GrayEagle

Although, sadly, this wouldn't do you any good this spring semester, I think that one thing that would help would be to organize several departments into a School or College of Communication. Combine Journalism, Radio, TV and Film and Public Relatiions into one school with a dean. That would allow for planning and give the communications area more clout than individual departments will ever have. I'd also like to see Channel 2 moved to the campus (where it was originally licensed) and run by students. I believe that these changes would help Chancellor Jackson obtain more operating funds. UT and A&M have the PUF that could be used for part of their funding while North Texas, Texas Tech and Houston all need increases and the Texas University colleges do as well. Most of these colleges are growing but North Texas seems to be increasing faster. If anyone can gain more state funds, it's Lee Jackson.

MGW, the Mid-American is also a 1-A football conference. The "upper major" conferences are the Top 10 rated basketball conferences. I believe that we are about 13 or 14 in some polls but the margin is razor thin to the 10th rated conference. The addition of Utah State would probably raise us to 11 but Idaho would drag us back down again. Now if we could just get Tulsa.....

Shaneb, I agree with your assessment about spreading the main campus to too many locations. The closer our schools are the more cohesive we'll become. The downtown Fort Worth property will be much more expensive than any Denton property. Admittedly, this is a graduate school but most graduate schools are on campus. I believe that's the case with every public college in Texas. Does anyone know differently? One possible drawback on moving the law school is that TWU might be snubbed by the Fort Worth community for allowing the institution to be moved. It would be omething akin to selling a sports franchise and moving it from the city, although not as severe. I am even concerned that the College of Engineering won't be on the main campus. I have suggested that a tramway be built connecting the two campuses in order to build a bond and cohesiveness and make them feel more a part of the university. Maybe the negotiation skills of Chancellor Jackson and President Pohl have gotten the price down to where it is not out of the market. I think that the Coordinating Board would go for it if the price is reasonable.

I also think that the men will have about 20 wins. The women lost too much. They have some good players but little experience. I would guess about 12 wins with most of them coming in conference.

At the TCU game, JJ was gracious enough to call to me as I walked past him in the concession line. Not only was he there, but he said that most of his team was also. I also saw about six of them together at Fouts. Johnny said that they spend a lot of time together and are getting to know each other's personality, abilities, etc. That should be a good thing. We talked briefly about this year's team. He brought up Justin Leonard's name as looking very good. He is pleased with everyone's ability and enthusiasm. Of course, right now all that the coaching staff can do is observe their pickup games. They'll look even better when they can get coaching. Maybe if Leonard pushed CD for playing time, they'll simply move Chris to SF and we can still have plenty of scoring punch in there. Until then, let's simply promote LH as the best sixth man in the conference.

Uh...Rick, you mad e Freudian slip. I hope that we play JOHNNY ball this coming season. Johnny Jones is the head coach. I agree with CPC's analysis and I hope that he will return often.

There really isn't a fast way to get to Denton at rush hour. The fastest way from NW Hwy and the tollway would be to take the tollway north to George Bush Turnpike and exit west. Exit at 35-E to go north (currently that's the end of the GBT) that will put you in north Carrollton. The trip up 35-E from there should be 20-45 minutes, depending on traffic. There is only one parking garage on campus, at present. It is located east of the Union building on Welch, between Chestnut and Prairie. There are plans within the next few years to add four more, including two between the Coliseum (Super Pit) and Fouts Field.

Cooley, I hope that you will learn to love him. I don't know who the rating group was that put him in Texas' Top Twenty, but if was Texas Hoops, or one of similar quality, they don't usually miss on their Top 30-40. He may be raw but I feel good about this coaching staff making him a solid player. As far as growing 2-3 inches over a summer, that's very possible. I grew six inches one summer. Of course, I started from a bas of 5-8. But it definitely can be done. In fact, I beleive that Michael DeGrate grew two inches this past summer. I always respect your knowledge of basketball players. You're usually not wrong but I hope that in this case you are. Maybe not in the beginning but in the end.

That's great news, especially as it apllies to the funding formula. I do have a question. Are the UNT System Center at Dallas students included for free admission to athletic and fine arts events? If so, do we actively solicit their attendance at any of these events?

I think it will depend on what they run. If they run a conventional 1-2-3-4-5, then I'd expect Jelly to be the #5 with 6-11 Justin Leonard as his backup. But I also think that you may see many times that there are two power forwards....Michael DeGrate and Will Smith in there without Masters. Unjel's forte in the past has been shot-blocking, rebounds, then scoring. I don't see a lot of change from that. Even if he played regularly, I would still see him as the fifth scorer among the starters. It seems to me that his biggest improvement has been defensively. In short, will he be a force?....Probably not. But will he be valuable?...You betcha!

Chief, I agree with you and RV about ignoring your own school to write about an opponent. Pregame mention of outstanding players and statistics or synopses of opponents accomplishments are fine but postgame should be about those from your own school and their efforts (or lack thereof). I do draw the line at calling the writer or sports editor an imbecile. We have received more better-written and favorable articles this year in comparison to last. I look at this as just a case of not being aware of the protocol. I doubt that you'll find the chief editor extolling the virtues of the Daily Texan, the Lass-o, or any other student-run newspaper. Imbecile indicates a lack of intelligence and I don't think that's the case here. Everyone's entitled to a mistake or two. We just need to point them out. Then, if they continue, get on with the harsher words.

Yes, the athletics site also lists September 8 as the date for the UNT/TWU game.

