North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 47, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 15, 2011 Page: 1 of 6
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73° / 50°
Gift of Gab
UN r promotes second language education
Arts & Life | Page 3
Dominant Debut
Mean Green uses hot start to overwhelm Cavaliers
Sports | Page 4
Tuesday, November 15,2011
Volume 98 I Issue 47
ntdaily.com
N :• th Tex ■ ■ Daily
News % 2
Arts & Life 3
Sports 4
Views 5
Classifieds 6
Games 6
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
UNT student killed in A-train incident
Rebecca Ryan
Staff Writer
The Denton County
Transportation Authority
A-train struck and killed
Dustin O'Dell, a radio, tele-
vision and film senior, on
Friday.
O'Dell was walking south-
bound along A-train tracks
between the Hebron Station
and Frankford Road in
Carrollton
at around 8
a,m, Friday
when the
train hit
him,
"We have
no indi-
cation of
why he was
there," said Dee Leggett, vice
president of communications
DUSTIN
O'DELL
and planning for DCTA. "The
area isn't near any popula-
tion centers or busy path-
ways."
Leggett said this tragedy
should serve as a reminder
to the public that train corri-
dors are dangerous to pedes-
trians, and only designated
sidewalks or pathways should
be used when walking near
tracks.
"The train first started
running in June, and no
fatalities have occurred until
now," Leggett said. "We're
continuing to work with the
Federal Railroad Commission
to [tell] the community about
safety near railroads."
Merrie Earnest, a UNT
alumna, was aboard the rear
car of the train when it hit
O'Dell and said initially, the
passengers and conductor
thought someone had jumped
off the train.
"We were looking for
someone who had jumped off
-maybe [anotherpassenger]
saw someone fall," Earnest
said. "A couple of minutes
later I saw a conductor
looking around."
After a few minutes of
confusion, Earnest said the
train began moving again
and arrived at Trinity Mills
station soon after.
"We didn't talk about it,
and the conductor didn't say
anything," she said. "I don't
think even they knew what
happened. It's surprising to
think you can be so close to
someone's death."
See MEMORIAL on Page 2
Parking increase
eases congestion
Isaac Wright
Senior Staff Writer
Increased ridership for
the DCTA bus service and
the new A-train have helped
alleviate UNT's parking
and traffic congestion this
semester, as more students
opt to ride rather than drive
to campus, officials said.
Parking permit sales are
down by more than 6 percent
from the spring semester,
a decline that, along with
the opening of a 900-space
parking garage this summer,
has helped free up parking
spaces in permit lots across
campus, said UNT parking
and transportation director
Joe Richmond.
The combination of
increased transportation
services and infrastructure
improvements has given
commuting students more
options, he said..
"It tells me part of the
people that were driving to
campus are now riding the
shuttle," Richmond said. "We
sold less permits and rider-
ship is up on the buses. We
want that balance so we can
help reduce congestion."
Richmond said both UNT
parking garages have seen
more use this semester,
with more than 270 permits
sold.
Public transit
UNT ridership on DCTA
buses has increased by more
than 14 percent since last
year, said Dee Leggett, DCTA's
vice president of communi-
cation and planning.
Leggett said the addition
of a bus ro ute connecting the
downtown transit center to
the UNT campus has helped
push the bus service to nearly
290,000 riders this year.
"Route 9, which we imple-
mented in late August, is
now our highest performing
route," Leggett said. "We've
seen almost 50 percent more
people than we did last
September."
After a slow summer start,
A-train ridership jumped 20
percent in the first weeks of
the fall semester. She said
the train now sees about
1,500 riders disembark daily,
adding that the ridership
grew as people across Denton
became more comfortable
with the process.
"Because they now know
the routes, it's a lot easier to
make a connection," Leggett
said. "We are dedicated to the
improved effectiveness of the
transit system for both local
users and commuters."
Campus parking
Parking on campus has
also improved this semester
after construction of both
the Business Leadership
Building and the new parking
garage ended and left many
surface spaces in the center
of campus open.
See PARKING on Page 2
Y
11
m
R
1
"s*—
Photo courtesy of Thomas Graming/The (Troy, Ala.) Messenger
UNT players celebrate after defeating Troy in an NCAA college football game in Troy, Ala., on Saturday. UNT won 38-33.
ootball team wins first away game
Paul Bottoni
Senior Staff Writer
For the UNT football team,
the sixth time was the charm.
