20100409web

Buyout offered to 247 of 2,886

247 staff members are eligible for the buyout. There are 2,886 current full-time staff with benefits.

STAFF

BY HANNAH DOCKRAYThe Shorthorn staff

Students trekked through Kenya and watched a lost trav-eler create an African circus with wild natives without ever leaving campus.

EXCEL Campus Activi-ties sponsored the Kenya Sa-fari Acrobats troupe that per-formed Thursday night at Texas Hall, delivering humor, feats of strength and acrobatic prowess to an audience of 487.

An ominous narration ac-companied the performers and the lost traveler on his journey

through the African safari to find the perfect circus troupe.

Acrobats wore an array of bright colors, beads and animal prints while jumping rope in an unconventional manner by turn-ing somersaults and complet-ing backflips to cheers and yells from the audience.

Lauren Almand, EXCEL Kenya Safari Acrobats chair, said the night was a definite success.

“I’m really happy with the turnout,” she said. “It was so cool to see that many people enjoy the event.”

Spectators witnessed an ac-robat lay on a bed of nails and willingly let another performer place another bed of nails on top

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S A T A R L I N G T O N

FridayApril 9, 2010

Volume 91, No. 103www.theshorthorn.com

Since 1919

KENYA continues on page 4

Acrobats show meaning of ‘hakuna matata’

STUDENT LIFE

The troupe delivered humor, jumped through hoops and showed feats of strengths.

BY WILLIAM JOHNSONThe Shorthorn staff

Everything must go at the UTA Computer Store.

A clearance sale is taking place in the campus computer store in preparation for the new store, which will be located in the UTA Bookstore in the fall. Follett Higher Education Group, the same company that owns the bookstore, will own and operate the new store.

The Adobe and Microsoft suites will not be taking an ad-ditional cut, as the license is already discounted. The book-

store will also not be re-or-dering the Adobe suites again this semester, but will keep the Microsoft suites in stock until the end of the semester.

“Price cuts on items will vary depending on the day,” com-puter store manager Pam Tre-maine said.

Items are marked down based on when they were or-dered, for how much they were originally purchased for, and how many are left in stock.

Items that have no mark-down today could sell for 50 percent off tomorrow, Tre-maine said.

The university’s decision to change vendors for the com-

Store holds sale before takeover

COMPUTING AND TECHNOLOGY

UTA Computer Store will be moved in the fall semester to the UTA Bookstore.

BY RACHEL SNYDERThe Shorthorn staff

With a practice rifle in hand, Cadet Pvt. Tachon McClaine stepped ner-vously toward the diving board‘s end, looking down at the water with a quick breath before diving in.

McClaine was one of about 60 new Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. cadets who were pushed from their

comfort zone and into the water for the first time at the Combat Water Survival Training event on Thursday.

The training was held in the Physi-cal Education Building’s indoor pool. During training, cadets jumped from a diving board in full uniform for the unexpected entry event. The equip-ment ditch required cadets to shed their equipment quickly and swim back to the side of the pool. Trainees also swam 15 meters in full uniform and tread water for five minutes.

McClaine participated in the training and said she had fun with the unexpect-

ed entry event despite being nervous.“It’s kind of hard to swim in your

uniform,” she said. “You panic when you hit the water.”

Cadet Cpl. Alecia Johnson has par-ticipated in the event about four times.

“It makes sure you can swim with your combat gear on,” she said.

The training is required for all ROTC students and for those who want to become an officer by Cadet Command.

Cadet Capt. Megan Tracy organized the event, which is held twice a year. She

Cadets face fear, leap out of comfort zoneLIBERAL ARTS

ROTC members swam 15 meters in full uniform and tread water for 5 minutes as part of training.

The Shorthorn: Aisha Butt

A Kenya Safari Acrobat slides under the limbo stick, missing the four sharp knives, at Lost in Africa on Thursday night in Texas Hall. The acrobats brought audience members on stage throughout the performance to assist them.


Criminal justice junior Aivy Nguyen is greeted by nursing senior Ashley Seguin after finishing a 15-meter gear swim at the Water Combat Survival Training on Thursday afternoon in the Physical Education Building.

STORE continues on page 4

COMBAT continues on page 6

BY SHARAYAH SHERRODThe Shorthorn staff

The university is offering buyouts to more than 200 staff as they try to whittle $9 million from UTA’s bud-get to comply with state mandates.

“The university would make a one time voluntary incentive payment of $20,000 or 50 percent of the em-ployee’s base annual salary as of May 31 — whichever is greater,” university spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan said.

The Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, which the university will use to try to meet the 5 per-cent budget reduction mandates, does not apply to fac-ulty, but to administrative, professional and classified

full-time staff only, she said.To be eligible, staff must have a total of 20 years of

Texas state service or have a combined total of 80 from their age and their service to Texas, with at least 5 years of service to the state, all of which must be the case by May 31.

“This is a step to help UT Arlington achieve the state’s mandatory 5 percent budget reductions over the next biennium,” she said.

The university has already been working to make cuts in the budget through saving on expenses like travel, but more had to be done, to make up about $9 million, totaling 5 percent of the budget, Sullivan said. Should everyone who is eligible for the program choose to participate, a net savings of $16 million would result. However, university leaders don’t expect all eligible 247 staff members to participate, Sullivan said.

Voluntary separation to personnel offers $20,000 or half of annual salary.

BUYOUT continues on page 6

The Shorthorn After DarkGo online to view footage of the Kenya Safari Acrobats’ act at www.theshorthorn.com.

Learn how one baseball player is assembling one of the most impressive seasons in UTA history. SPORTS | PAGE 8

Raising the Bar

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S A T A R L I N G T O NT H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S A T A R L I N G T O N

The Shorthorn: Laura Sliva

CorreCtions

Today

Calendar submissions must be made by 4 p.m. two days prior to run date. To enter your event, call 817-272-3661 or log on to www.theshorthorn.com/calendar

Calendar

Friday, April 9, 2010The ShorThorn

PoliCe rePortThis is a part of the daily activity log produced by the university’s Police Department. To report a criminal incident on campus, call 817-272-3381.

