $77. Fees var y on weekends compared to weekdays and depending on what kind of car students use. Nathan Huber, Zipcar’s field marketing manager for Texas, noted that several big universities here in Texas, such as University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M at College Station, Rice University and many others, have also par tnered with Zipcar. “Based on the success we’ve seen at those universities, it seemed like a natural fit for us to be here at the University of Nor th Texas,” Huber said. Huber explained that Zipcar pays UNT a fee for the four parking spaces reser ved

on campus. Robinson fur ther described that the parking fee Zipcar pays is the goingprice for 24/7 reser ved parking, which is cur rently $525 per parking space. Huber said the money students pay for these ser vices goes directly to the Zipcar company. UNT receives no commission. Students said they feel the ser vice targets a small par t of the student population and that its impact will be small. “It’s probably most beneficial for students like me, who don’t have a car and live on campus, because then if you have the money, you can just get into the Zipcar and go somewhere,” physics freshman Michael Brown said. “But that’s a ver y small group of students who don’t have a car, live on campus, and have enough money. It helps out marginally, but it doesn’t help out all the way.” Biochemistr y sophomore Madison Rober ts echoed Brown’s sentiments, and said she would like to see parking ser vices find solutions that benefit ever yone. “I don’t really think it’s beneficial,” Rober ts said. “[UNT parking] needs to find a way to accommodate ever ybody. I guess this was

their solution but I think what they need to do is just give us parking.” For others, Zipcar is a way to have more means of transpor tation. “I think it’s a great idea for those who don’t own cars,” said Osayi Juliet Ebolo, an inter national security and diplomacy junior. “Students most of the time want to get out at the weekends and they’re always restricted to the buses. It’s going to help them a lot.” Robinson said the feedback has been mostly positive and he hopes that the trend will continue. He said Zipcar usage has been trending upward since the semester star ted. Cur rently, there are only four cars on campus, but as the number of users grow, there will be more cars available. “I think it’s going to take a couple semesters [to catch on], according to what I’ve seen at other universities,” Robinson said.

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@gagaart1

Zipcars parked outside of the University Union. Students need to get approval by the company and pay a $15 membership before using the cars. Hourly use rate go from $7.50 to $9.50. Both gas and insurance are included with the reservation of the car. Jennyfer Rodriguez

Facilities personnel reflect back on latest master plan as it draws to an end

By Celeste Gracia

UNT’s current master plan will be renewed at the end of this year. The current master plan is the 2013 updated version. The plan outlines the university’s objectives and provides a rough sketch of how these will be met. As stated in the 2013 master plan, UNT follows “four ‘bold’ goals aimed at helping UNT provide the best education.” Former UNT president V. Lane Rawlins emphasized in the 2013 master plan that “unless the first goal – to create the best undergraduate experience – was achieved, the other three would remain elusive.” To focus efforts on this goal, five qualities to expand on in physical aspects of campus were strategized and implemented throughout the years. The first quality seeks to

preserve a “beautiful campus with green open spaces and trees.” David Reynolds, associate vice president of UNT facilities, expresses how the campus’ natural landscape takes priority in planning. “Maintaining the green nature of the campus is something we factor into all of our projects,” Reynolds said. “With the new College of Visual Arts and Design building, they’ll be fencing off the big oak trees along Welch Street to protect them. That’s a conscious part of the design: to preserve those bigger trees.” The second quality aims to improve pedestrian settings, calling for a pedestrian path to be built across campus. Construction currently underway in Clark Park will serve as a direct connection from the Gateway Center to

Highland Street. “If you’re a pedestrian walking from Gateway into Clark Park, you’ll stay on the same elevation when you cross the street,” Reynolds said. “The cars will actually have to drive up on a ramp and a table, then back down on a ramp.” However, this project is taking longer than expected because of a path that will be built across Maple Street. Reynolds explains that this is due to final coordination with the city of Denton, from which UNT must acquire permits. More improvements to the pathway are still pending. “At some point, there will be more upgrades to Highland Street,” Reynolds said. “The Library Mall already functions as part of the path, but there’ll be more improvements.”

The next quality looks to reinforce strong academic programs that are supported by quality facilities. Helen Bailey, director of facilities planning, design and construction, lists completed renovations to different buildings on campus, such as Marquis Hall and the Science Research Building, as examples of projects undertaken to complete this goal. She also evaluates the success of the new University Union, which officially opened last spring semester. “If you measure its success on being a destination for the students, it’s most certainly a success,” Bailey said. “It was disruptive to the campus community to build something right in the heart of campus, but the end result was positive. I think it’s made the campus look better and it’s

obviously loved by students.” The succeeding quality stresses vibrant student life with more housing options. The 2013 plan called for 9,653 beds to be available on campus, but Reynolds believes that number falls short. “Currently, we have a little over 6,200 beds on campus,” Reynolds said. “We’ll add another 500 with this new residence hall. The projection was for even more than that.” Reynolds gauges the success of the newest addition to housing, Rawlins Hall. “That seems to be a very successful residence hall,” Reynolds said. “The layout looks very similar to what the master plan predicted for that site. The goal was to get that done in time for students to move in by Aug. 15 and it was right to the wire.” The last quality the master

plan calls for is a commitment to sustainability. Reynolds states that this is addressed through solar panels built to power the University Union and wind turbines that give energy for the Eagle Point power grid. He also says that work with the master plan is never finished, rather it is a continual process that is always improved upon over the years. “There’s always projections that we are looking to improve and expand in the future,” Bailey said. Overseen by UNT system facilities staff, the revision process of the current master plan is set to begin late 2017 for implementation the following year.