Dr. Al Hurley has done some great things for the University of North Texas and I do not begrudge naming a building for he and his wife. He led the improvements in academics and is the chief architect of the UNT System. My preferences would have been to (1) rename the General Academics Building the Hurley Academics Building or (2) change the name of the College of Arts & Sciences to the Hurley College of Arts & Sciences or (3) name the next new academic building for the Hurleys. I don't really object to naming the Administration for them UNLESS they try to do away with the McConnell Tower. Most of you didn't know Dr. W. Joseph McConnell but he was also a great college president and a friend of athletics. Under his leadership, North Texas became a university (although the name change occurred under Dr. Carl Matthews a few years later). He also saw to it that athletics be upgraded (we actually became Division 1 by his leadership. He laid the foundation for our joining the Missouri Valley Conference. I think that it is appropriate that the McConnell Tower is lighted green after each North Texas victory. Someone is going to have to give me a lot more facts than I now know to anoint Dr. Hurley as the savior of UNT athletics. Under his watch we were relegated to Division 1-AA and lost a lot of alumni support. Even though I must also give him credit for the return to 1-A. I think that there was never serious consideration to do away with football. How many state universities do not have football? I think that only Lamar and UTA have done away with programs and we all know the immediate results that occurred.

I think that the newly paved street shown is either Chestnut or Sycamore, an east-west street. Old Avenue D is a north-south street and should be just to the right of the image. Anyway, the new pavement will help greatly in gaining access to this new building, which will be a magnificent campus improvement. I like the way that the campus is beginning to take shape; residential, athletics and recreational to the south and west and academics to the north and east.

Reb, why is there a goalie problem? What happened to Housden, last year's goalie?

By my count there were supposed to be 21 returning players (including 3 goalies) from last year's conference champion. We also signed several freshmen. Are they included in your total of 14 (excluding goalies?)? If so, that's inconceivable. As far as academics (keeping players eligible), I believe that is the responsibility of Kristi Easley. She should have advised Coach Hedlund of grade problems of current players so that he could recruit to compensate for those lost to academics. The five top scorers (besides your daughter Elaine) were Marin, Pina, Mitchell and Uselton. Will any of these be gone this coming season?

Correct me if I'm wrong LoveMG, but I believe that one foot is squeezing a football (nearly in two) and the other is holding the Mean Green banner.

For those of you that may not have seen it, there is a master plan that addresses some of your concerns. Click on the illustrative plan for an overview of what the new campus will look like in 2015. Other topics will address increased campus housing, landscaping, traffic, etc. There will be some modifications due to the acquisition of the TI property, for example. The research park suggested for the east side of I-35 will now be located at the North Campus. Anyway, it makes interesting reading and you'll find that many of the suggestions have already been implemented. My Webpage

The article refers to accreditation for UNTHSC's School of Public Health. As pointed out in the posting the school must offer a master's degree in the six disciplines listed, plus a doctorate in at least one. Texas Tech either does not have a School of Public Health at their medical school or it has not yet been accredited. MDs and DOs take the same test for licensing and are the only two doctors authorized to practice medicine in Texas. DOs perform surgery, specialize, and have family practices similarly to MDs. In some cases DOs and MDs are members of the same partnership. The major differences are DOs are more into preventive medicine and spine maniipulation. The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine existed in Fort Worth before UNT considered establishing a medical school. When it was determined that more doctors were needed in the North Texas area (4+ million people; one medical school) it was determined that it was more cost effective to take over the existing TCOM than to build a new medical college. An agreement was worked out and TCOM got an infusion of capital and UNT got a medical school.

Harry, won't the name change since academics have not been mentioned as being housed in the new facility? From the posting by Mo Green (Denny Kalk), it appears that the academic center will be in the space vacated by the athletic offices, weight room and locker rooms. Does anyone else know if the above is true? Something will be needed to fill that space and the whole idea makes perfect sense to me.

Speaking of the Sun Belt Forum Board, how do you access it????? There used to be links at the top of this board and tribalgrounds.com also but I can't find it on either. Has it been taken down to work on?

EVER WONDER???? --why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin? --why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed? --why you don't ever see the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery"? --why "abbreviated" is such a long word? --why doctors call what they do "practice"? --why you have to click "Start" to stop Windows 98? --why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor, while dishwashing liquid is made with real lemons? --why the man who invests all of your money is called a broker? --why there isn't any mouse-flavored cat food? --who tastes dog food when it has a "new and improved" flavor? --why Noah didn't swat those two mosquitos? --why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections? --why they don't make the whole plane out of the material used for the indestructable black box? --why sheep don't shrink when it rains? --why they are called apartments when they are all stuck together? --if con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress? --why they call the airport "the terminal" if flying is so safe?

This brings a question to mind. Will Starks be a full qualifier? Let's say that he is a partial qualifier in football. Could he then walk-on in basketball and play as a freshman?

Dave, I don't think that you replace a Chris Davis but maybe once every ten years. I believe that he's been in the Top 15 in scoring all three seasons. I do think that Hopkins may be his heir-apparent though. I saw flashes of brilliance last season. And remember, he had rust from three years of inactivity to shed. He won't have great numbers this season either because he basically plays behind Chris. He won't have as many minutes and he'll have the other team's best defensive player guarding him. I believe that he is faster and perhaps a better leaper than Davis but just doesn't have as much court savvy. I do expect improvement this year. Also remember that he was rated in the Top 10 in the state as a sophomore. I look for more balanced scoring this year with Degrate and Green carrying a little more of the load with Davis. I also believe that we'll see a few more points out of both the post and the point guard position this year. Neither are usually called on to do a lot of scoring but with our height at post I believe that we'll get some offensive rebound points and we have point guards who are decent at shooting threes. I agree with your assessment of a 20-win season. If JJ can win 15 with unknown (to him) personnel and a tougher schedule, I think that with one more scorer (Degrate), more experience with JJ's system and a lot more height, then I think that 20 wins are very doable.

Will there be other avatars available at a later date? I was thinking of something similar to the icons from the old board.