PersonavaCation by Thea Blesener

Bring factual errors to The Shorthorn’s at-tention via e-mail to [email protected] or call 817-272-3188. A correction or clarification will be printed in this space.

News Front desk ......................... 817-272-3661News after 5 p.m........................ 817-272-3205advertising ................................. 817-272-3188Fax ............................................. 817-272-5009

UC Lower Level Box 19038, Arlington, TX 76019

Editor in Chief ............................. Mark [email protected] Editor ........................... Laura [email protected]

News Editor ........................... Dustin L. [email protected] News Editor ............. Alanna [email protected] Editor .............................. Marissa [email protected] desk Chief ...................... Bryan [email protected] Editor ................................ Jason Boyd

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is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Arlington and is published in the UTA office of Student Publications. opinions expressed in The Shorthorn are not necessarily those of the university administration.

View more of the calendar at

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WEdNESday

Minor accident officers investigated at 11:37 a.m. the report of a minor accident behind Health Services on 605 West St. A con-tractor backed into a vehicle that was illegally parked in a no parking zone. Citations were issued. The case was cleared.

Investigation A student reported at 3:01 p.m. that some students were trying to intimi-date her at the english Writing Center on 702 Planetarium Place. officers responded to the scene, however the subjects had left. Disciplinary refer-

rals were recommended. The case is active.

Theft An officer at 4:58 p.m. was dispatched to meet with a student reporting that his debit card had been used without his permission at 700 Davis Drive. The case is active.

Hit-and-Run accident An officer at 6:01 p.m. met with a student regarding a hit-and-run ac-cident that occurred at Lot 49, which is located east of Centennial Court apart-ments, on 1101 Cooper St. The case is active.

International Week 2010: All Day. for infor-mation, contact the international Student organization at [email protected]

The Big Event 2010 Volunteer Sign-Ups: All Day. The Big event Web site. for informa-tion, contact Tiffany Kaminski at 817-272-2963 or [email protected]

downtown arlington Farmer’s Market: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Downtown Arlington, 215 e. front St. for information, contact the Downtown Arlington Management Corpo-ration at 817-633-2332

art Exhibition in The Gallery at UTa: “Memen-tos: Matthew Patterson”: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. free. The Gallery at UTA. for informa-tion, contact Patricia Healy at 817-272-5658 or [email protected]

art Exhibition in The Gallery at UTa: “Michael noland/fred Stonehouse”: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. free. The Gallery at UTA. for informa-tion, contact Patricia Healy at 817-272-5658 or [email protected]

Reliability and Energy Efficiency of Wireless Sensor Networks: 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. free. 413 Woolf Hall. for information, contact Sajal Das at 8177-272-7405 or [email protected]

III- Nitride Micro- and Nano-photonics: Light-ing, display and energy: 11 a.m. free. 601 nedderman Hall. for information, con-tact Weidong Zhou at 817-272-1536

“Timpani- New Woks” art Exhibition. 2 p.m.-6 p.m. UTA/fort Worth Center. for information, contact Megan Topham at 817-272-5988 or [email protected]

Material Characterization and Failure Pre-dictions for Composites: 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. free. 200 Woolf Hall. for informa-tion, contact Debi Barton at 817-272-2500 or [email protected]

$2 Movie- Phantom of the opera: 5:30 p.m. $2. Planetarium. for information, contact the Planetarium at 817-272-1183 or [email protected]

International Week Global Extravaganza: 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Bluebonnet Ballroom. for information, contact Lauren Cutcher at 817-272-2355 or [email protected]

no socks, no shoes, more awareness

Spirit chants and cheers rang through campus as bare feet marched for a cause.

The UTA Volunteers hosted the first annual One Day With-out Shoes at UTA on Thursday to spread awareness of the daily hard-ships that children in developing countries face by not having shoes. This event was part of a global initiative created by TOMS Shoes, who gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair bought, to raise awareness about the impact of a single pair of shoes.

According to TOMS Shoes’ Web site, a leading cause of disease in developing countries are soil-trans-mitted diseases that can penetrate the skin and infect sores.

UTA Volunteers director Tiffany Kaminski organized the event to show UTA’s support for the move-ment created by TOMS Shoes.

“We wanted everyone to experi-ence what it would be like to walk through campus without shoes,” she said.

Kaminski also said that around 1,500 events were taking place all over the globe with over 80,000 people expected to participate.

Participants were also invited to draw on their feet with washable markers.

“It was great to see people come out and paint their feet with cool designs to support the cause,” com-puter science graduate student Lokesh Chikka Kempanna said.

More information about future events hosted by UTA Volunteers can be found on their Division of Student Affairs Web site or on the UTA Volunteers Facebook group.

— Andrew Buckley

The Shorthorn: Andrew Buckley

around 20 barefoot students participated in the UTA volunteers’ first annual one Day Without Shoes march on Thursday at the University Center mall. Participants gave out fliers promoting awareness as the marched through the Central Library mall and back to the UC.


Participants drew a variety of designs including flowers, stars and magic marker replicas of ToMS shoes on their feet.

University Events has chosen The Secret Handshake to round off the acts for this year’s Springfest concert.

The pop-rock/elec-tronica artist will join headliner The Bravery and Waking Alice at 5:30 p.m. on April 24 at the Central Library mall.

Mike Taddesse, Greek Life and University Events assistant director, said The Secret Hand-shake continues the tra-dition of finding local artists to play at Springfest.

“You never know if this will be

the next Blue October or Toadies,” he said. “You never know if this will be that group.”

The event will include a disc jockey and activi-ties that match this year’s theme, “Capture the Mo-

ment.” Activities include making picture flip books, picture key chains and pic-ture dogtags.

Battle of the Bands win-ner Waking Alice will open the stage with their heavy rock stylings at 6:30 p.m.

Food will also be for sale, but those who participate in The Big Event will get free meal vouchers.

— Dustin L. Dangli

The Secret Handshake chosen as final band for Springfeststudent organizations

sPringfest 2010When: 5:30 p.m. April 24Where: Central Library mallAdmission: free

To hear The Secret Handshake, visit

TheShorthorn.com

$399Country Steak Meal

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BRING UTA STUDENT ID TO RECEIVE THESE OFFERS4180 S. Cooper St.Arlington, TX

Look for these deals and

specials every Friday!

