Black Knights will fall from the sky at the Mean Green’s final home football game Nov. 21 at Fouts Field. What are the Black Knights?

A. Free discs with a new computer game.
B. The West Point Parachute Team.
C. Candy provided by a Dallas manufacturer.
D. Firecrackers dropped by U.S. Navy fighter jets.

The correct answer is B, the West Pont Parachute team, right, which is scheduled to land, with the game ball, on Fouts Field before the 3 p.m. Mean Green versus Army football game. 

The team is scheduled to practice landing, weather permitting, on the field from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Nov. 20.

• Find a video of the Black Knights jumping at West Point on Veterans Day.
• Learn about 11 a.m. Nov. 21 groundbreaking ceremony for the new football stadium.
• Buy tickets to the game.

The team was founded in 1958 by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Henmar “Gabe” Gabriel. At the end of his plebe year at West Point, Cadet Gabriel, class of 1961, wrote the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division and asked for permission, as an ex-member of the division, to participate in parachute jumping and training for sky diving at Fort Bragg during his leave. His intent was to start a Cadet Sport Parachute Club.

Ten cadets formed the nucleus of the club, all airborne qualified. Non-commissioned officers assigned to West Point included many airborne soldiers who wanted to stay qualified to jump. So, a Sport Parachute Club was formed for all serving ranks.

To win a free UNT T-shirt gift pack, send an e-mail with the word “Army” in the subject line to inhouse@unt.edu by 5 p.m. Nov. 25. The winner will be selected at random from all e-mails received.

The Black Knights team is composed of 36 cadets from the United States Military Academy. Cadets join the team during their plebe, or first, year and train six days a week with coaches from West Point's Department of Military Instruction. The team competes at the national and collegiate level in several parachuting and skydiving disciplines, provides demonstrations for the academy and the surrounding community, and jumps the game ball into Michie Stadium for every Army home football game.

The Other Side of the World, A tribute choral concert for Frank McKinley, right, Professor Emeritus of music who helped build the vocal studies program,will be at 8 p.m. Nov. 17, in the Winspear Performance Hall of Murchison Performing Arts Center.

• Buy tickets: www.theMPAC.com or 940-369-7802.

Known by his students as “Mr. Mac,” McKinley led the A Cappella Choir for more than 30 years. During that time, he built one of the strongest choral departments in the nation. Under his direction, the choir repeatedly performed throughout the United States and Europe.

McKinley, who died Oct. 23, 2008, was professor of music from 1940 to 1947. Following service in World War II and a brief stint at Kentucky Wesleyan College, he rejoined the faculty in 1947. He continued teaching and conducting until retirement in 1980.

Food, a festival, movies and a debate are scheduled during International Education Week, an annual event sponsored by UNT-International.

International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education, celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange. Programs prepare Americans for a global environment and attract students from other nations to study in the United States and exchange experiences with U.S. students. Left, Japanese calligraphy at the 2008 week.

• Learn more about the Ang Lee Film Festival.
• Enter to win a copy of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future, the 2009-10 One Book, One Community selection. Send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu  with “Debate” in the subject line by 5 p.m. Nov. 13. Winners will be selected at random from all responses. Coal and energy sources will be the subject for a debte at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 19 in the General Academic Building, Room 104.

Other scheduled events include:

Nov. 12, 3 to 5 p.m.
H1-B Seminar with Attorney David Swaim – Career Center, Chestnut Hall, Room 120 A-B. Co-sponsor: Tidwell, Swaim & Associates, P.C. and UNT Career Center

Nov. 14, 5 to 9 p.m.
Diwali Festival 2009, India Students Association, Auditorium Building; purchase tickets at orgs.unt.edu/isa or International Welcome Center, Information Services Building, Room 286. Diwali is the annual Hindu festival of lights, a harvest festival and a celebration of the triumph of good over evil.  Find photos of Diwali celebrations around the world.

Congratulations to this week’s randomly selected winners who responded to last week’s InHouse prize giveaways.