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ARTS & LIFE Page 4

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

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Daniel Garcia’s world of poetry POETRY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

with alcohol than his family.” Self-care has often been difficult for Garcia. At 13 he began experiencing depression. At 14 he felt for the first time that he no longer wanted to live. At 17 he developed an eating disorder. He has attempted suicide three times, the last attempt being two years ago. “I’ve made decisions to address my mental health problems and actively do what I can to recover,” Garcia said. “It’s a thing I’m working on, not a thing I’m working to get to.” Gonzalez, Garcia’s 25-yearold brother who lives in Frisco with his family, said Garcia’s loud and abrasive persona simply disguises an observant and sensitive person. At a recent event, Gonzalez was performing a monologue and Garcia could be heard from the audience, yelling out support through the reading. Gonzalez said that’s his brother, in a nutshell, he will be heard. But the fondest memory Gonzalez has of Garcia came at one of the darkest moments in his own life. “He came into my room and held me very close and said ‘it’s going to be okay, I promise,’” Gonzalez said. “And I think that’s a common thread for him as a writer. It’s going to be okay, there’s always a tomorrow. It’s a beautiful memory I have of him.” At only 21 years old, Garcia and his work have seen success with the help of his brother. He wrote a play titled “Happy and Free” when he was 17, which was later produced and funded by Gonzalez. It was featured in a film festival in 2016, as was another of his plays. In addition to being a published playwright, Garcia writes nonfiction and has been

working on novels, one of which is completely in verse. He sells chapbooks, which are small pamphlets with a collection of works inside. “I’m always honing my craft, and if I’m not then I’m failing as a writer,” Garcia said. “If you’re not engaging with the written word, you’re not going to get anywhere.” When it comes to his writing, though, Garcia knows he cannot have a personal connection to everything and acknowledges what he has yet to learn. “I’m only so much aware of the world around me that it extends to here,” Garcia said, putting his finger to the tip of his nose. “So if I’m not questioning myself, I’m doing something wrong. Part of being a writer is engaging with your own writing and asking if it’s BS.” And while Garcia is critical of himself, he never attempts to write about what does not pertain to him. He said he believes it wrong to use another’s experience to prove his own point. Instead, he focuses on his own experiences. His work is personal and honest, exposing parts of himself that even those closest to him do not know. He said using the stage to express himself is empowering and liberating. “Mental illness, recovery, trauma—these are things I know inside out,” Garcia said. “So why not raise my middle finger to them and put it all down on paper? I have my time in front of the mic to say what I want to say. As poets, we speak our truth and just go from there.”

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Yoga enthusiasts Natasha Driedger and Nathan Herzog practice a yoga technique called “flying.” Eat Play Love is a two-day event focusing on empowering individuals through yoga, meditation and healthy foods. Sara Carpenter

The Rudra Center provides yogi’s with food, exercise and kinship By Cierra Edmondson Denton brings in various opportunities for creativity, diversity and artistry. Many people who stop here along their journey of life, whether for school or work, end up staying or living close by for those very reasons. Denton also knows the importance of community and kinship. Nestled in the somewhat busy hustle of Locust Street, located just off the Square, is a tribe of yogis, mentors and spiritual advisors. This spot, known as the Rudra Center, has one simple mission: to help those who are seeking guidance to find their way. “The center is a spiritual university of sorts,” said Jenny Baker, Shadow Mountain yoga-instructor and headmistress. “We have selfknowledge classes, once a month ceremonies, yoga and meditations that are open to the public.” The Rudra Center has been occupying its location since 1971. It began with Swami Rudrananda and small group of people seeking deeper spiritual knowledge and insight of self. After an inspiring speech that changed many lives, Rudrananda, or Rudi, was personally invited by the small group to come to Denton. This invitation led to the eventual establishment that is there today, known as an Ashram, or a place to study spirituality. As it happened, Rudrananda made the down payment for the two-story plantation home, which also doubles as the learning center, but left the rest to be produced and paid for by the students. “All of the money we make goes back into the center,” Baker said. “We’re just here looking at ourselves