Friday, April 9, 2010 The ShorThorn

By Justin sharpThe Shorthorn Staff

Students and faculty were honored at the annual College of Science Awards Ceremony Thursday night, and one stu-dent became the first recipient of the new Laurie and Paul Paulus Endowed Scholarship.

The scholarship, awarded to psychology senior Casey Britt, was endowed by psychology professor Paul Paulus and his wife, Laurie, and will be given each year to a student in the psychology or biology depart-ment.

“I pay for my own tuition and other expenses, so this will

really help out,” she said. “It feels like my hard work has re-ally paid off.”

Paulus, the former College of Science dean, began his ca-reer at the university in 1970 after receiving his PhD from Iowa State University. He cur-rently has two grants, one for creating models of how groups generate ideas and the other for determining methods to in-crease creativity in engineers, computer scientists and archi-tects.

“I’ve had 40 years at UTA and this university has given me a great career,” Paulus said.

He added that he has had many great groups of students over the years and that his time here has been a privilege.

“We wanted to give back in some way and thought a schol-

arship would be a great way to do that,” Paulus said.

His wife received her bach-elor’s of science in nursing at UTA in 1981 and said that the university means a great deal to both of them.

“We’ve essentially built our lives with UTA in them and we both love the sciences,” she said, adding that it’s natural they would want to honor students in the fields of biology and psy-chology with this scholarship.

This year the scholarship awarded a total of $1,000. It is paid from the interest on a fund that the Pauluses pay into yearly.

Paulus said students who receive this scholarship are se-lected by the college’s scholar-ship committee on the basis of GPA, campus activity and

service.She plans to pursue her

master’s degree in child therapy at the School of Social Work. Britt has worked on a project studying physical affects of peer interactions in school children.

“Working on this project has given me a lot of good ex-perience before going into the master’s program,” Britt said.

Paulus said that he is happy to be able to help students move along toward completing their degrees.

At the ceremony other awards were given to doctoral candidates, graduate and un-dergraduate students from the various departments in the col-lege, as well as two awards for faculty members.

Justin [email protected]

First recipient of new scholarship named on Thursday

science

The Shorthorn: Will LaVoncher

Psychology professor Paul Paulus presents the Laurie & Paul Paulus Endowed Scholarship at the College of Science’s Awards Ceremony on Thursday night in the Lone Star Auditorium.

Psychology senior is the first recipient of scholarship named after professor and his wife.

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By chase WeBsterThe Shorthorn staff

Minor league baseball is coming to UTA this summer.

Centennial Court apart-ments will be housing the Grand Prairie AirHogs for their summer season. The team will move into the apartments in May and stay through September, the end of their third season. Approximately 20 players will occupy five four-bedroom apart-ments.

Residents will be able to take advantage of free tickets and special events, such as a Centennial Court-hosted UTA night at the ballpark where all stu-dents can purchase tickets at a discounted price, said J. Willms, AirHogs group sales manager.

“Basically, we were looking for something close that was going to be a good partnership,” he said. “It’s going to be a good, safe place for play-ers to stay over the sum-mer.”

Usually, only college students occupy Centen-nial Court apartments, but this is the first time a non-university affiliated team will be taking resi-dence there. The AirHogs have made deals through the complex that will be beneficial for the team, the complex and students at the university, said Kirby Hargis, Centennial Court apartments director.

“In exchange for ad-vertising for Centennial Court, they’ll get a bit of

a discount,” he said. “We’ll have a billboard at the park and ads in the pro-grams.”

Apartment manage-ment will also have access to AirHogs tickets on an as needed basis. The num-ber of tickets available to residents has not been set, but they should be avail-able through the season — so long as the number of tickets given away doesn’t become exorbitant to the team, Hargis said.

“We’re going to set dates at QuikTrip Park and let people know we have tickets available,” he said. “Hopefully they make the playoffs so we can have an event after school begins. They said they will work with us for whatever we want to do out there.”

Residents who wish to get tickets to games can get them after giving apartment management one to two weeks advance notice, he said. Informa-tion for upcoming games and Centennial Court sponsored events will be posted on the apartment’s Facebook page.

The deal should make Centennial Court more appealing for current and future residents, Hargis said.

“We want people to enjoy living here,” he said. “And to want to continue living here. We want stu-dents to have a good expe-rience here.”

The AirHogs will play their first game on May 14 against the Pensacola Pelicans at QuikTrip Park.

chase [email protected]

Pigs will fly at Centennial Court this summer

BaseBall

Grand Prairie AirHogs to live at the apartments until September.

4001 W Park RowArlington, TX 76013

See. Play. Taste.Membership Open House

Sunday, April 18th1:00 pm 9-Hole

Scramble*3:00 pm Reception*

Shady Valley, located 3 miles from UTA, can provide you, your family, and your colleagues with

an exciting place to come for business and fun.

Attendees will recieve preferred pricing on Membership Initiations

and one month complimentary dues.

Kindly RSVP by April 14th to Brindley Tucker, Membership Director

[email protected]

*Complimentary child care will be provided.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

PHOTOS AND STORY ONLINE AT

A sustainability display from The Freshman Leaders on Campus informs about healthy but aff ordable eating habits.

Spring Government Elections

View candidates’ statements at www.uta.edu/studentgovernance/elections

Division of Student Affairs

Candidates’ ForumApril 14th @ Noon • UC Mall

Vote for Student Congress President, Student Congress Vice President, Mr. UTA, Ms. UTA & more!

puter store will displace cur-rent employees Tremaine and Debra Hass, the former of which has worked in the store for the past twelve years.

The move takes the cur-rent employee out of busi-ness.

After it’s move to the Uni-versity Center, foot traffic increased dramatically, Hass said. Before this semester, the store was positioned in the back partition of Ransom Hall.

“I understand why this is happening, and I respect the university’s decision,” Tre-maine said. “I just wish it wasn’t happening. I’ve put

my heart into this store.”Hass said she agrees with

her manager. She said she felt like they were a part of

the student’s educational ex-perience.

