Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Sally Pringle of Aledo is the fifth recipient of the Mayborn Writer’s Conference book contract. Pringle’s manuscript Quiet Heroes describes the work of ranch manager Tim Jobe, who uses horses and ranch life to help troubled children. Pringle received $3,000 and a book contract with the UNT Press. The award was announced at the conference July 24-26.
Previous winners are:
• Dan Burns for Saving Ben: A Father’s Story of Autism, published Aug. 1 by UNT Press.
• Alumna Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe for See Sam Run: A Mother’s Story of Autism, published in 2008 by UNT Press.
• William and Rosalie Schiff and Craig Hanley for William and Rosalie: A Holocaust Testimony, published in 2007 by UNT Press.
• Donna Johnson for Holy Ghost Girl: Scenes from the Apocalypse, to be published by Gotham Publishing.
Enter to win a copy of the 2009 release, Burns’ Saving Ben. Send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu with "Mayborn” in the subject line by 5 p.m. Aug. 14. Winner will be selected at random from all responses.
See Extended Entry for other winners.
Show extended entry >>
12:30 PM
Add Comment (0)Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
What is your title and position? I am a lecturer and director of the UNT Speech and Hearing Center. I oversee speech and audiology services. Each year, more than 1,000 clients with communication disorders receive services in our center and more than 200 students complete clinical practicum work.
How long have you been with the university?
I joined the faculty in fall of 2002.
What is your educational background?
I am a UNT alumna! I completed both my graduate and undergraduate work at UNT. Giving back to the university and to the Speech and Hearing Sciences program was one of my main reasons for resigning my position as director of Speech Pathology at Baylor Health Care System in Dallas to join the faculty.
What initially interested you about the speech and communication field?
The excellent faculty in the program when I was an undergraduate. They helped ignite my passion for the field. They also worked very hard to help me pursue my interests, including helping me obtain a graduate fellowship at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dallas, so that I could gain experience working with adult stroke patients.
Tell us about Camp Communicate.
In 2006 we began offering “Camp Hear Well,” a camp for children with hearing impairment. I helped with the initial start-up and development of the camp and the audiology clinical faculty and doctoral students took over from there. This year, I convinced my colleagues to expand the camp for children with many different types of communication impairment. I helped the audiology and speech-language pathology doctoral students organize the camp. Part of my enjoyment in participating in camp is to see the graduate students do such a wonderful job planning, organizing and implementing the activities.
Show extended entry >>
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
More than 3,000 students will move into 13 campus residence halls on Aug. 23, the annual Sunday Fun Day. Can you name an unusual request from a new student resident?
A. Add black fluorescent lights to the ceiling.
B. Allow the resident to bring a pet armadillo.
C. Move a wall to make the room larger.
D. Remove furniture so that the resident can bring his/her own.
The correct answer is D: Remove all furniture so that the resident can bring his/her own, says James Fairchild, residence life coordinator. Students are required to use the furnishings provided, but residents usually bring plenty of personal items to accent their room: clothing, computers, TVs, posters and mementos from home. Left, students check in at the 2008 Sunday Fun Day.
Send an e-mail with “Fun Day” in the subject line to inhouse@unt.edu by 5 p.m. July 31 to win a UNT T-shirt gift pack. Winners will be selected at random from all responses.
You also can get a free T-shirt, along with lunch and beverages as a Sunday Fun Day volunteer. Move in begins at 8 a.m., to beat the summer heat. Sign up online, along with your family members, to welcome students, their parents and families and friends to campus.
In 2008, there were 2,500 sandwiches, 2,500 ice cream treats and 4,000 cookies served to hungry residents, parents and volunteers at Sunday Fun Day, says Fairchild. More than 700 volunteers from across campus and the local community helped students.
• Find photos from Sunday Fun Day 2008.
• Learn more about Housing and Residence Life.
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Congratulations to this week’s randomly selected winners who responded to the July 15 InHouse prize giveaway.
• Thomas Augsburger, warehouse, Purchasing and Payment Services
• Donna Cain, administrative assistant, Engineering Technology
• Cece Hannah, administrative assistant, Wooten Hall
• Babette Allman, administrative specialist, Registrar’s Office
• Joe Gist, accounting technician, Purchasing and Payment Services
Within 30 seconds of sending the email newsletter, more than 100 people respond to opportunities to win prizes. Additional entries arrive throughout the week. We’re glad you are reading.