• Jordan Smith, research compliance analyst, Office of Research Services
• Marie Bloechle ,electronic acquisitions librarian, UNT Libraries
• Lisa Ayala, accountant, Payroll
• Christina Spurgeon, accountant, Payroll
• Virginia Fisher, undergraduate academic advisor, College of Engineering
• Billi Gravely, DARS coordinator, Registrar
• Dana McBride-Sachs, billing and safety coordinator, Health and Wellness Center
• Mary Roby, accountant, Student Accounting and University Cashiering Services
• Mariya Gavrilova, graduate research assistant, Learning Technologies

Winners are randomly chosen from all responses. Prizes include UNT T-shirt gift packs and free tickets to concerts, sports and other campus activities that are generously provided by event sponsors and departments.

InHouse is the electronic newsletter that is always online and is regularly updated with news about events and strategic activities at UNT. The formatted version is emailed to faculty and staff each week, usually on Wednesdays. Click on headlines, which link to continuously updated postings, to find the complete article and its links to related information. Find occasional updates at www.twitter.com/InHouseUNT.

One of UNT's missions is to be green and support environmental education for ages five to 95. What does the university have that uses solar power, captures rain water, provides a habitat for insects and animals, and is green all over?

A. The Mean Green Machine
B. Boomer
C. The Spirit Bell
D. My Green Play Office

The correct answer is D. My Green Play Office is a sustainable play house located in the Elm Fork Education Center's Outdoor Environmental Learning Area. The play house incorporates the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design principles.

To win a free UNT T-shirt gift pack, send an e-mail with the word “Play House” in the subject line to InHouse@unt.edu by 5 p.m. Nov. 6. The winner will be selected at random from all e-mails received.

My Green Play Office was donated by the Red River Rodeo Association to the Hearts and Heroes fundraiser auction held in the University Union Sept. 18. The eco-friendly play house was purchased at the auction and gifted to the university by President Gretchen M. Bataille and Denton attorney Robert Widmer.

My Green Play Office will be used by groups at the Elm Fork Education Center. Brian Wheeler, above left, assistant director of the center, says, "We will use the play house in our camps like the Go Green camp to teach middle school-aged students about sustainbability."

The play house uses solar power to run the lights, weather vane and water barrel pump. It has a green roof that absorbs less heat which lowers the temperature inside and around the building. The roof garden also provides a habitat for insects and animals. The house's water collection system works by collecting rain in a barrel which can be used for landscaping and gardening. Collecting rain water also reduces excess runoff into the storm drain system and conserves the supply of drinking water.

"There will be a good view of play house from the second floor windows in the ESSAT building," says Wheeler. "It offers a way for the Elm Fork children to learn about ways to help our environment while they play."

For more information about My Green Office or the Elm Fork Education Center's programs, contact Wheeler.

Jeffrey P. Fegan, right, CEO of DFW International Airport, will give a free lecture titled “Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport – The World Connected” Nov. 6 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in the University Union, Golden Eagle Suite, as part of the College of Business Distinguished Lecture series.

As the facility's chief executive, Fegan is responsible for making sure that the airport runs as smoothly as possible for the more than 5 milion passengers and other customers who pass through each year. His talk will give an overview of the airport, the board’s strategic plan for the airport and all of the different facets of the airport as a business.

Fegan’s talk will expose the university community to opportunities in the aviation industry. UNT also recently announced plans to be the first public, four-year university in Texas to offer a bachelor’s of science degree in aviation logistics. That program will begin in fall 2010.

Contact Julie Willems-Espinoza, external relations director, at 940-369-8442 or julie.willems-espinoza@unt.edu.

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with films and a festival.

Nov. 5 - The documentary film Spiral of Fire, produced, directed and edited by Carol Cornsilk, right, lecturer in the Department of Radio, Television and Film, will be shown at 7 p.m. in Radio, Television, Film and Performing Arts Building, Room 184.

Cornsilk, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, will introduce the movie and answer questions after the screening.