William [email protected]


of him to do a handstand. The troupe set up a limbo bar center stage, inviting audience members of all ages to join in the game. Participants were ushered off stage as the acrobats unsheathed their knives, attached them to the bar and limboed under them, inches off the floor.

Performers literally jumped through hoops for applause, diving head first through a vine-entwined ring.

Spanish freshman Helen Moyo said she was speechless at the end.

“I’ve never really been to a circus or anything be-

fore so this was completely amazing,” she said. “I saw an advertisement for the group and I am really glad I came.”

The event also included feats of strength, with the lost traveler re-vealing his mus-cles to the na-tives and lifting not one but four performers and swinging them around the stage.

A balanc-ing act had the o p e n m o u t h e d audience snapping photos, during the no-photography show, as one acrobat slowly stacked chairs on top of four drinking glasses. The performer then balanced on top of the chairs on

his hands to cheers and screams, smiling the entire time and shouting “hakuna matata,” a Swahili phrase

meaning, “there are no worries.”

Elester Wil-liams, biomedi-cal engineering freshman, said he couldn’t be-lieve the stunts that were per-formed.

“I saw a preview in the library and thought the event looked

cool, so I came,” he said. “This was definitely the single most amazing thing I have ever seen.”

hannah [email protected]

Kenyacontinued from page 1


Kenya Safari Acrobats create an “L” shape by balancing each other at Lost in Africa on Thursday night in Texas Hall.


A Kenya Safari Acrobat lies on a bed of nails while other performers put pressure on him at Lost in Africa on Thursday night in Texas Hall.

By charlotte leeThe Shorthorn staff

Fifty positions for tutors, Supplemental Instruction leaders and Peer Academic Leaders are open for the up-coming summer and fall se-mesters.

SOAR tutoring program is hosting a job fair for the first time from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today on the sixth floor parlor in the Central Library.

Computers will be set up to apply through the SNAP Job System. Eight infor-mation tables representing eight different subject areas will also be set up, and about 20 staff will be on site help-ing students register. Inter-national students can also apply for the jobs but cannot work more than 20 hours a week.

PALs help first-time or first-year students with class work and social opportuni-ties while teaching them how

to adjust to college life. PALs advise students on matters such as academic policy and procedure, departmental programming and they refer students to the appropriate university official or office when needed.

SI leaders at-tend the lectures for classes and hold study sessions out-side of class to help students improve their understand-ing of the course material and their grades. Within their job, they serve as a model student in class, design a study session based on the lecture and fa-cilitate study groups for students, SOAR director Robin Melton said.

The basic requirement for tutors and SI leaders is a 3.0 GPA, and PALs applicants must have at least a 2.5 GPA. Students need to have at least a B in the subject they will tutor in. Students have at least 15 subjects to choose

from to tutor in. Melton said he suggests

eligible students come to the job fair and apply for it.

“These jobs are useful for their major,” she said. “They feel like they understand the subject better in a deeper

level.”Education junior

Anna Gamwell, who tutored in math at Tyler Junior College last spring, said she learned a lot from tutoring.

“I learned to be patient and how to figure things out step by step,” she said. “I am going to be a teacher, so it helped me prepare.”

Sandeep Ga-lande, graduate research as-sistant, said students should bring their summer and fall semester class schedules and résumé to the fair.

charlotte [email protected]

Job fair held to encourage tutorsstuDent lifeStore

continued from page 1


The UTA Computer Store in the University Center is selling everything in stock at discount prices due to its closing at the end of the semes-ter.

By Johnathan silverThe Shorthorn senior staff

Next week, the College of Business will tackle a subject foreign to most of its stu-dents: nanotechnology.

As part of Business Week 2010, the college will pro-vide several programs that teach business students how technological changes in the marketplace can affect they way fu-ture busi-ness lead-ers conduct business. In addition, the college will provide business executives to discuss leader-ship and talk about topics like transportation, real estate and energy management.

Though some think of it strictly as a science, the worlds of nanotechnology and business are quickly merging, Business associate dean David Gray said.

“Ten years from now, there may be millions of jobs of-fered in nano-research,” he said.

Gray said the college is putting together a Nanotech-nology 101 presentation for students, simplifying the rela-tively new area of science and engineering, as part of busi-ness week.

Some featured speakers in-

clude alumnus Bruce Tanner, Lockheed Martin Corp. chief financial officer, Jim Lewis, the university’s development vice president, and several other business alumni and local leaders in the industry.

Lewis will bring his per-sonal experiences to a busi-ness class when talking about leadership in the workplace.

He said he would discuss how to treat employees, and the differences between lead-ership and management. A lot of which is common sense, he said.

Taraz Ya-zhari, Busi-ness Constit-uency Coun-cil president, plans to at-tend Tues-

day’s Business Week Execu-tive Dinner with his Goolsby Academy cohort. He said Business Week 2010 plays an important factor in student’s futures.

“It’s a great way for stu-dents to network with execu-tives in the area and have ac-cess to executives outside of their coursework,” he said.

Accounting junior Ziad Syed said he was unsure about what programs he would at-tend, but said it’s a benefit to students, the college and the university.

“Hopefully, it will be good for the college’s reputation,” he said.

Johnathan [email protected]

Nanotechnology headlines at Business Week

Business

Week to highlight the technology’s benefits, what it means to leaders.

Get the full schedule atTheShorthorn.com

Computers will be set up for tutors to apply in the Central Library.

When anD WhereWhen: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. todayWhere: Sixth floor parlor in the Cen-tral Library

“This was definitely the single most amazing thing I have ever seen.”

elester Williamsbiomedical engineer-ing freshman

OPINIONABOUT OPINION

Ali Amir Mustansir, [email protected]

Opinion is published Wednesday and Friday.

REMEMBERThe Shorthorn invites students, university

employees and alumni to submit guestcolumns to the Opinion page.