and finding our character and we like to share that with people.” Rudrananda could not always be present, but would travel once or twice a year between Manhattan, New York to Denton. He did so until his passing in 1973. Since Rudrananda’s passing, the torch of headmaster has passed from Stuart Perrin to its current leader Robert Baker, also known as Silver Ra. He has held the space of the Rudra Center since 1978, continuing to help it flourish. And flourish it has. Not only are the grounds beautifully adorned and comfortably sheltered by trees, they are currently in the midst of expanding and adding a larger space for classes. “For me personally, the center keeps me studying,” Ra said. “There comes a point where as you learn, you eventually have to give back and teach the people around you. I use this as a platform for myself and in that process, I assist other people who are also seeking.” The Center actively looks to provide new opportunities to Denton. To provide for a larger part of the city, the Eat, Play, Love workshop celebrates a connection between individuals and the community itself. The latest event was held this past Saturday and Sunday at the Rudra Center. The two-hour event is broken down into three categories. Attendees have the opportunity to meet new people while engaging in playful yoga sequences and poses, eating healthy food and getting mini massages. Jenlyn Meyers, the mastermind behind Eat, Play, Love, began practicing yoga as a means of

reintroducing and reconnecting with herself. This curiosity would later expand into trying acro-yoga, the practice of combining yoga and acrobatics. Coming from a difficult past of connecting with others, Meyers also took it upon herself to study psychology, which created a deeper interest in people and developing her community. “When I got into acro-yoga, it was really life changing to build these positive, healthy connections,” Meyers said. “Being able to playfully enjoy the different poses and share something with someone else is what it’s all about.” Initially intended to be a short tour, Meyer hopes to develop the program into a longer workshop. The cost of a single day of the event is $25, while attending for both days is $40. “The basis behind acro-yoga is about finding your inner child and exploring that with other people,” Meyers said. “It’s also a healing art that involves learning to let go and

trusting someone to support you.” Meyers, a UNT alumna currently attending school in Corpus Christi for a Master’s degree, was accompanied by her mom for the weekend long event. “She’s been my greatest supporter,” Meyer’s said. “She helps me with demos and helps me to stay grounded.” Both the Rudra Center and the Eat, Play, Love event were meant to find one another, even if just for a single weekend. Merging into one another, the communities that help to sustain the two most certainly act as a glue. “As a self-employed healer and someone who has been doing yoga on and off for six years, this was a great experience for me,” Denton resident Rachel Scott, 32, said. “I think that having spaces like this greatly enhance the quality of a city.”

@Edmondson_C2017

Yoga enthusiast Ashlyn Mansfield posing as the “flyer.” Sara Carpenter

GET ON BOARD WITH AVOIDING THE STRESS OF HIGHWAY TRAFFIC AND CONSTRUCTION Relax and take The T. It’s predictable, convenient and affordable. GET ON BOARD WITH ROUTE 64/NORTH TEXAS XPRESS Traveling to work or to campus? The North Texas Xpressis a great option for business professionals and students. Starting in downtown Fort Worth, the route goes to Alliance and Denton, with stops at the Alliance Opportunity Center, Tarrant County College’s Hadley Center of Excellence, the North Park & Ride and the University of North Texas.

Go to www.FWTA.org/NTX to learn more!

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URBAN FARMERS CARVE OUT THEIR NICHE By Kyle Martin

In 2011, Andrea and Matt Gorham wanted to be in business for themselves while living together in their own apartment. Now, they are one of the multiple farms in Denton that provide fruits, vegetables and more to the community. In 2012, the Gorhams started their first urban farm by growing fruits and vegetables in the backyard of their Denton house, funding the project with residual income from a rented house that Matt, a young entrepreneur, leased out during the year. “We started it because we didn’t want to have chemically grown produce,” Andrea, 29, said. “We just wanted to be a part of it and know where our food comes from.” This project, which they called Denton’s Backyard Farms, was their business from 2012 to 2013. They dedicated hours to researching and experimenting with different plants, had a knack for producing and growing plants, and showed the work ethic to do hard labor. “We decided we needed a bigger farm to start a business,” Andrea said. They needed some extra help and guidance, though, being new to the farming industry. With this realization, they ditched their quarter-acre plot in Denton and

moved to a ten-acre farm in North Carolina to learn from host-farmers involved in Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or WWOOF. “We learned a lot about agriculture and how to have a better business sense through failures,” Andrea said. WWOOF is a global organization that connects volunteer farmers with varying levels of experience to hostfarmers. Host-farmers offer their expertise in organic farming and their land to volunteer-farmers in exchange for time and labor. Many invest themselves in this organization in the hopes of leaving their host-farm to fend for themselves. WWOOF has a community of 2,150 farms in America that host volunteers year round. Through WWOOF, the Gorham’s developed their skills to be able to leave their host-farm in North Carolina. After about a year with their WWOOF hosts, where Andrea and Matt volunteered their time and labor for food and housing, they decided that North Carolina was not where they wanted to start their business. “There it was kind of a race to the bottom,” Matt, 29, said. “If you had $2 tomatoes, people wanted $1 dollartomatoes.” Though they saw their time there as valuable, the Gorham’s saw an economic system in which they had no interest. They decided to return

back to the Lone Star State and start their own farm back in Denton. In 2015, after selling Matt’s rent house, they took out a mortgage on a house and began the Tree Folk farm — free from ties by a bank loan.