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.
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
The Financial Reporting office would like for the UNT community to be aware of these upcoming fiscal year-end deadlines.
The deadline for submitting IDOs and journals for fiscal year 2009 (FY09) will be Sept. 9. IDOs and journals submitted after that date will be posted as FY10 entries unless otherwise approved by the Budget Office or Financial Reporting.
Submit Credit Card Reallocation journals for FY09 by Sept. 9 to Financial Reporting.
Merchandise for Resale and Consumable Inventory reports for FY09 will be going out to all department holders on Aug. 10 and will be due by Sept. 9 to Financial Reporting. Inventory counts will need to be completed on Aug. 31 for both UNT and the UNT System for all deptids that have inventory to report. Questions can be directed to Shelley Hinojosa or call 940-369-7686.
Please remember that FY09 funds cannot be used to pay for goods or services that will be received in FY10.
For more information or questions, contact Liz Linder, director, financial reporting, at 940-565-3214.
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
The 12th annual Sunday Fun Day, the opening of residence halls, will be Aug. 23. Residence halls will open at 8 a.m.
About 60 percent of campus residents - 3,000 students - arrive on Sunday Fun Day. Classes begin Aug. 27. (Right, move-in crowds at the 2008 Sunday Fun Day.)
“Housing is so grateful for your help last year and we’re hoping that you’ll be able to join us again to assist with moving in our residents,” says James Fairchild, residence life coordinator. “Sunday Fun Day is a great opportunity to meet UNT students, their families and UNT community members that generously volunteer their time.”
To volunteer, sign up online as soon as possible. Be prepared to provide this information:
• Name
• Email address
• Additional family members who will volunteer
• Department or organization
• T-shirt size (for each person)
• Shift Preference
-7:45 a.m. - 10 a.m.
-9:45 a.m. - 12 p.m.
-11:45 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Task preference
-Moving students’ belongings (physical activity)
-Assisting with check-in
-Serving food or drinks
• Any special accomodations needed?
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Upon receiving his son Ben’s diagnosis of autism in 1990, Dan Burns recalls doctors telling him to “take him home, love him and save your money for his institutionalization,” but Burns did not give up. The book Saving Ben, chronicles Dan’s struggle to understand his son, now 21, and to rescue him from the clutches of autism. Burns and Saving Ben won first place in the 2008 Mayborn conference manuscript contest, which included a book contract with the UNT Press and a $3,000 cash prize. He has spent the past year working with the UNT Press and the faculty in the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism to perfect his deeply personal story.
Saving Ben will debut at the 2009 Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference July 24-26 at the Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center in Grapevine. Burns will talk about his book and sign copies.
Saving Ben will be publicly available Aug. 1. Order from UNT Press’ distributor, Texas A&M University Press Consortium, 1-800-826-8911. Cost is $22.95. UNT faculty, staff, students and alumni can receive a 25 percent discount off the retail price of the book by calling UNT Press at 940-565-2142 or by visiting the UNT Press office in Stovall Hall, Room 174.
Show extended entry >>
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Students at the summer Marimba Camp get tips from instructors. From left, Mark Ford, coordinator of percussion, with Taylor Belote; She-E Wu, of Northwestern University with student Samantha Whittington. The College of Music sponsors instrumental and vocal music camps for high school students and professionals. UNT also hosts a variety of camps for students interested in engineering, forensic science, ecology and other topics. (Photos by Jonathan Reynolds)
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Participants in the summer Robocamps ponder the world of programming and electronics. The annual program is for high school students interested in studying computer science and engineering. The five-day camps are free and open to students ages 14 -18. This year's camps included the opportunity to build video games and play them on Xbox. (Photos by Jonathan Reynolds)
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
The One O'Clock Lab Band performed at the World Saxophone Congress July 11 at Mahidol Unversity, Bangkok. Below, from left, Sam Reid, Brian Clancy and Chris Mike; left, director Steve Wiest and the band. (Photos by Michal Garcia, Jazz Studies alumnus based in Asia.)
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Srinivasan Srivilliputhur, right, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation, or NSF, CAREER award, the most prestigious offered by the NSF for young researchers. The $430,000 grant supports early career development activities of educators who effectively integrate research and education within the context of the missions of their organizations.