THE SHORTHORN

Friday, April 9, 2010

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFMark Bauer

[email protected]

The Shorthorn is the official student newspaper of the University of Texas at Arlington and is published four times weekly during fall and spring semesters, and weekly during the summer sessions. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of THE SHORTHORN EDITORIAL BOARD and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of individ-ual student writers or editors, Shorthorn advisers

or university administration. LETTERS should be limited to 300 words. They may be edited for space, spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous statements. Letters must be the original work of the writer and must be signed. For iden-tification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s full name, address and telephone num-ber, although the address and telephone number

will not be published. Students should include their classification, major and their student ID number, which is for identification purposes. The student ID number will not be published. Signed columns and letters to the editor reflect the opin-ion of the writer and serve as an open forum for the expression of facts or opinions of interest to The Shorthorn’s readers.

EDITORIAL/OUR VIEW

Let Them Know

Students should be prepared to fight for staff should layoffs occur.

The university announced Thursday that 247 staff members will be given the option to voluntarily separate from the university.

Eligibility requires someone to have worked for the state for a total of 20 or more years. Alternatively, their age and time worked added together must equal 80, with at least five years in state ser-vice.

The people who would meet those re-quirements are often the ones who may have the most experience and do the best work for the university, the people who have a positive impact on the uni-versity community.

But Gov. Rick Perry announced a mandatory five percent budget cut for all state institutions earlier this year. Though the university has been working to meet that requirement, more needs to be done.

Universities have two distinct sides to them. One side is academic, the other is more business-oriented. It is not uncommon for businesses to offer this kind of deal to employees in order to trim the budget. It doesn’t make those people any less important, nor does it mean the institution is happy to see them go. It just means action had to be taken, even if it is an action that people may not like.

The budget cut is a precaution to take place over the next two fiscal years, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

Across the country, people and busi-nesses are tightening their metaphoric belts to get through the recession. While Texas has mostly been spared, we now need to do the same.

When a voluntary separation pro-gram doesn’t fully succeed, it is often followed by layoffs. Many times, a po-sition looks different on paper than it does to the people affected by it.

Should involuntary layoffs occur, the university community needs to step up to ensure the administration knows who the students absolutely can’t do with-out.

Students, faculty and staff have the ability to assist administrators if it be-comes apparent that they have to make that decision. Write letters to adminis-trators, comment on www.theshorthorn.com, submit letters to the editor; do something to make your voice heard if the time comes.

Since 1919

DISCOMBOBULATION by Houston Hardaway

OPINIONOPINIONOOpinion is published Wednesday and Friday.

THTHT E SHORTE SHORTE SHOR HTHT OHOH RORO NRNR

Friday, April 9, 2010 Page 5OFriday, April 9, 2010 Page 5OPINIONFriday, April 9, 2010 Page 5PINIONOPINIONOFriday, April 9, 2010 Page 5OPINIONO

If you walk the streets of Austin, you will find the roads paved with people in UT-Austin Longhorn

shirts, mugs and hats as far as the eye can see.

The football team is trumpeted and paraded around like kings among men, the band is their harbinger. If this is to be the measure of school spirit, then our school is greatly lacking. But then again, spirit doesn’t need a parade, a football team or hats. Such trappings may be associated with spirit, but are not spirit itself.

Walking the campus, students won’t see people covered in blue and orange paint, or people talking about school heritage, and they definitely wouldn’t feel consumed with an over-abundance of UTA Athletics. From a base perspec-tive, it would seem that our university has no school spirit; however, spirit has no colors. Real spirit doesn’t need use-

less merchandise or cheerleaders, but rather real school spirit comes from the community: students, staff and faculty. They are the life blood of the university.

They are its soul. If you want something, the univer-

sity provides, and it’s as simple as step-ping inside the University Center and talking to your nearest large group. If

you seek camaraderie, our campus has groups specifically dedicated to every-thing from volunteering to martial arts, and with our variety of Greek Life orga-nizations, brotherhood is but a rush or a sign-in slip away. The university staff will not hesitate to make you feel at home, from the cafeteria workers serv-ing smiles to the information desk staff.

It’s the feeling you get when you thank the heavens for the Central Li-brary when you need to print for a class that you have in five minutes, that’s spirit; your love of the convenience of people selling burgers on your way to class, that’s spirit. Even people just standing outside saying hello in front of the Central Library counts as spirit.

The spirit of UTA is alive and well, and the next time someone says other-wise, you can tell them: spirit has no color. It comes from the community, and our community is strong.

Spirit has no color Spirit is shown through emotion and dedication,

not the amount of merchandise

DEVONTE HEDGE

DeVonte is a criminal justice sophomore and columnist for The Shorthorn.

Join the discussion by commenting at theshorthorn.com.

Facebook and online games are more important than school work.

At least that’s the way it seems at about noon in 412A Fine Arts Building.

Room 412A is open from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat-urday. It is the only room in the Fine Arts Building that caters to students’ computer needs.

But a lot of times, those computers aren’t available. Sure, you could always find an empty room that doesn’t have a sched-uled class at a particular time. But no other rooms have guaranteed hours.

Last semester, I did an assignment that required an interview with a professor. Before the interview, I wanted to go online and find extra information that may have been helpful in asking more questions. I headed to the Room 412A, only to find five students waiting in line. As I walked around the room, I noticed several screens displaying Facebook and MySpace. I was unable to use a computer before my inter-view.

Am I the only one tired of waiting in line for an available computer to do actual school work while most of the computers are occupied by Facebook-surfing students? I think it’s time we start enforcing the ban on online recreation during peak hours.

I have both a Facebook and MySpace ac-count, but there is an appropriate time for

that. There should be no online gaming or online community visiting from noon until 1 p.m. to allow computer time for students needing to do school work.

The Architecture Building, Business Building and the Central Library also have computer labs, as well as the Maverick Ac-tivities Center, Nedderman Hall and Uni-versity Hall. But when students like me only have an hour break from class, staying in close proximity is a must.

It isn’t too hard to ask to eliminate pointless Internet surfing for one hour. Some students obviously have no care or sympathy for others needing to get work done, so a rule needs to be put in place. Comment on your friend’s pictures when there are available computers so in the rare case that someone wants to work, it can be done.

I am guilty of using the computers for pointless Internet surfing. However, I re-linquish my computer when I notice a line starting to form. I understand many stu-dents need to do actual work.