From the ground up Having grown up on a farm himself, Andrea’s father, Tracy Buxton, 60, said he knows what it takes to work on a farm. “You get to the end of the day and you’re tired,” Buxton said of his time past time spent working on a farm. He now works in marketing as a multimedia web developer. “I got an education so I wouldn’t have to do that for the rest of my life.” Andrea has a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech in animal science and began working with a veterinarian office after she graduated college. Matt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tech and quickly decided that he didn’t want to be a therapist because he “didn’t want to hear about people’s problems all the time.” When Andrea graduated from Tech and began working in veterinary clinics, Buxton said he noticed his daughter was not doing what she truly wanted to at that time in her life. “She was just going through the motions for someone else’s dream,” Buxton said.

The information desk at Campus Theater during a screening for the Denton Black Film Festival, with some of the 43 titles from the event gleaming behind. Katie Jenkins

DBFF continues to make an impact FESTIVAL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Lewisville High School and was excited to help integrate and celebrate black culture. “It has an impact on our history. People should know what black people have gone through,” Rodas, 16, said. A block of student short films was screened Friday. “These types of films are very educational, not just entertainment,” said Micah Autry, a 23-year-old UNT graduate whose short film screened Friday. “I think it can really benefit people to see these kinds of films and learn from them.” The DBFF staff introduced many new showcases and events in 2017. This year marked the festival’s first comedy showcase, which took place Friday and featured comedians Derrick Kenner and Alfred Kainga. New panels and workshops also allowed festivalgoers to learn directly from filmmakers and business people in the industry. The Women in Entertainment

Panel on Saturday, which featured DBFF National Chair Valeisha Butterfield-Jones, focused on female empowerment and staying true to a personal brand in a competitive industry. The Social Justice Panel, which included producers Takia “Tizzi” Green and Lyah Beth LeFlore, presented a dialogue about social issues regarding the black community. A poetry slam and two nights of open-mic spoken word rounded up the non-film components of the festival. DBFF also paid homage to UNT by headlining an alumna, Ashleigh Smith. Smith dazzled her audience at the PattersonAppleton Arts Center Saturday with her rich voice, performing jazz songs from her recent album, “Sunkissed.” Eaddy said Denton’s population size and demographic make it a perfect fit to host a film festival that honors a minority population. “We would like to be a Sundance-like festival, meaning that we bring a number of

collaboratives together and create something that’s fairly unique,” Eaddy said. “We think what would be good is to do that in a smaller venue. With the two universities, people are very open to diversity, and we think that’s a good idea to have this festival in Denton.” Eaddy appreciates the fact that DBFF, which is the largest black film festival in North Texas, differs from other film festivals. “A lot of our films are intertwined,” Eaddy said. “When you look at them, there’s a common thread. Then we look at that common thread and have discussions. I think you really have a much deeper experiential sense of who these people are. In many cases, I think the audience forgets about if the character’s black, green or pink. It doesn’t matter. They’re just looking at this quality film.”

@abbyfjones28

With his daughter and son-inlaw fully invested in the lifestyle he left behind, Buxton draws from his experience to aid the Gorham’s in their farming lifestyle. Every Christmas he sends them a new tool, a wood-chipper or a camera, to assist in developing their skills as young entrepreneurs and farmers. “You don’t give someone a fish sandwich, you teach them how to fish,” Buxton said. The Gorham’s spent countless hours on research, preparation and experimenting with the science behind farming and growing mushrooms. They spent six months on their farm before they saw a profit. Behind Andrea and Matt was family support through the time where they fought to make returns on their investment. Now, with their first year of operating under their belt, the Tree Folk are busy developing their farm into a fruitful business. Tree Folk farm The meticulous organization stands out at the Tree Folk Farm, and without it, nothing would work as it should. Among the chickens, trees, fruits, vegetables, seedlings and spores are Andrea and Matt. On their farm, everything has a place and a purpose.

Farmers Ben and Andrea stand in their building where they grow mushrooms. Colin Mitchell

On their 1.3 acre plot of land, the Gorhams have chickens, a goat named Oreo, persimmon trees, tomatoes, assorted fruits and vegetables. Most crucial to their farm right now, however, is the 40-60 pounds of specialty mushrooms they grow and sell at $6-$10 per pound to locals and local businesses around the DallasFortworth area. With these mushrooms, the Gorham’s are able to make a living. “We needed to be busy all year long, and I thought we could do it with mushrooms,” Andrea said. Andrea and Matt said they both like to produce things, which is where a dedication to farming worked in their favor. They re-purposed their home and land in order to cultivate the food they and their business survive off of. Three different rooms inside their house have been developed into labs for growing and experimenting on plants. Their home acts as a microenvironment in which they survive off the land, and the land survives with them. The Gorham’s grow varieties of shiitake, oyster, lion’s mane and trumpet mushrooms as their most popular and profitable product, which they sell a the Denton Community Market, Hannah’s Off

the Square and the Cupboard. Batches of mushrooms take anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks before they are ready to harvest. With the controlled environments designed by the Tree Folk, they are able to grow and sell high-quality, organic mushrooms year round without the aid of artificial chemicals. “We picked this spot for a reason,” Matt said. Planted on their land right now are persimmon trees, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, romaine lettuce and more. Soon, another quarter of an acre of their land will be transformed into more cultivation space for seasonal organic fruits and vegetables such as pears, blueberries, pomegranates, kale, Chinese cabbage, romaine and broccoli. They said their plan is to reside on their micro-system, developing their skills as farmers and their business in agriculture, for five to 10 years. The Tree Folk see their farm as a catalyst into a larger vision, not an end-goal. Most important to them and their business model is growing food in a manner that is both responsible and profitable. “It’s just a slower way of life,” Andrea said. “It feels better.”