Srivilliputhur is the first in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the fifth UNT researcher to win the nationally competitive award. Pamela Padilla, associate professor of biology, and Rada Mihalcea, associate professor of computer science and engineering, won CAREER awards in 2008. Previous winners were Angela Wilson and Mohammad Omary, associate professors of chemistry.
Srivilliputhur will conduct a five-year research project studying ultra-light materials that could someday replace steel and lead to significant cuts in fuel consumption. The second part of Srivilliputhur’s CAREER award will focus on increasing the enrollment of blind students in science and engineering programs.
Srivilliputhur’s materials research will focus on magnesium-lithium alloys. Replacing many heavier automobile parts with lighter magnesium-based parts could reduce automobile weight and cut fuel emissions by 30 percent. Lithium is the lightest known metal and dissolves in magnesium. Combining these two metals could produce lightweight materials that revolutionize automobile construction.
Show extended entry >>
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
The UNT Police Department is scheduled for a reaccreditation on-site assessment by an accreditation team from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) Aug. 1 through Aug. 4. The purpose of the on-site assessment is to examine the department and its compliance to 463 professional standards of law enforcement. UNT Police began the accreditation process in October 2004 and received initial accreditation in November 2006.
The CALEA accreditation program requires police agencies to comply with state-of-the-art standards in areas including; policy and procedures, organizational management, law enforcement operations and support services.
As part of the on-site assessment, agency and community members are invited to offer comments at a public information sessionat 4:30 p.m. Aug. 3 in the Gateway Center, Room 41. Agency and community members are also invited to offer comments by phone at 940-565-3002 from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 3.
Comments at the public information session or by telephone are limited to 10 minutes and must address the department’s ability to come into compliance with the standards developed by CALEA. The standards can be examined at the department by contacting Sgt. David Owen at 940- 565-3647.
Anyone wishing to submit written comments concerning the department’s ability to comply with the standards for accreditation may send them to: The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., 10302 Eaton Place, Suite 100, Fairfax, Va., 22030-2215.
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
A number of factors have come together recently to support a reorganization of the Division of Finance and Administration that will ensure the academic and administrative goals of the university are met while the campus continues to grow. 
The reorganization will elevate the university’s computing and information technology operations to the cabinet level and will clearly divide the administration and finance functions of the university under two senior associate vice presidents who will report to the vice president for finance and administration. These changes will provide a greater level of focus on each of the university’s computing, finance and administration areas. In addition, it will help ensure that all areas continue to operate without disruption when Andrew Harris, left, vice president for finance and administration, deploys with his National Guard unit in 2010 to serve in Afghanistan. 
Maurice Leatherbury, right, who has served in the computing and information technology center for about 15 years, will serve as acting vice president for information technology and chief information officer effective Sept. 1. He will continue to oversee the university’s computing needs, and will participate in technology planning discussions at the highest level. Creating an independent vice president for information technology was recommended in two peer reviews we instituted over the past three years.
Jean Bush, right, who has served in the budget office for more than 20 years and currently is associate vice president for financial planning and budget, will serve as acting senior associate vice president for finance effective Sept.1. She will oversee the financial components of the university, including general budgeting, funds management, accounting, financial reporting, payroll, purchasing/payments and investments operations. 
A national search for a senior associate vice president for administration is underway. Ruthanne Thomas, left, associate vice president for research and professor of chemistry, is leading the broad-based 12-member search committee in finding someone who will oversee the university’s Human Resources, Facilities, Risk Management and Police, Parking and Transportation areas to help develop and strengthen administrative programs that support the university’s academic and administrative goals.
During Harris’ deployment, the two senior associate vice presidents will rely on the solid depth of experience and sound judgment of the staff members in their respective areas, to meet the leadership and planning needs for the university. 
With green pride,
Gretchen M. Bataille, president
Andrew Harris, vice president for finance and administration
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
During their quarterly meeting May 15, the UNT System Board of Regents promoted and/or approved tenure for 29 faculty members effective Sept. 1.