The Central Library is open 24 hours during the week, students should update their Twitter status there. They need to be considerate and realize that some students actually need to work.

Believe it or not, some find school work to be more important than YouTube.

We are college students, not high school students. I’m not saying there should be a ban on virtual communities the way high schools ban students from visiting any Web site remotely entertaining, but there should be boundaries.

Perhaps another solution may be to put time restraints on computer usage. One or two hours on a computer should give you enough time to do whatever it is you’re trying to do. Maybe students should have to sign in with their student identification cards, and after two hours, it’s time to log off. From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., time limits should be reduced to one hour.

My requests are simple. I just need a lit-tle help from the authorities. Maybe a little help from my fellow students as well. Please understand that some people have to work, and your web browsing for countless hours isn’t helping. Let’s monitor those monitors and get some real work done.

Monitor the monitors

Priority in the computer labs should be given to students who need to work

KEVIN NAIL

Kevin is a journalism senior and guest columnist for The Shorthorn.

Join the discussion by commenting at theshorthorn.com.

YOUR VIEW

The Shorthorn: Thea Blesener

Detailed information packets will be mailed Fri-day to those eligible for the program. Eligible employees have until 5 p.m. on June 15 to sign a voluntary separation agreement with the univer-sity.

Sullivan said layoffs are not being considered right now for those who do not take the separation incentive or who are not eligible to do so. Future decisions will de-pend on the effectiveness of this offer, she said.

“This is the only program that is being offered at this time,” she said. “This is the university’s first effort to re-duce personnel costs through a voluntary program. The university may need to con-sider further staff reductions.”

Any staff reductions, vol-untary or otherwise, have to be made with the utmost care, said Jerry Lewis, Media Rela-tions vice president.

“The administration, the senior leadership, all the vice presidents — they really took this very seriously because you’re dealing with people’s livelihood and people’s lives, and you always want to make the most sensitive decision you can,” he said.

Cost-saving personnel decisions have been a reality for the university already, as vacated positions must be re-viewed before they are filled.

“In the past year, all re-quests to fill open positions have been subject to review by a special personnel commit-tee,” Sullivan said.

A plan from the top trickles down

Lewis said the decision to put together the incentive plan was shared by the presi-dent; Jean Hood, Human Re-sources vice president; Rusty Ward, Business Affairs vice president; and was prepared in consultation with Provost Donald Bobbitt.

“We put together the plan and vetted it through the Of-fice of General Council at UT System to make sure it was a plan that fit in with the system’s regulations and poli-cies,” Lewis said.

Bobbitt said that when the president spoke to about 150 campus managers Thurs-day morning, a woman who has been through budgetary changes at several campuses in her career made a com-ment about the program.

“She thanked the presi-dent,” Bobbitt said. “She said the plan is compassionate, it’s very carefully considered and will achieve the goals that it is intended to, and at the same time will not adversely affect people — some of whom have given a tremendous part of their working careers to this institution. I guess I would just echo her comments.

Tier One goals not hampered

President James Spani-olo said in a letter e-mailed Thursday that the budget re-ductions will not affect Tier One aspirations.

“Our strategic vision to become a major national re-search university within the next decade remains front and center, and we will con-tinue to make necessary in-vestments to stay on track,” he said.

A Tier One plan submitted to the Texas Higher Educa-tion Coordinating Board last week included the univer-sity’s intentions to increase the budget by $4 million each year during the next 10

years to propel UTA toward becoming a nationally recog-nized research university.

For this reason, the sepa-ration incentive program will not be an option for faculty, deans, associate deans or as-sistant deans with tenure-appointments, Sullivan said.

She said it is not expected that implementing the in-centive program would deter research faculty from the uni-versity. She said the economy in Texas, among other things, attracts top-notch faculty to UTA.

Though the program is a one-time offer, it has the po-tential to provide continuous budgetary relief to the univer-sity, Sullivan said.

“The reason it has a long-term impact on the budget is because personnel costs are ongoing,” she said.

Mavericks not the ‘Lone Ranger’ in separation incentives

The plan is not unique to UTA.

In mid-March, St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y., offered a voluntary buyout to about 1,700 full-time employ-ees.

The weak economy in part prompted the offers made to 350 faculty and 1,345 ad-ministration and staff, said spokesman Dominic Scianna.

“The economy has affected every university,” he said.

The school has trimmed budgets, enacted hiring freez-es and halted capital improve-ments over the last few years.

Scianna said St. John’s will not lay off anyone in the near future.

Tennessee State Univer-sity’s Voluntary Buyout Plan was used to assist the uni-versity in addressing budget-ary constraints due to state appropriation revisions and potential budget reductions in the 2009 fiscal year.

The buyout was offered to active employees with at least 12 months of service to the university as of May 1, 2009.

UT System spokesman Matt Flores said, to his knowl-edge, no other school in the

UT System has implemented a separation incentives plan similar to that of UTA’s.

Sullivan said that should a UTA employee participate in the program, they would agree to not seek employ-ment at UTA in the future. They would not, however, be barred from being employed at another UT System univer-sity, she said.

A view from Student Affairs

No matter how many participate in the separation incentive or how many posi-tions are consolidated, stu-dents’ needs will be met, said Frank Lamas, Student Affairs vice president.

“Regardless, there will be someone here to handle the needs of the students,” he said. “None of us are indispensable. Whether they’ll be replaced or not and from where will those replacements come from, de-pends on the scenario.”

The turnover of staff is im-minent, with or without an incentive program, he said.

“It’s a life cycle that we all go through,” he said. “There will always be people retiring, and they’ll always have people behind them.”

In this particular instance, the outcome can be positive no matter what the decisions, he said.

“We have very valued in-dividuals,” Lamas said. “It’s a win-win situation. If a person takes it, I’m happy for them. If they don’t, they’ll continue working with us.”

Lamas said very few are eligible for the program in Student Affairs because it is a largely young staff.

Sullivan said the number of staff eligible in each depart-ment on campus has not yet been broken down.

— John Harden and Joan Khalaf contributed to this article

Sharayah [email protected]


BUYOUTcontinued from page 1

said all cadets are expected to complete the events by the task, conditions and stan-dards set by Cadet Command.