After going 0-5 in road games
this season, the Mean Green
(4-6, 3-3) earned its first
victory away from Denton,
defeating the Troy Trojans (2-7,
1-4) 38-33 in a back-and-forth
tilt Saturday in Troy, Ala.
"There's so much success
and tradition and champion-
ships here at Troy," UNT head
coach Dan McCarney said.
"To come in here and win this
game, and reach down like my
team did and show the grit,
resolve and courage; these
kids deserved this win."
The game was the first time
UNT has defeated the Trojans
on the road, as it had lost the
previous four meetings in
Troy.
In a game that included five
lead changes, UNT gained the
upper hand by capitalizing on
three Troy turnovers. The Mean
Green notched 14 points off
the three takeaways, including
a game-sealing 6-yard touch-
down run by senior running
back James Hamilton in the
fourth quarter.
"It's what we talk about all
the time," McCarney said. "We
were plus seven [in turnovers]
coming into this [game]. If you
just keep doing those things
and winning turnover margins
along with making plays, you
have a chance to win games."
Senior running back Lance
Dunbar - the team leader in
rushing and receiving yards
- injured his right knee on an
unsuccessful shuttle pass in
the waning moments of the
first quarter.
Dunbar returned but left for a
second time after being injured
again late in the second quarter.
His status for UNT's next game
is unknown.
Despite the absence of its top
offensive contributor, the Mean
Green offense posted 503 yards
- including 105 rushing yards
on 19 attempts and two rushing
touchdowns from Hamilton,
who filled in for Dunbar at
running back.
Sophomore quarterback
Derek Thompson-who suffered
a concussion against Arkansas
State on Oct. 29 - had one of the
strongest performances of his
career. Thompson completed
31 of 38 passes for 331 passing
yards, scoring three touch-
downs - two passing and one
rushing - and throwing one
interception.
See FOOTBALL on Page 4
Photo by Sydney Cannon/Intern
Biology senior Grace Cagle grabs an evening snack before class and visits with fellow Occupy John Linares. Saturday
marked a month of campus occupation for the protest.
Occupy Denton numbers climb
Dylan Rogers
Staff Writer
Occupy Denton's ranks
swelled to nearly 30 Monday
night as Denton City
Councilman Kevin Ro den was
on hand for a light discussion
of the movement's agenda and
the local issues at the heart of
the protest.
Roden and Occupy Denton
tentatively scheduled a town
hall meeting with the City
Council for Dec. L
The group used its conver-
sation with Roden to reach a
consensus on what should be
included in the agenda for the
meeting.
See OCCUPY on Page 2
',ost o college calculators
help students plan ahead
Alex Macon
Senior Staff Writer
Measuring the cost of a
college education just got a
little bit easier for prospec-
tive college students and
their families.
A provision of the 2008
federal Higher Education
Opportunity Act went into
effect late last month,
requiring nearly all public
universities in the U.S. to
have online links to "net
cost calculators" to help
incoming students and their
families estimate the cost
of college.
The calculators provide a
way for potential students
to weigh their options as
they consider universi-
ties, said Diane Cheng, a
researcher at the Institute
for College Access & Success,
a nonprofit that studies ways
to make higher education
more affordable and avail-
able in the U.S.
"They can be very valu-
able tools," Cheng said. "A
lot of times [without the
calculators] you wouldn't
know until very deep into
the process how much you're
paying for an education."
UNT's Student Financial
Aid and Scholarships office
gives its own estimates of a
15-hour academic semester
at UNT, taking into account
tuition as well as factors
like room and board, books
and supplies, and whether
a student lives on or off
campus.
The office's estimate for an
in-state student taking a full
course load for an academic
year at UNT ranges from
about $18,000 for a student
living at home with his or her
family to about $20,000 for
a student living off campus
in Denton. UNT students
from out-of-state pay about
$9,000 more on average. "We
think students should be
looking at net price, which is
certainly increasing," Cheng
said. "Given the increasing
cost of tuition, [the calcula-
tors] can give these students
and families a sense of those
costs much earlier in the
process."
UNT's financial aid
website also links to the
Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board
college cost calculator,
which takes a student's
family's income and parents'
marital status into account
before producing an esti-
mate.
See CALCULATE on Page 2
Volleyball team falls in season finale
Sports | Page 3
Inside
Perry's memory shouldn't be voters' biggest concern
Views | Page 5
Student researches homeless health issues
Arts and Life | Page 3
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Pherigo, Josh. North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 47, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 15, 2011, newspaper, November 15, 2011; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth209201/m1/1/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.