Those promoted to associate professor, with tenure:
• Janice Hauge, associate professor of economics
• Cristina Sanchez-Conejero, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures
• Lawrence Williams, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures
• J. Todd Moye, associate professor of history
• Robert M. Figueroa, associate professor of philosophy and religion studies
• J. Michael Greig, associate professor of political science
• V. Barbara Bush, associate professor of counseling and higher education
• Yan Huang, associate professor of computer science and engineering
• Shawne D. Miksa, associate professor of library and information sciences
• James Gregory Jones, associate professor of learning technologies
• Mariela Nunez-Janes, associate professor of anthropology
• Shahla Ala’i-Rosales, associate professor of behavior analysis
• Cecilia L. Thomas, associate professor of rehabilitation, social work and addictions
• Kevin Yoder, associate professor of sociology
• Keith Owens, associate professor of design
• John H. Holt, associate professor of instrumental studies
• Elvia L. Puccinelli, associate professor of vocal studies
Tenure was granted to Philip Sweany, associate professor of computer science and engineering.
Additionally, 10 faculty members have been promoted effective Sept. 1:
• Mohammad Omary, professor of chemistry
• Angela Wilson, professor of chemistry
• R. Todd Jewell, professor of economics
• Craig Neumann, professor of psychology
• Robin Henson, professor of educational psychology
• Jeffrey Allen, professor of learning technologies
• Annette Lawrence, professor of studio art
• Eugene Osadchy, professor of instrumental studies
• N. Stefan Karlsson, professor of jazz studies
• Susan Dubois, professor of instrumental studies
• Warren H. Henry, professor of music education
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Chaplains are usually ordained persons who have received additional training to help others cope with psychological issues and relational matters, says Kim Nimon, left, assistant professor in the Department of Learning Technologies. Nimon says many businesses that provide chaplains for their employees use specialist chaplaincy companies such as Marketplace Chaplains USA, based in Dallas. According to an article in The Economist, about 300 companies in 46 states have employed chaplains through Marketplace Chaplains USA, which was founded in 1984 but has had its most rapid growth since 2001.
Show extended entry >>
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
The UNT Astronomy Program will host a lecture and open house July 20 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon. Which phrase is most associated with that historic event? A. That’s one small step for man.
B. The Eagle has landed.
C. We have a lift off.
D. Start your engines.
The correct answers are A and B. The lunar module settled on the moon’s surface at 3:17 p.m. Central Daylight Time on July 20, 1969. Astronaut and module pilot Edwin Aldrin announced, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Astronaut Neil Armstrong, right, put a foot on the moon’s surface at 9:56 p.m. Central Daylight Time and said, “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.”
• Find audio of the touchdown and first step.
• Learn more about the Apollo 11 moon landing.
UNT Sky Theater will celebrate the first moon landing at 7:30 p.m. July 20 at its newly renovated Digistar III domed theater in the Environmental Education, Science and Technology building.
Featured events will include the Digistar III program, “Dawn of the Space Age," about developmental years before the Apollo 11 landing, and a presentation by Robert B. Finkelman, research professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. Finkelman was one of the first scientists to study lunar rocks and regolith that was brought to Earth by the Apollo 11 astronauts -- Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins. Ron DiIulio, planetarium director and NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, will discuss the proposed NASA return mission to the moon.
Enter to win a UNT T-shirt gift pack by sending an e-mail with “Moon” in the subject line to inhouse@unt.edu by 5 p.m. July 17. Winners will be selected at random from all responses.
(Photos courtesy of Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.)
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
• Jay Maxwell, programmer analyst, Discovery Park, Center for Information Computing and Technology Center
• Pam Flint, counseling psychologist, Counseling and Testing Center
• Sandra Clark, administrative assistant, Advancement
• Maximilian Severn, student assistant, library annex
• Janice Rainey, computer support specialist, Advancement
Within 30 seconds of sending the email newsletter, more than 100 people respond to opportunities to win prizes. Additional entries arrive throughout the week. We’re glad you are reading.
Winners are randomly chosen from all responses. Prizes include UNT Tshirt 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 links to related information.
The summer publishing schedule is July 15 and 29. Weekly publishing resumes Aug. 12.
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
Staff Council and Enrollment Management will offer a workshop on Aug. 5 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Aug. 12 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the University Union, Room 411 highlighting the steps staff need to take in order to enroll in courses at UNT.
Topics that will be discussed include using the faculty/staff scholarship, how to take a course during normal working hours, admission to UNT and getting started on a degree plan.
Contact Rhonda Acker or register online. (Select ‘continue on’ from security web site.).
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo
Bobbie Tassinari, associate director of Facilities Business Services, recently completed requirements for the APPA (Association of Physical Plant Administrators) Educational Facilities Professional Credentialing Program. Tassinari says that the program will aid in better understanding and working with other areas of the Facilities program. 