She said Military Science Level 1 and 2 students par-ticipate in the event, which means the cadets are mostly freshmen and sophomores.

Tracy said the training serves as a common experi-ence between cadets and helps them get over their fear of div-ing in water in full uniform. The training also helps identi-fy and assist weak swimmers.

“Everything seems to be going smoothly,” Tracy said during the training. “We’ve had to pull a couple people out of the water, though.”

Senior military instruc-

tor Maurice Peebles said the training is important because if cadets find themselves in the water during combat, they have to be able to swim, han-dle their equipment and go through obstacles — all while leading the troops.

Cadet Capt. Morghan Eby helped cadets out of the water and said the event is a test of their skills in water combat and prepares them for the re-quired Leadership Develop-ment and Assessment Course.

“This year we’ve had a lot of good training,” Eby said.

Platoon Leader Aaron Bal-lard also helped cadets out of the pool and was happy with their performance.

“It’s going great, we have good communication with the cadets,” he said.

rachel [email protected]

Combatcontinued from page 1


Kinesiology sophomore Ricardo Reyes climbs up the diving board to make a blindfolded jump at the Water Combat Survival Training on Thursday afternoon in the Physical Education Building.

Black Waters Alloy Ad5" x 10.5" 2

bw_5x10.5_Alloy_2 3/25/10 6:26 PM Page 1

by the numberS247Staff members eligible for the program

$16 millionMoney the university would save if all eligible staff accept

2,886 Current amount of full-time staff with benefits

Friday, April 9, 2010 v

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS1 Large swallows6 Loosen (up)

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Thursday’s Puzzle Solved

By Jack McInturff 4/9/10

(c)2010 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 4/9/10

Friday’s Puzzle Solved

(c)2010 Tribune Media Services, Inc.4/10/10

DR. RUTHQ: What is your opinion of rape if one or both parties are drunk?

A: I know there are people who believe that rape is rape, no mat-ter what the circum-stances, but I think there are times when a young woman has to take some of the responsibility, and that should happen be-fore the incident. So if a young lady willingly gets very drunk and winds up raped (as op-posed to having had her drink doctored in some way), then I would say that her actions were a contributing factor. It doesn’t excuse the rape, but it made it a lot more likely to occur. So what I tell young women is that in order to protect themselves from being raped, they need to keep themselves from get-ting very drunk or high, and also that they should not climb into bed naked with a man. Just because a young woman doesn’t want to have intercourse, if she’s com-pletely naked with a naked man, even if both are sober, she might fi nd herself penetrated by his pe-nis whether she wanted to be or not. Again, I’m not saying that it’s right, only that common sense dic-tates that you take certain precau-

tions if it’s important to you not to have intercourse.

Q: What’s a good way of showing interest in a guy without coming

off as being too aggres-sive?

A: In olden times, a young lady would drop her handkerchief, and actually, dropping pret-ty much anything still could work today. He picks it up, and if you lock eyes when he hands the object back, that’s probably a sign that he’s interested. If your hands happen to touch during this interchange, that’s another way of signal-ing that you want to show your thanks with more than just a simple

“Thank you.” Smiling at him is another. If you are talking and you reach out and touch the other per-son on his arm or shoulder, that also can be a sign that you are interested. You can use one or all of the above to get your message across. Of course, if he doesn’t respond, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he didn’t get the mes-sage, but rather that he’s not in-terested, and in that case, you just have to move on.

Dr. RuthSend your

questions to

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

c/o King Features

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[email protected] publishes Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

rememberThe softball team hosts SLC foe Stephen F. Austin this weekend, starting at 1 p.m. on

Saturday at Allan Saxe Field.

The ShorThorn

Friday, April 9, 2010

X X XO OChalk

talk

By Will DoanThe Shorthorn staff

the softball team looks to battle stephen F. Austin, the first place team in the southland Conference, this weekend.

the fourth-place Mavericks, sitting at 10-7 in the sLC, will take on the Ladyjacks (13-2) at Allan saxe Field.

the Mavs, fresh off a series vic-tory against Northwestern state last weekend, are looking to improve their standings.

Head coach Debbie Hedrick said the team needs to get over a hump and finish what they started.

“I’m a team stats person,” she said. “If the individuals do well, the team does well.”

Hedrick refers to hitting as the hump. During practice this week, she had the players work on taking swings. she also added pitching has got to go the full game.

“We had some great moments and innings,” she said. “But if you look at a couple of our losses, there’s that one or two innings we had key troubles.”

Hedrick added that this year, ste-phen F. Austin is leading almost every hitting category.

“their kids swing well,” she said. “I

know if we carry a little bit of last year and confidence from this year, we will be oK.”

In last year’s series, the Mavs swept the Ladyjacks in close games.

senior catcher samantha Chum-chal also added that if the hitters are on, they should dominate this week-end.

“If we come ready to swing and hit, we will get to them,” she said.

Freshman pitcher teri Lyles, who has been leading the team with a 9-9 record and 1.72 ErA and 75 strike outs, is gradually growing in to a dom-inant role.

senior pitcher Cara Hulme said since Lyles has never faced sFA, she should do fine.

“We don’t have to strike everyone out,” she said. “sFA is our rival team, and we can beat them.”

Hulme leads the team in wins and strikeouts with a 10-8 record with 110 strikeouts on the season.

Hulme also said the team, includ-ing herself, shouldn’t press too much when it comes to hitting.

“We have to stay comfortable,” she said. “It’s about staying positive men-tally.”

the Mavs will take on the Lady-jacks this weekend with a doublehead-er at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. saturday and at noon sunday at Allan saxe Field.

Will [email protected]

4th place Mavs gear up for 1st place LadyjacksSoftBall

By Sam mortonThe Shorthorn staff

In case you haven’t heard, senior pitcher Jason Mitchell is putting together one of the most impres-sive seasons in school history.

Want proof?Mitchell was defined as

“strasburg-ian”, referencing last year’s No. 1 overall pick stephen strasburg in the MLB draft, by Aaron Fitt, college writer for the prestigious publication Baseball America, after he struck out 18 batters and was one strike shy of a no-hitter on Feb. 26 against Missouri state.

only four Division I pitch-ers have thrown more strikeouts than Mitchell’s 61 going into the weekend.

