North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 33, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Page: 1 of 8
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Arts & Life
KNTU disc jockey makes
music to listeners' ears
Page 3
News
NT set to offer business
courses in India
Page 2
Sports
Lacrosse club's win
streak snapped at eight
Page 5
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Volume 93 I Issue 33
Stormy
66° / 53°
North Texa s 1) a Uy
News 1,2
Arts & Life 3,4
Sports 5
Views 6
Classifieds 7
Games 7
O ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Bands make use of campus spotlight
15 .
Photo by Clinton Lynch/Photographer
Treson Scipio, a singer for the hip-hop band Mojoe, performs in the One O'clock Lounge on Tuesday in the Uni-
versity Union. Bands playing on campus can find themselves filling out a bevy of paperwork in exchange for the
exposure they crave.
lass schedules online only
ByJillian Daniels
Senior Staff Writer
Last semester, NT distrib-
uted 75,000 class schedule book-
lets.
This time, it will distribute
zero.
The schedule of classes for
summer and fall 2009 will
be available online only, as
opposed to the printed booklet,
said Rolando Rivas, director of
integrated branding. He said the
switch will bring more accuracy
to the scheduling process and
save paper.
The online schedule of classes
will be updated daily to reflect
changes in classes' availabili-
ties as well as changes of times
and locations, which the prin ted
version could not reflect.
"The schedule of classes is
printed a month prior to early
registration in late March," Rivas
said. "Think of all the changes
from then to late registration
[in August]."
He said there is not a specific
savings estimate for switching
from paper to online, but "some
savings went into it."
Previous schedule of classes
booklets were printed in three
cycles of25,000 copies per cycle
to correct changes, but "as soon
as they were printed, we would
find inaccuracies," Rivas said.
The number of booklets printed
decreased over the last fewyears
as more were left over.
Undeclared junior Lauren
Buchanan is one student who
relied on the printed booklets
in the past and said she is not
looking forward to scheduling
without one.
"I don't know if I can figure out
how to work it on the Internet,"
she said. "I like tangible, where
I can write on it and see all of
my options."
Buchanan said she worries
about identifying all of her
options for classes if she only
knows she needs upper-level
electives.
"In the schedule of classes,
you can just look through for
what interests you," Buchanan
said. "But if it's online, you have
to kn ow what to search for."
Literature junior Sam Caster
said the change will not affect
him, as he already does his
scheduling online.
"I didn't have to thumb
through a catalog; I could just
type in what I needed, and it
would go straight to it," Caster
said, noting the online process
was quicker and easier.
While Caster does not use the
booklets, he said having backup
copies available might come in
handy at times.
"If servers go down, everyone
would be out of luck for that
period of time," Caster said. "It'd
be nice to have a few physical
copies in the library or a master
copy where any computer on the
Registration
Schedule for
summer and
fall 2009
March 30 - Graduate,
Honors students
A/larch 31 - Seniors
April 6 - Juniors
April 10 - Sophomores
April 16 - Freshmen
*AII registration dotes
begin ot 7 a.m.
network could access it."
Rivas said he does not expect
servers to go down, or even a
huge spike in Web traffic, as
most students are already using
the online version now.
"The servers can certainly
handle the traffic," Rivas said
assuredly.
He said the switch has not
provoked much of a student
response, but the accuracy
improvement received a "very
positive response" from the
faculty Senate.
"We want to re-evaluate
the overall student registering
experience," Rivas said. "It's a
small step, but a step in the right
direction."
The schedule of classes can
be found at essc.unt.edu/regis-
trar/schedule/scheduleclass.
html.
Hearing for former student s
police assault case set for April
By Addley Fannin
Contributing Writer
After almost six years of nego-
tiations, allegations and appeals,
a civil rights lawsuit accusing
three former NT police officers
of police brutality is almost ready
to come to trial.
On April 20, a federal court is
scheduled to review the lawsuit
filed by former NT student Gus
Elliott against officers Greg
Prickett, Mark Linnell and
William Hitt.
The case was originally filed
in 2005, after a 2003 arrest ended
with Elliott's face being smashed
into the trunk of his own car.
Because the case is still in liti-
gation, NT Deputy Police Chief
Ed Reynolds said that he could
not comment. However, he did
confirm that, of the three officers
involved in the suit, only Hitt is
still employed at the main NT
campus.
The case was originally
supposed to be heard in fall of
2008, but had to be resched-
uled because the presiding judge
had an unavoidable personal
conflict.
Prickett currently works at the
NT Dallas campus, while Linnell
has moved on to other jobs.
Attempts to contact the offi-
cers were unsuccessful.
In August of2003, Elliott-then
an NT criminal justice major -
was driving down the 1100 block
of Maple Street at night when
he was pulled over by then-NT
police officer Prickett.
The original police reports
and a sworn affidavit made by
Prickett at the time both state
that Elliott was pulled over for
failing to stop at a flashing red
light.