What is your title and position at UNT?
I am the associate director of Facilities Business Services. I manage the budget and financial aspect of the organization, while supervising nine departments: compliance, recycling, moving, automotive, work control, personnel/payroll, purchasing, information systems, and stores.
How long have you worked at UNT?
I have worked with UNT since 2006.
How did you get involved with APPA?
I got involved because Charles Jackson, executive director for Facilities, considers UNT’s involvement in APPA to be an excellent developmental tool for staff and provides a good resource for networking within the industry.
What were the requirements for the credential?
It varies depending upon the individual’s education level and time in grade qualifications. Since I hold a master’s degree, I simply needed to either study independently or attend the Association of Physical Plant Administrators Institute. The institute provides education through four component training sessions: energy and utilities, maintenance and operations, planning, design and construction, and general administration and management.
How long did it take to earn the credential?
All in all, it took me about two years.
How will the credential affect your work at UNT?
The EFP provides Facilities professionals with four core competency areas of training. Though most of us are experts in our own areas, Facilities is broad enough of a division that the institute and EFP exam aid in developing competencies and understanding of other divisional areas.
Show extended entry >>
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
Rada Mihalcea, left, associate professor of computer science and engineering, is among the 100 university researchers nationwide and the only professor at any Dallas-Fort Worth university to earn recognition from the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor a beginning scientist or engineer can receive in the United States. Mihalcea was honored by the White House for her groundbreaking research on understanding the meaning of text, a critical capability for many important natural language and information processing applications, and for her exemplary commitments to education and community service.
The Presidential Award program recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of science and technology. The recipients will receive their awards in the fall at a White House ceremony.
“I’m excited and honored about this award,” Mihalcea says. “Thinking back to where I started, it makes me feel that everything is possible.”
Mihalcea was recommended for the award by the National Science Foundation, which awarded her a CAREER award in 2008. The CAREER award program, the most prestigious offered by the NSF for young investigators, supports early career development activities of teacher-scholars who effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. UNT has had five CAREER award winners.
Mihalcea’s research focuses on the semantic interpretation of text for language-processing applications. Rather than using just one resource to model the meanings of words, Mihalcea finds ways to combine several different monolingual and multilingual lexical resources, covering a large number of languages, to create rich, flexible word meaning representations that can be adapted to specific language-processing applications.
Mihalcea plans to explore the use of these representations in a number of applications, including automatic word and text translation, and text-to-text similarity. She also plans to integrate these models into educational applications, which can be used to build a tool to assist Spanish-speaking students comprehend English texts by providing simpler English synonyms or translations into Spanish.
The Presidential awards were established by President Clinton in 1996 and are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House. Nine federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense and Department of Energy, recommend recipients to the White House.
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
Donation boxes are available at each library, including the Chilton Media Library, Discovery Park Library, Science and Technology Library and Willis Library. Items needed include:
• Backpacks for secondary as well as elementary school children
• Binders
• College-rule and wide-rule paper
• Crayons and markers
• Facial tissue
• Glue and glue sticks
• Pens and pencils
• Pocket folders
• Writing tablets
Complete lists of needed supplies are available at each donation box. Monetary donations will also be accepted. Please make checks payable to Denton County Friends of the Family and write “School Supply Drive” in the memo line of the check.
For more information, contact Julie Leuzinger in the Willis Library at 940-565-2413.
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
John Hofmeister, left, founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy, presented his lecture titled, “Energy Solutions for the 21st Century.” Hofmeister visited UNT as part of the President’s Leadership Series, hosted by UNT President Gretchen M. Bataille.
John Hofmeister, center, founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy, watches as Brian Wheeler, left, assistant director of Elm Fork Education Center, participants in the GoGreen Explorer Camp set up a hydrogen fuel cell by pulling water through the fuel cell using a syringe.
• Learn more about Hofmeister's lecture.
(Photos by Vanessa Mendoza and Michael Clements)
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
John Hofmeister, founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy and retired president of Shell Oil, spoke before faculty, administrators, staff and community leaders about the state of the U.S. energy industry and policy during the President’s Leadership Series, which focuses on educating the campus community about important issues impacting the university and its operations.
In his lecture titled “Energy Solutions for the 21st Century,” Hofmeister said that the U.S. energy industry has been stymied by the “zigzags” of politics and constantly changing administrations.