He’s thrown three consecu-tive complete games, including a three-hit gem last week against Nicholls state, where he didn’t allow a baserunner past second base.

And he’s laid claim to three southland Conference pitcher of the Week Awards this season.

It’s been a tremendous season for a guy who’s been waiting for an opportunity to prove himself as an elite college pitcher.

“It’s been a pretty special sea-son,” Mitchell said. “I’ve known what I can do for a while, and this year I’ve just been locked in and seeing results.”

Head coach Darin thomas, who called Mitchell’s 18-strike-out game the best he’s seen as a coach, compliments the se-nior right-hander’s makeup and thinks he has what it takes to pitch at the next level.

“there’s no reason at all he couldn’t pitch in the big leagues,” thomas said. “We’ve had a lot of guys move on to the next level, and right now he’s a step above where most of them were.”

But the road to his recent suc-cess wasn’t handed to him.

the phoenix, Ariz., native

started his collegiate career close to home at Arizona state Univer-sity, where he pitched sparingly out of now-resigned head coach pat Murphy’s bullpen.

After pitching 10 innings and striking out 10 batters in his lim-ited role, Mitchell felt he needed to give himself an opportunity to produce in a starting role.

He transferred to Central Ari-zona College the next spring and quickly validated his decision, winning 11 games and striking out 100 batters.

“It was nothing against coach Murphy at all,” he said. “I just wanted to go somewhere and prove I could be an effective starting pitcher.”

He was effective enough to draw interest from a number of Division I schools, including UtA.

“they told me I had an oppor-tunity to be a weekend starter, but I’d have to earn it,” he said. “I decided that it was the right deci-sion for me and worked on get-ting better during the summer.”

He took his game 1,000 miles from his Arizona home to Ar-lington and got the opening day nod for the Mavericks in 2009, earning a win in his first Division I start.

He would only start five more games last season, pitching pri-marily out of the bullpen and posting a 4.63 ErA.

But when a majority of the baseball team graduated after last season, leaving Mitchell and junior pitcher rett Varner as the only two pitchers with starting experience, Mitchell took the opportunity and hasn’t looked back.

Junior catcher Chad Comer, whose behind-the-plate vantage point gives him a first-hand view of Mitchell every Friday night, said his command of the strike zone is a big reason he’s been so effective this season.

Team brushes up on fundamentals in time for conference rivals SFA.

maverick shines as no. 1 starterJason Mitchell, after multiple college transfers,

settles in to his role as the team’s ace pitcher.Senior pitcher Jason Mitchell was named Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season after throw-ing two consecutive complete games. Mitchell is tied at fourth in the nation in complete games, and he is 4-2 with a 1.96 ERA. Mitchell is someone to keep an eye on in up coming games.

“He pounds the zone so well,” Comer said. “He’s throwing fastballs, sliders, cut-ters, changeups all for strikes and with great command. I call the pitch and he throws it right where I need it, and half the time I don’t even have to move my glove.”

Comer is more than impressed with Mitchell’s dominance on the mound, but

finds Mitchell’s leadership the most im-pressive aspect of his game.

“As a senior coming into the season, he was expected to lead the team and he’s done way more than that,” he said. “I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Sam morton

[email protected]

“I’ve known what I can do for a while, and this year I’ve just been locked in and seeing results.”

Jason mitchellsenior pitcher

“I know if we carry a little bit of last year and confidence from this year, we will be OK,”Debbie Hedrick, head coach

SportS QuoteWorthy

“the Lakers have been play-ing worse than us. utah has been playing well, but not as well as they were now that andrei Kirilenko is out. and if we dial in, we know we can kill anybody.”

mark Cuban, Dallas mavericks owner

uta SportS CalenDar

FridayBaseball at Southeastern Louisiana, 6 p.m.Men’s Tennis vs. Utah, 2 p.m., Tennis Center

SaturdayBaseball at Southeastern Louisiana, 2 p.m.Softball vs. Stephen F. Austin, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Allan Saxe FieldWomen’s Tennis vs. Northwestern State, 11 a.m., Tennis CenterWomen’s Tennis at Southern Methodist, 6 p.m.Women’s Track and Field at North Texas Classic, All Day

SundayBaseball at Southeastern Louisiana, 1 p.m.Softball vs. Stephen F. Austin, noon, Allan Saxe FieldWomen’s Tennis vs. Central Arkansas, 11 a.m., Tennis Center

BaSeBall

Southland Conference Standings SLC OverallTexas State 9-3 17-10Southeastern Louisiana 8-4 24-6McNeese State 8-4 16-12Northwestern State 7-4 19-9Stephen F. Austin 7-4 19-9UTA 7-5 14-15Sam Houston State 6-6 13-17Nicholls State 5-7 14-14Lamar 4-8 17-13Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-8 12-18UT-San Antonio 3-9 12-15Central Arkansas 3-9 9-19

SoftBall

Southland Conference Standings SLC OverallStephen F. Austin 9-3 17-10Texas State 8-4 24-6Nicholls State 8-4 16-12UTA 7-4 19-9Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7-4 19-9McNeese State 7-5 14-15UT-San Antonio 6-6 13-17Central Arkansas 5-7 14-14Northwestern State 4-8 17-13Sam Houston State 4-8 12-18Southeastern Louisiana 3-9 12-15

numBerS game

61Number of strikeouts this season for

senior pitcher Jason Mitchell

By the numBerS Year team (League) Ip W-L era so bb

2007 Arizona St. 10.0 0-1 6.30 10 52008 Central Arizona College 116.1 11-3 3.17 100 182008 (Summer) Santa Maria Indians (CCL) 43.0 6-0 1.47 46 182009 UTA 58.1 4-5 4.63 42 242009 (Summer) Anchorage Glacier Pilots (Alaska) 52.1 3-2 3.61 42 132010 UTA 55.0 4-2 1.96 61 9

Career 335.0 28-13 3.33 301 87

The Shorthorn: Will LaVoncher

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