See POLICE on Page 2
Students criticize
Higher One accounts
By Courtney Roberts
Senior Staff Writer
NT is refunding money to
students through a new card and
account system, but not everyone
is satisfied.
To introduce new methods of
refunding student money, NT
announced in early December
its two-year contract with Higher
One Inc., a financial services
company that offers online
banking solutions with the
OneAccount and UNT Debit
Card.
"Higher One is not techni-
cally a bank. We have a banking
partner behind the scenes," said
Aaron Poach, the campus rela-
tions coordinator for Higher
One Inc. "Bancorp Bank is our
banking partner."
Students concerned with
lack of information and
convenience
Students, however, complain
they don't have enough informa-
tion about Higher One and that
it isn't convenient since there are
no branch offices.
Brittany Hammond, an art
freshman, said she activated the
UNT Debit Card to pay for her
housing; however, she is still not
satisfied with it.
"I didn't like it because I would
rather have the money go straight
to my account but still be able
to use the card," she said. "I can
understandhowmostpeople can
still be confused about the issue
because they didn't think it was
a real card to begin with."
In addition, the card has
several conditions, including
Higher One charging 50 cents
for PIN and debit transactions
whereas credit transactions and
purchases with a signature are
always free. There is also an inac-
tivity fee of $19 that happens after
nine months if students select
the OneAccount. If students lose
a card they have to purchase a
new one for $20.
By the Numbers
50
$19
37,000
cents charged
for every debit
or PIN transac-
tion
amount
charged for
account nac-
tivity
H :jher One
cards issued to
NT students in
January
Officials say program
reaches out to NT students
Since the beginning of the
program, Higher One has
disbursed more than 27,000
refunds, with 77 percent
disbursed electronically Poach
said. Of the 27,000 refunds,
more than 14,000 were depos-
ited instantly into students'
OneAccount.
In addition to sending out
37,000 cards to NT students in
January the company is paying
for the placement of ATMs at
Discovery Park, UNT Dallas,
Maple Hall, the Pohl Recreation
Center, the Eagle Student Services
Center and the University
Union.
"In the contract, we don't pay
them a price and students don't
payanyfees," saidAndrew Harris,
the vice chancellor for finance.
Poach said that when three
Yale University students started
the company in 2000, they discov-
ered university business offices
had pains distributing refunds
to students.
"It takes a lot of time, effort
and money to distribute these
refunds to students," Poach said.
"Now, students no longer have
to wait in lines. It takes a lot of
pressure off of a business office
as well."
Students wary of account's
conditions
Although the pressure may be
gone, the refund program has
had some problems.
Some students said they didn't
like the conditions that came
with the OneAccount and the
card.
"I activated my account but
I opted for the paper check
because I'm not in dire need of
an instant refund," said Allison
Russell, a finance junior. "There's
so many conditions that it's not
worth it."
Russell said that she would
probably not switch to the card
in the future because her debit
card and credit card banks are
more convenient.
With any newproject, there's a
learning curve, Poach said.
"Students need to under-
stand that they have a choice,"
he said.
Students have the choice to
have their refunds deposited
directly into their checking or
savings account through auto-
matic transfer to another bank,
paper check or an Easy Refund
method where the money is
deposited directly into the
OneAccount serviced by Higher
One.
Poach saidHigherOneprovides
all the services to students
including the OneAccount,
which is a no -minimum balance,
no-monthly-fee checking
account.
"Any refunds from the univer-
sity goes through the students,
whether it be financial aid, drop-
ping a class or refunded fees," he
said. "We refund the money to the
student on behalf of the school.
We found that it really benefits
the students because we make
it easy for them."
Former N' basketball star
thrives on European teams
By Sean Gorman
Senior Staff Writer
After leading the NT men's
basketball team to the NCAA
Tournament in 2007 for the first
time since 1989, former Mean
Green star Calvin Watson wanted
to continue playing basketball
and didn't care where he had to
go to do it.
Watson has spent the past
year playing basketball in Zuma,
Hungary for a team known as
ZTE after playing for a year in
Austria.
The team's coaches and players
have allowed Watson to undergo
a smooth transition since leaving
the United States.
"The coaches here are
extremely patient and are young
enough to see where I'm coming
from," Watson said. "The most
important thing is that we see
things eye to eye and that has
certainly been the case so far."
Watson has made a strong
contribution to the team, aver-
aging 18.1 points, 2.4 assists and
2.0 steals per game.
"Any time you have a guy who
can shoot like he does andhas the
build that he does, it's a no brainer
that he is having the success he
is having," said Quincy Williams,
Watson's former teammate.
See WATSON on Page 5
Photo Courtesy of Rick Yeatts
A former Mean Green standout, Calvin Watson, lunges for the basket during a
March 2007 game in New Orleans. Watson now plays basketball in Hungary.
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 33, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 25, 2009, newspaper, March 25, 2009; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145824/m1/1/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.