The movie is about the Eastern Band of Cherokees’ fusion of tourism, cultural preservation and spirituality that helps the tribe maintain its identity in the 21st Century. Spiral of Fire is the second part of Cornsilk’s Indian Country Diaries series. She produced the series with her company, Adanvdo Vision, in conjunction with Native American Public Communications in Lincoln, Neb., where Cornsilk was director of programming and production.

Nov. 9 - Drumming and Dancing, Native American Cultural Event will be at 12 p.m. in the University Union, One O’Clock Lounge. Presented by the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Texas, the event will feature traditional drummers and dancers from Across Indian Country, a performing group. Left, a dancer at  the 2008 indigeneous student video conference held at UNT.

Nov. 10 - The film, Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School, will be shown at 4 p.m.
in the University Union, Multicultural Center Office, Room 216. Told from a Native American perspective, the documentary uncovers the history of the U.S. government’s policy toward Native Americans, which included taking children from their homes and families and forcing them into boarding schools. Former educators and students from these schools give voice to Native American children forced through a system designed to take away their culture, heritage and traditions.

After the screening, a discussion about the film will be led by Jonathan Hook, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

The founders of EcoArtTech, a digital art program to call attention to environmental issues, will launch Fluid Frontier and WaterWays 2010 with a free lecture at 7 pm. Nov. 4 in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building, Room 125.

Cary Peppermint and Leila Christine Nadir will lead a discussion about their works; how digital art can be used to get the public to think about the relationship between nature and technology, and how art, literature, philosophy, ecocriticism, computer science and ecology can create interactive ecoart.

Fluid Frontier and WaterWays 2010 is a year-long exploration of the environment as a personal, geographical and cultural experience. WaterWays 2010 is the third international biennial water conference, organized by the UNT Philosophy of Water Project. The theme of WaterWays 2010 is rivers and cultures, with a focus on the Trinity River.

A major shared program is the hosting of visiting EcoArtTech artists who will be in residence at the College of Visual Arts and Design. The artists will focus on the Trinity River Basin in North Texas. Fluid Frontier and WaterWays 2010 will conclude March 3- 5 with an exhibition and conference.

David E. Blockstein, left, senior scientist with the National Council for Science and the Environment, will discuss “Climate Change: Science and Solutions,” from 2 to 3 p.m. Nov. 2 in Chemistry Building, Room 253. Blockstein’s free lecture is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the graduate program in environmental science.

The council is a nonpartisan organization of scientists, educators, environmentalists, business people, and policymakers working to improve the scientific basis of environmental decision making.

Blockstein joined the council, then the Committee for the National Institute for the Environment, in 1990 and was its first executive director. He led an effort to develop a proposal for a National Institute for the Environment, which gained the support of more than 500 universities, scientific, business, government and environmental organizations and was subject to congressional legislation and hearings.

Films by Oscar winner and Taiwanese-born director Ang Lee, left, will be screened and discussed during International Education Week, Nov. 16-20. The films selected for the festival are all part of Lee’s exploration of generational and cultural conflicts among Taiwanese parents and their Americanized children.

International Education Week, a joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education, celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide by promoting programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attracts students from other nations to study in the United States and exchange experiences with U.S. students.

A panel discussion will follow the Nov. 20 film, Eat Drink Man Woman. Panelists will be Harry Benshoff, associate professor of radio, television and film; Kevin Heffernan, adjunct faculty at UNT and associate professor of cinema-television at Southern Methodist University; and Don Staples, professor emeritus of radio, television and film. 

These films will be shown at 7 p.m. in the University Union, Lyceum:

• Nov. 16: Pushing Hands (Tui shou) — In this 1992 release, a retired Chinese tai-chi master moves to New York to live with his son's family. His presence leads to a family struggle between cultural tradition and the modern American lifestyle.
• Nov. 18: The Wedding Banquet (Xi yan) — This 1993 flim features a gay Taiwanese-American man whose parents pressure him to marry, so he marries a Chinese girl who needs to marry an American citizen to obtain a green card. Complications arise when the young man’s parents arrange a huge banquet to celebrate.
• Nov. 21: Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nu) — Released in 1994, this film focuses on a chef in Taipei with three adult daughters. Life revolves around the ritual of an elaborate dinner each Sunday and the love lives of all of the family members.