As part of UNT’s commitment to sustainability, the university is bringing speakers like Hofmeister to increase awareness and foster dialogue on sustainability issues. Jeff Goodell, author of Big Coal:The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future, is scheduled to speak on campus Oct. 6 as part of the One Book, One Community program.
Hofmeister, rear, watches as Brian Wheeler, left, assistant director of Elm Fork Education Center, and participants in the GoGreen Explorer Camp set up a hydrogen fuel cell.
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
Lace up your running shoes and join the Mean Green for the inaugural North Texas Athletics Touchdown 5K Run and 1-Mile Family Fun Run at the Mean Green Village, left, on Aug. 1.
Starting at 9 a.m., the Touchdown 5K Run combines paved surface and grass. The course begins at Victory Hall next to the athletic center on Bonnie Brae. Participants will run by the athletic facilities at Mean Green Village and finish near the site of the future football stadium. A family fun run at 10 a.m. will follow the 5K race. The cost of one or both events, including a T-shirt, is $25.
The Mean Green Kickoff Cookout, which begins at 11 a.m., includes music, walking tours of the athletic facilities, meet coaches and student-athletes, cheerleaders, dancers, Scrappy, a bounce house, dunking booth and obstacle course. Food will be served for $10 per person; children 12 and under are free. Athletic Director Rick Villarreal will speak and fans can pick up their 2009 season tickets and Mean Green Club gifts.
To register, visit meangreensports.com.
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
UNT Risk Management Services informs the university community of a notice by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The DSHS is reminding swimmers and skiers to take precautions to avoid infection from Naegleria fowleri, an ameba assumed to be present in all rivers, lakes, ponds, tanks and streams.
The ameba can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, an infection of the brain. Though PAM is rare, it is almost always fatal.
The ameba thrives in warm, stagnant water but may be present in any body of fresh water. A combination of lower water levels, high temperatures and stagnant or slow-moving water may produce higher concentrations of the ameba.
Infection typically occurs when water containing the ameba is forced up the nose when diving or jumping into the water or when skiing. Initial symptoms of the infection include severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting.
The ameba does not live in salt water or in swimming pools and hot tubs that are properly cleaned, maintained and treated with chlorine.
DSHS offers these precautions to reduce the already low risk of infection:
- Never swim in stagnant water.
- Hold your nose or use nose clips when skiing, jet skiing or jumping into any water.
- Other dangers associated with lakes and rivers include diving into waters that are too shallow or that may hide rocks and debris. Never leave children unattended around water.
Nine cases of PAM have been reported in Texas since 2000, including one in 2008.
Posted by: Mellina Stucky
The UNT Libraries recently received an additional two-year grant of $399,790 to expand its digitization of historic Texas newspapers, with pages from as early as 1860 and as late as 1922 digitized, says Cathy Hartman, left, the UNT Libraries’ assistant dean for digital and information technologies. The UNT Libraries first received a two-year $397,552 grant from NEH in 2007. This allowed the Digital Projects Unit to digitize 108,000 pages of newspapers published in Texas. The UNT Libraries is one of 22 state partners, and the only partner from Texas, to receive National Endowment for the Humanities funding to digitize newspapers from the late 1800s and early 1900s for the National Digital Newspaper Program, “Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.” In addition to providing those interested in Texas history with local perspectives of national news stories, such as the 1900 Galveston hurricane and World War I, Hartman says the 19th- and early 20th-century newspapers included human interest stories.
The UNT Libraries are also are a partner with the Oklahoma Historical Society, which received a $307,000 grant from NEH to make 100,000 pages of historical Oklahoma newspapers available to the National Digital Newspaper Project. The Digital Projects Unit will provide the technical expertise for the OHS, which has 85 percent of Oklahoma newspapers ever published on microfilm, Belden says.
“In 1844, the Cherokees published the Cherokee Advocate, which was the first newspaper in what is now Oklahoma,” she says. “Three newspapers existed in Indian Territory prior to the Civil War, related either to missions or tribal government, and 28 newspapers appeared between the war and 1889, the opening of the Unassigned Lands in the state to settlers. For the first time, these newspapers will be made available to the general public.”
The National Digital Newspaper Program, or NDNP, is a long-term effort from NEH and the Library of Congress to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with select digitization of historic papers. NDNP will create a national digital resource of historically significant newspapers published between 1836 and 1922 in all 50 states and U.S. territories.