@Kyle_Martin35

SPORTS Page 6

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

FROM ATHLETE TO COACH By Morgan Price Many athletes dream of competing in the Olympic games. From the gold medals and pedigree, some consider the Olympics the peak of athletics. But between highlycompetitive qualifying contests and world-renowned athletes, the chances of actually making it are slim. Rachel Friel did not get the memo. The assistant coach of the North Texas swimming and diving team has not only competed in the Olympic trials, but coached swimmers in the Olympic trials — swimmers who have gone on to compete in the Olympics. “For any young athlete, being in the Olympics is the dream, you know?” Friel said. “Even if you don’t know if that’s realistic or not for you.” Friel’s love for swimming began at an early age — and was jump started on the back of an almost tragedy. That’s because when Friel’s mother was young, she almost drowned. For that reason, she wanted her four daughters to become strong swimmers and be comfortable in the pool. So she enrolled her daughters in swimming lessons. There was just one problem. Friel’s coaches and teachers soon realized she was more talented than the rest of the kids in the pool. After swimming with a summer team, Friel moved on

UPCOMING GAMES

to club teams to begin training, and to get closer to the time standards she needed. Being so goal oriented, getting to the highest level of this sport became an aspiration for Friel. That meant training as hard as possible, and swimming and competing as often as she could to reach the Olympics. Since Friel was born in Hong Kong and moved to California at an early age, she has dual citizenship and is able to represent both Hong Kong and the United States. Friel would frequently take summer trips back to Hong Kong, and upon finishing high school, competed on their international team. In 2004, she narrowly missed out on the Olympic trials, but in 2008, she broke through and competed in the trials for both the United States and Hong Kong. “[The Olympic trials] were a great experience,” Friel said. “It was great being able to be in the same pool as [some of the greatest swimmers in the country].” When she decided to hang up her goggles, Friel graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in psychology. But not swimming made Friel feel like a fish out of water. Still wanting to be a part of the swimming community, Friel realized she could have a big impact as a coach. So she combined her love for the sport she once competed in and passion for helping others achieve their goals. In 2012, Friel coached six players at the Olympic trials.

NTDAILY.COM

Rachel Friel gets her feet wet with the Mean Green

Coach Rachel Friel stands for a por trait in the POHL Recreation Center. Kaitlyn St. Clair

When it was all said and done, two of her swimmers went on to compete in the London Olympic Games. Fast forward five years and Friel moves to Denton because of her husband’s work. She coached a local club team before getting the opportunity to serve as the assistant coach for the Mean Green. Her goal is to have an inf luence on her swimmers, like so many of her past coaches had on her. Many of her players refer to her as “Rachel” rather than

“Coach Friel,” and seem to enjoy working with a young coach they can relate to. “She’s really fun and personable,” sophomore Kathleen Rousset said. “She’s taken the time to get to know everyone and what we each need as an individual.” Interim head coach Brittany Roth hired Friel in August, and despite her being on staff for less than one year, has seen results. Roth believes hiring Friel has paid dividends for the team, and is excited about

what the future holds. “She sees things I don’t see and that’s what you want as an athlete,” Roth said. “It benefits the athletes in the water simply because if they don’t understand it from the mouth of one person, then they might understand it in the verbiage of another person.” For Friel, the opportunity to be near the water again is something she has longed for. It’s just that this time, the adrenaline will be pumping for a different reason.

Instead of her crossing the finish line, she’ll be rooting for one of her swimmers to make a splash. “Being in the pool with your teammates, working hard and accomplishing a goal, that’s where the thrill is,” Friel said. “It’s great, still being a part of it. It’s just a different kind of thrill.”

@morganprice

Friday •Tennis takes on Tulsa at 6 p.m. in Dallas. • Swimming hosts Air Force at 5 p.m. in Denton

Mean Green football inks 18 recruits on national signing day

Saturday •Men’s basketball hosts Rice at 2 p.m. in Denton. •Women’s basketball plays Rice at 2 p.m. in Houston. •Track and field travels to Wichita, Kansas to compete in the Herm Wilson Invitational.