Lee also has directed Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hulk and Brokeback Mountain, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director. 

Contact UNT-International at 940-565-2197.

(Photo courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.)

American Book Award winner Janisse Ray, left, will give a free reading at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 in the University Union, Silver Eagle Suite A.

Ray’s 2000 award winner,  Ecology of Cracker Childhood, combines memoir with natural history in an examination of the complex relationship between rural communities, poverty and ecology. Ray, a Georgia native, is the author of another memoir, Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home and Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land.

Ray’s visit is part of the Department of English Visiting Writers Series and the 2009-10 One Book, One Community program. The program is an annual yearlong reading discussion focusing on a theme. This year’s selection is Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future by Jeff Goodell, who spoke at UNT Oct. 6. 

Contact Corey Marks or 940-565-2126 or Ruby Al-Qasem, creative writing assistant, or 214-240-5682.

(Photo courtesy of Milkweed Editions, MInneapolis.)

KNTU was launched Nov. 3, 1969. Come celebrate their 40th anniversary Nov. 6 in the Gateway Center, Ballroom. What were some of 1969's top songs and artists?

A. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In -The 5th Dimension
B. Get Back - Beatles
C. Honky Tonk Woman - Rolling Stones
D. All of the above

The correct answer is D, all of these songs and artists. The 5th Dimension, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones all had hit songs in 1969. You can stroll down the 1969 Billboard hits. 

To win a free UNT T-shirt gift pack, send an e-mail with the word “KNTU” in the subject line to InHouse@unt.edu by 5 p.m. Oct. 30. The winner will be selected at random from all e-mails received.

Join KNTU to celebrate their 40th anniversary at 6 p.m. Nov. 6 in the Gateway Center, Ballroom. Hors d’oevures will be served and the One O’Clock Lab Band will perform beginning at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $30 per person and must be reserved by 5 p.m. Oct. 30. Call Russ Campbell, KNTU general manager, at 940-565-2554.

KNTU's original frequency was 88.5. It's now 88.1. "KNTU did not start out as a jazz station," says Campbell. It became primarily a jazz station in 1984. "The students and staff were looking for a niche to fill in the Dallas-Fort Worth area." UNT was already known for the music school and well-thought of in jazz circles. "Providing a primarily jazz music station filled a void in the area as well as being a natural tie to North Texas." Right, the station's early days, courtesy of UNT Archives.

The station offers opportunities for students majoring in radio, television and film to get hands-on experience and even produce their own radio shows. "Student-produced shows such as Schlock's Block of Rock, Infrequent Exposure, Notes from Underground and North Texas Jukebox have gotten good reviews from listeners," says Campbell.

Much of the station's music now is on CD, but KNTU still has one turntable and one reel-to-reel tape player on hand for that occasion when it might be needed. "The future of radio is strong. There will always be a need for audio content," says Campbell.

• Learn more about KNTU. 
• Buy tickets to the 40th anniversary celebration. 

Congratulations to this week’s randomly selected winners who responded to last week’s InHouse prize giveaways.

• Ann Bartts, academic advisor II, College of Business
• Tina Garza , administrative services officer, Information Technology & Decision Sciences
• Amy Gray, administrative assistant III, New Student & Student Success Programs
• Nora Martinez, library specialist III, UNT Libraries
• Elisha Tucker, administrative specialist II, Purchasing and Payment Services
• Ann Howington, project coordinator – Texas historical newspapers, UNT Libraries
• Lori Barthold, administrative assistant, College of Business
• Stephanie McCane, senior budget officer, College of Engineering
• Nicole Pyron, student assistant

Winners are randomly chosen from all responses. Prizes include UNT T-shirt gift packs and free tickets to concerts, sports and other campus activities that are generously provided by event sponsors and departments.

InHouse is the electronic newsletter that is always online and is regularly updated with news about events and strategic activities at UNT. The formatted version is emailed to faculty and staff each week, usually on Wednesdays. Click on headlines, which link to continuously updated postings, to find the complete article and its links to related information.