The North Texan, University of North Texas, Office of University Communications and Marketing, P.O. Box 311070, Denton, Texas 76203-1070.

Letters may also be sent via Internet to north_texan@unt.edu or submitted on this page. Letters may be edited for length and publication style.

’Fessor day

The story about ’Fessor Graham’s 100th birthday in the latest North Texan caught my special attention. As president of the United Students of North Texas in 1957-58, I was much involved with the declaration of “’Fessor Graham Day.” In March 1958, at a Saturday Night Stage Show, it was my privilege to present him with the award named in his honor and to announce that the award would be given by USNT in future years to other outstanding faculty members. It is very gratifying to know that this award is, in fact, still being given annually and to see that Graham’s extraordinary contributions to North Texas continue to be heralded.

Although not a musician, I had a close and somewhat unusual relationship with ’Fessor. During my junior and senior years, I worked part-time for the college as the spotlight operator and projectionist for the Saturday Night Stage Show. The pay wasn’t bad and no one in authority complained if I took a date along to keep me company in the upper reaches of the auditorium. At any rate, I got to know ’Fessor very well, and he was always patient with my somewhat amateurish efforts to properly spotlight his shows.

Don R. Edmonds
(’58)
via e-mail

Sexist language

I am usually pleased to receive my copy of The North Texan in the mail and happy to see the growth and positive changes on campus that help ensure a bright future for the university. So imagine my surprise to see the fall edition arrive with the title “The Freshman Experience.” At a place with such a bright future it was disheartening to see the sexist language from the past displayed for anyone who reads the publication.

I’ll forgive the fact that the staff at The North Texan may not be up to date on the research that overwhelmingly acknowledges that sexist language has a negative impact on children and our society as a whole. However, all major citation guides have considered sexist language, including man-linked terms like “freshman,” grammatically incorrect and improper for decades. How can an institution of higher learning not pay attention to this fact and compose grammatically and ethically incorrect texts?

Most major universities (including Penn State, the system I teach in now) have moved to the term “first-year student” to replace the sexist language of the past. I strongly encourage The North Texan to do the same. Not to do so offends many of your student body and omits more than half. The use of sexist language may also negatively impact perceptions of North Texas for those who come across your publications.

E. Michele Ramsey
(’92, ’95 M.S.)
via e-mail

Sticker stinker

Truck banned from future ads

Are you kidding me? The inside cover on the most recent issue shows a Mean Green tailgater in the parking lot before a game, by his car. The car has a University of Texas sticker on the back window. I think not! Pay attention to the details. That’s an insult to UNT and to all who read the magazine.

Michael Moon
('78)
Dallas

While sitting around with a few friends, I found myself defending my alma mater once again. As I have explained to several people on many occasions, I feel that UNT is one of the hardest schools in Texas — if not the nation. We are a diverse, intelligent and creative collective of students, teachers, staff and alumni.

Yet, we never seem to receive credit where credit is due. I can only assume this is because we are still in the building stages of our athletic programs, which seem to be important in gaining school spirit and other’s respect in Texas. While football isn’t even my favorite sport (I believe UNT needs a baseball team), I love going to the games as an alum and sharing in the growing pride and spirit of my college.

So, one might imagine my embarrassment when, sitting around with the aforementioned friends (who happen to be graduates of the University of Texas), one of them pointed out that in our alumni magazine there was a longhorn sticker on the truck in the very first ad encouraging tailgating on game days.

I find it very hard to believe that not one other truck on the UNT campus out of the 30,000 students could be found for use in this ad. Please don't give anyone the ammunition to fire at UNT any more than they already do. We have all worked long and hard to get where we are, so I implore the ad wizards behind that one not to make the same mistake again.

Allison Ernst
('00)
Dallas

Extremely poor proofreading was shown in allowing an ad for UNT tailgating in the most recent issue to display a vehicle sporting the sticker of another Texas university (UT). Great strides are being made by our athletic department in getting the word out that our people are proud to be from UNT. Displays supporting other universities should not be publicized in our own publications just as caps, shirts or stickers that are not UNT should not be tolerated on campus. If loyalties are to another school, go there and support them, as supporting them while at UNT has no place in our revival of campus spirit.

Jim Fincher
('69)
Carrollton

Editor’s note: The entire staff of The North Texan apologizes for the appearance of the longhorn decal on the truck in our tailgating ad. Although we spotted and removed the decal electronically during the production process, it somehow stampeded back into the printed piece. We especially loathe this kind of error because it is contrary to our pursuit of excellence and to the goal of the publication to enhance the image of UNT.

We thank all the Mean Green fans for drawing it to our attention. We’re also delighted that our readers have such a strong UNT spirit and enthusiastically support the university.

Pet project

Editor’s note: The following message is one of many responses received by Cynthia Chandler, UNT professor of counseling, as a result of the “Connecting People With Pets” feature in the summer 2002 issue.

I was thrilled to read the article in The North Texan on pet therapy. I am a speech pathologist and am so excited about the possibility of dogs helping kids with reading difficulties.

Leslie Baldwin
Stillwater, Okla.

World class

Congratulations on the summer issue. I haven't enjoyed a publication from cover to cover this much in years. The four feature articles, as well as the photography, design and illustration, are world class. Bravo!

Carol Wells
Spring

Connections

The layout and illustrations in the spring issue of The North Texan are spectacular, and the stories are well written and interesting. Keep up the good words!

I might add something of my connection to UNT. I received my bachelor’s degree in English. My late husband, Thomas Wayne Taylor, was an alumnus and received a bachelor’s in 1941, a master’s in 1947 and a doctoral degree in education in 1957. We also were both graduates of the North Texas demonstration school.

Vi Marie Buster Taylor
(’43)
Austin

Force feeding

Regarding the story “Fat in America” in the spring issue, I commute 60 miles to work round trip and take my lunch. It’s my choice. Where’s the part of the article that says fast food has a gun to our heads? We have to take measures to change an environment that promotes overconsumption? I think it’s called “eat less.”

George H. Freeborn Jr.
(’83)
Taylor