Prior to coaching his first game at North Texas, head coach Seth Littrell had to throw together a class of new players to join the program. Littrell found 18 new players, drawing heavily on junior-college players and transfers such as Alec Morris, and then-sophomore defensive end Bryce English. This season, Littrell had his first full recruiting cycle to go out and find his next group of players. Littrell signed 18 athletes, 16 of which are coming from the high school ranks, Wednesday morning. It is a change from last year’s class, thanks in part to a Heart of Dallas bowl appearance for the Mean Green. “It’s been important for us since day one to establish a foundation with guys that have high character, that are hard workers and want to buy into our core values,” Littrell said. “There’s no doubt in my mind

MEAN GREEN QUICK HITS Men’s Basketball • Men’s basketball is on a 10-game losing streak, and has not won a game in over a month. At last place in Conference USA, the Mean Green are in danger of missing the conference tournament. • Senior guard Keith Frazier, who transferred from Southern Methodist University last spring, will not play another game for North Texas. Head coach Tony Benford confirmed this week Frazier was done for the season with sore knees.

By Clay Massey

[the staff] did a great job of going out and finding those guys.” There were two key areas, the offensive line and receiving corps, that North Texas needed to address. The Mean Green did just that and more. North Texas added five new offensive linemen. Six-footfour-inch Jacob Brammer from Richmond, Texas and Brian Parish of Arlington headline the crop. Along with them is six-foot-threeinch, 329-pound Dakoda Newman from Benbrook and Manase Mose of Euless who also eclipses the 300-pound mark. Brammer is a two-star recruit who was given all-district honors his junior season. He chose North Texas over in-state conference rival Rice University. Parish, also a two-star, was named first-team all-district 9-5A in his senior season at Seguin High School. Newman is ranked the 27th best center in the nation by www. scout.com and earned 5A all-state honors as a senior. Mose held an

offer from North Texas’ bowl opponent, Army West Point, but chose the Mean Green. Jaelon Darden from Houston and six-foot-three-inch Greg White of Riverdale, Georgia are the two high school wide-receivers that will join the Mean Green in the fall. Jalen Guyton is the third and final wide-out to join North Texas. Guyton is a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College but is originally from Allen. Guyton was a four-star prospect out of Allen High School and originally committed to Notre Dame where he redshirted during the 2015 season. He played at Trinity Valley in 2016, where he caught 45 passes for 968 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games. He will have three years of eligibility at North Texas. He is also one of three early enrollees in the class. Darden held offers from Southern Mississippi University and Virginia Tech among others and was named an All-District 16-

6A honorable mention as a senior at Eisenhower High School. “Those were the two top priorities coming into this thing,” Littrell said. “There’s no doubt in my mind I think we’ve signed a solid class, especially in those two areas. We didn’t have a lot of numbers, and guys have moved on and some are no longer with us. We just want to continue to get quality guys.” When all was said and done, the Mean Green added 10 offensive players and eight defensive players. A headliner of the defensive side of the ball is local product Tyreke Davis. Davis was a Class 5A AllState honorable mention in his senior season at Denton-Ryan High School. He recorded over 100 tackles in each of his three seasons at Ryan while playing linebacker. He is listed as a safety for the Mean Green. On the offensive side, North Texas added two running-backs and a new quarterback along with the receivers. Cade Pearson of

Texarkana is the lone quarterback of the class and is already enrolled at North Texas. Pearson was a two-star prospect, according to various recruiting websites, and started at Texas High School since his sophomore season. In three seasons, he threw for 5,707 yards, 58 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. Pearson hopes he can challenge for a starting spot immediately. “That’s my whole mentality,” Pearson said. “I came early because I want to compete in spring ball and get a head start. They all can ball and have their own talents. I believe I’m a balanced QB who’s smart and can make good decisions.” With spring ball right around the corner, the Mean Green have exactly seven months and one day to prepare for the first game of the 2017 season against Lamar University.

@Clay_FC

OPINION Page 7

NTDAILY.COM

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017

The implications of President Trump’s Muslim ban

By Tori Falcon Following the executive order put in place on Friday by President Donald Trump — titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” — there has been public outcry throughout the nation. The order put an immediate halt to granting any more visas, and it suspended entry of all refugees for 120 days, 90 days for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries and Syrians indefinitely. The following morning, the nation woke up to a multitude of people being detained at airports across the country. Confusion arose for the people who were already granted entrance and were flying to the U.S. when Trump put this order in place.

The American Civil Liberties Union created a legal case with the plaintiffs Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, who were released after several hours on Saturday. ACLU won a nationwide stay estimated to help about 200 detainees. Judge Ann M. Donnelly signed this temporary stay stating that implementing Trump’s order would cause them “irreparable harm.” Although a victory, this will be short-lived. The stay is temporary and there is no prediction of how refugees and immigrants will be affected in the future by this executive order. The ban is designed to help secure our borders and put America’s safety first. Kellyanne Conway, one of the counselors to the president, claimed all those detained are about “1 percent of the people” who entered the country yesterday, and it is simply “a small price to pay for safety.” The issue with this ban is that 15 out of the 19 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, a country not being barred. Also, none of the people who committed the terrorist attacks

on San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon or in Orlando were from these seven countries. What makes this all the more concerning is that President Trump has several business ventures in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which were not on his banned list, and the high terror risk countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan were also left off. Unsuprisingly, Democrats were outraged with the order. Protests spawned at airports throughout the nation claiming the detainees were welcome. This order is, at its core, unconstitutional as it unapologetically bans many Muslims from entry, although many are fleeing from dangerous situations. Even Trump said himself that Christian refugees would receive priority entrance when determining who will be allowed in. This statement in itself is obviously prejudiced. There is no alternate fact or separate interpretation to that. Hatred and radicalism is bred, and the message this order sends is terrifying because many of the terrorists in the U.S. have been homegrown.

Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham released a joint statement on Sunday denouncing the order as a “self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism.” The statement mentioned how some of our most important allies are the Muslims who reject the terrorist ideologies, and the order sends a message that we don’t want any Muslims in our country. Charles Kurzman, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently released a study titled “MuslimAmerican Involvement with Violent Extremism.” The report finds that attacks by jihadists accounted for only 0.33 percent of all murders in America last year, despite the heightened fear and belief that we should be more

By Gabriela Macias The first week of President Donald Trump’s administration was eventful to say the least. It was marked by executive orders and crumbling relationships. But one event that stood out was the signing of an executive order on Jan. 25, that would

with Trump in the past week over who will actually pay for it. As stated by Nieto, “Mexico will not pay for a wall.” Nieto was already under heavy pressure from the Mexican public and political elite to postpone his trip to the U.S. In response, Trump tweeted this: This was the straw that broke the camel, or as we say in Mexico, “La gota que derramó el vaso.” This pushed Nieto to cancel his visit, leaving a sea of uncertainty for Mexico and its relationship with the U.S., specifically with the Trump administration. Over the course of one week,

apply this same philosophy to refugees and immigrants who are innocent despite the acts of a few. Although it is on a different scale and a little harder to swallow, we can’t just dilute such a complex issue with an executive order band aid. It feels easy to send a percentage back, but it isn’t so simple for them. Many refugees and immigrants wish they could stay in their country with their families and culture, but find it impossible to live in peace.

There had to be something else, this idea that with a wall, Republicans could achieve something they’ve been hollering about for years: protection for their jobs. However, this project screams division and undermines years of cooperation between the two countries, even if people refuse to see it. It also declares a shift in position the United States used to have for the rest of the world, one of openness and inclusion. This wall is not only an expensive project, but it solidifies the poisonous rhetoric used over the course of Trump’s campaign. It signals a protectionism strategy that his administration has always had. But we cannot force a foreign country to pay up, and if the American government acts carelessly, they will jeopardize

a once cordial partnership between nations. This is not only an issue of national security, it’s a human issue. One that will have real consequences for people living here and abroad. This executive order highlights the xenophobia propelled by the Trump campaign, an idea that the U.S. wants a barrier from the rest of the continent. We need to reconsider the consequences it can have, and the real reasons for building a physical border. It’s not really to protect Americans. It’s simply another gargantuan monument Trump can put his name on.

@falconista

Illustration by Samuel Wiggins

Building a wall will never work start “effective immediately” on the process of building a wall along the southern border of the United States and strengthen the process of deporting unauthorized immigrants. While there is a lot of uncertainty as to the actual meaning of the executive order and how it will be carried out, one thing was clear: the intention by Trump to keep his campaign promise of building a wall. This plan has sparked tensions from both sides of the border. Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, was scheduled to visit the District of Columbia on Jan, 31. But he canceled his trip after a confrontation emerged

threatened. The ruling on ACLU’s case from Judge Donnelly claims that the removal “violates their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection.” We are a country that established due process because we thought it was better to ensure that a free man never gets imprisoned, even if it meant that some criminals walked. There should be no reason to not

we’ve seen a relationship marked by mutual respect between two neighboring countries fracture. This leaves many families and people with deep roots in both sides of the border with continuous anxiety as to what it means for their futures. Although the wall may seem like a brand new idea, it isn’t. In fact, Bush proposed such a wall during his presidency — the Secure Fence Act of 2006. And after five years and $1 billion, the project was canceled. So if this isn’t a new project and if it was proven to be defective, why are we trying it again? Why are we repeating old faulty plans that cost taxpayers billions of dollars?

@Gaby_Mac22

Focus less on political parties, more on our humanity

By Nate Jackson Why do we value our identities as left or right, liberal or conservative, blue or red, over our shared identity as Americans, or, more significantly, our singularity as human beings? In all likelihood, there are a plethora of theories and scientific complexes that could lend us

insight into all of our humanistic tendencies. But considering all of the controversy coming from the White House and the media, which has betrothed every single one of us somehow, it’s important to unpack this question and substantiate it with American history. Before the birth of America as we know it, we had some very polarizing and wise men in leadership, specifically George Washington. He was the commander-in-chief of the continental army during the American Revolutionary War. He also, reluctantly, served two terms as the first U.S. president. In his farewell address, Washington dispatched his concern of political parties: “Political parties may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course

of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” The hypothetical situation Washington warned us to pay heed to is currently characterizing politics as we know it, and has impeded our ability to progress as a country in numerous ways. We began this country opposed to the concept of a political party. The leaders of our revolution despised the idea. They knew it would lead to political anguish. Alexander Hamilton deemed them “a vice to be guarded against at all times.” Thomas Jefferson, the author of

the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, stated, “If I could not go to heaven without a party, I would not go there at all.” So with all of these Founding Fathers and their antagonistic views towards political parties, how did we end up with them anyway? It commenced with some leaders who wanted a strong central government. Those administrators coincided and formed the Federalist Party, which was the first political party in the United States. The opposing party were the AntiFederalists, who wanted the government to leave them alone and sought more local and state power. Once we pitted ourselves against each other, we embarked down a road in which there was no return. Men went to war and killed their

brothers because of what side of the Mason-Dixon line they resided on. In 1929, one of the biggest financial crises in the world occurred — the Great Depression — and at the root of it all were the Republican and Democratic parties. This opposition regarded whether or not the federal government should render aid. These political parties are self-perpetuating and have shown to be instruments of division, instead of agents for growth. Americans have always been principled people. The pilgrims, and immigrants thereafter, came here seeking freedom from oppressive governments and fear and wanted freedom to create and worship. Those are very virtuous statutes to pursue. With all of the noise and fake

social activism, we have fallen away from our original ideologies and all for the privilege to be deemed “right.” All too often, we focus on what makes us different. I’m black, he’s white, she’s Muslim, they;re Christian. Instead, we should focus on what brings us together. He’s someone’s brother, she’s someone’s sister, I’m someone’s child. We’re all human, and at our core, we’re all in pursuit of belonging. We should never let a political machine or national situation hamper our ability to recognize each other’s kinship as human beings.

@_NateJackson11

Student Service Fee Advisory Committee/Group Proposal Presentations Date: Friday, February 10, 2017 Location: Union, Room 412 Time: 8:00 AM Illustration by Antonio Mercado

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The threat of white supremacy at UNT By The Editorial Board According to WFAA, police are investigating the “white nationalist propaganda” f liers that appeared in Wooten Hall and other UNT areas this week. Featuring appalling headlines such as “we have a right to exist,” and “White America is under attack,” at least six of these f liers have been uncovered and taken down. Isaac Davis, a sophomore UNT student discovered and took a photo of one of the f liers, according to the report. He later described the signs as “shocking,” “suspicious” and saud they “could potentially be dangerous.” UNT isn’t the only American college to be plagued with this issue. Last November and December, white supremacist group American Vanguard posted similar f liers at Massachusetts’ Emerson College, Indiana’s Purdue University and the University of Central Florida. At Purdue in particular, one poster read, “Defending your people is a social duty, not an anti-social crime.” Since the message was typified by artwork of a white woman and her baby, it’s disturbingly clear how perverse this nationalist epidemic actually is. Worst of all, these posts aren’t illegal by national standards. Thanks to the seemingly f lawless First Amendment, freedom of speech is protected for the sake of all people, assemblies and white supremacists throughout the nation. In fact, the only reason an investigation can even happen is because those signs violated university policy. According to University Policy #07.012, students “are expected to

Illustration by Samuel Wiggins conduct themselves in a manner that demonstrates respect for the rights and property of others.” We are also expected to “[uphold] the integrity of the university community.” Originally issued on Aug. 1, 2003, the objective of this

policy is “to foster a safe environment conducive to learning and development.” But who would’ve guessed that almost 14 years later, the Code of Student Conduct would be invoked to prevent the dissemination of xenophobia on our beloved Mean Green?

Since similar reports began last November, it’s easy to assume that the election and inauguration of President Trump provided a gateway for groups like American Vanguard and the “alt-right” to rise. While America’s fearless

leader was wise enough to expand his slogan into “[making] America great again for everyone,” his executive order to ban Muslims and plot for an anti-immigrant wall are only worsening matters for people who aren’t white Christian males. These kinds

of nationalists on North Texan soil are simply a further step in splitting America apart. Say what you will about UNT President Neal Smatresk’s Monday letter, which declares a commitment to international students and faculty despite his refusal to declare UNT a sanctuary campus. Regardless, the letter provides at least one commendable statistic: how “our university family is greatly enriched by more than 2,500 international students from more than 130 countries.” By citing this, Smatresk reassured students that our campus has, and will continue to, turn blind eyes to any student’s “country of origin or immigration status.” Despite the threat of white supremacy, his letter is more than enough encouragement for us to continue spreading progressive thought everywhere we go. Due to First Amendment guarantees, these racist groups have something of a “right to exist.” On the f lipside, the Constitution gives us the right to speak against them in return. Hopefully, we won’t have to resort to violence in our efforts to combat this growing rebirth of proto-fascism. No matter how many people are hurt defending what’s right, racism is a cross-generational ideology that will never truly end. However, virtue will never end either. Therefore, we can exercise our right to keep that ideology moving forward.

@ntdaily

“On the last episode of America...”

Political Cartoon by Antonio Mercado

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