Dear Alum,

Students arrived on campus this week, marking the start to another exciting new academic year. Our welcome video is a snapshot of how we're committed to giving our students great support to help them excel and to be their green light to greatness.

The four bold goals outlined in our strategic plan are guiding all of us -- faculty, staff and administrators -- to give our students the best educational experience. Through these bold goals, we're ensuring our students not only have a great academic foundation, but gain knowledge and experience to make our communities and businesses stronger.

You, too, can support our students in many ways. You can be a mentor through UNT's Career Center. The center offers opportunities and programs for alumni to impact the lives of students by volunteering at career days, taking part in job fairs or being a resource on your industry or company.

We also want you to join our students and fans packing the stands at games to cheer on our student-athletes and showing your Mean Green pride at every opportunity. Our first home football game is Sept. 8 against Texas Southern University. We're planning to end our last season in the Sun Belt Conference on a high note before we join Conference USA next summer.

One of the most meaningful ways to support our students is through giving. As you will read in our story below about our latest gifts, your support helps our students excel and makes our university even greater.

I know you're as proud as I am to be part of the UNT family because we're committed to providing our students with the best educational experience.

Sincerely,
V. Lane Rawlins
President

Features

A fairy tale Homecoming

Join us to celebrate "Once Upon a Homecoming" Oct. 30-Nov. 3, including the Nov. 3 Mean Green vs. Arkansas State game at UNT's Apogee Stadium. To get you in the spirit, I'm giving away two Family Fun Packs, each with four tickets to attend the football game. The first 100 responders will win a UNT T-shirt. All responders will be entered into a random drawing for prizes. To participate, email your mailing address and T-shirt size to president@unt.edu with "Homecoming" in the subject line by 5 p.m. Sept. 7. To purchase tickets throughout the season, contact the Athletic Ticket Office at 800-868-2366 or ticketoffice@unt.edu. And check out the new Gameday website for more information.

Mean Green basketball in the Super Pit

Moving Forward: $3 million in gifts, 30 days, one great leap for basketball

It took only 30 days to raise more than $3 million in gifts that will give our basketball teams a new practice facility and endowed scholarships. The speed and success of the effort speaks to UNT's rising stature and the growing pride among our alumni and friends -- and how athletics is a window onto the entire university. Alumnus and donor Ernie Kuehne Jr., who previously gave UNT $1 million to support athletics, led the effort. The gifts are the latest boost for the basketball teams, which will hit the courts this season with new men's coach Tony Benford and new women's coach Mike Petersen. The program has a strong legacy that dates back to 1916 and includes more than a dozen conference championships and multiple NCAA tournament appearances.

The UNT UNTANGLED development team

Student-created game could lead to next generation of electronics

Gayatri Mehta, assistant professor of electrical engineering, and a team of student researchers have created a web-based computer game, UNTANGLED, that could unlock secrets of human intuition and lead to the next generation of energy-efficient cell phones, medical devices and other electronics. The team was awarded a $499,924 National Science Foundation grant to develop new algorithms, or mathematical equations, by mapping the performance of top scorers.

New collection expands UNT Libraries' impact

Diversity is an important value at UNT, and a new collection provides broader public access to archives tracing 60 years of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social movements in the North Texas region. Donated by the Resource Center Dallas, the new Resource Center Dallas LGBT Collection of the UNT Libraries will serve as a resource for students in UNT's LGBT studies program and our communities. The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students names UNT among the nation's 100 best college campuses for LGBT students.

Wendy Middlemiss

Faculty Focus: Wendy Middlemiss

Wendy Middlemiss, associate professor of educational psychology, recently conducted a sleep training study looking at the stress levels in infants who are allowed to cry themselves to sleep during sleep training. Her findings may encourage parents to find alternative ways to help infants fall asleep, such as scheduled waking or faded comforting. The journal Early Human Development recently published Dr. Middlemiss' research showing that infants may develop chronic stress from sleep training, which can lead to difficulties regulating social and behavior responses.

Mean Green Machine

Traditions: The new electric Mean Green Machine

The Mean Green Machine, a 1931 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan, is a tradition that began in 1974 when alumnus Rex Cauble donated the sedan to UNT. Today, the sedan is a staple at football games and it's driven at parades and other special occasions to promote UNT spirit. A team of our engineering technology students put their skills and knowledge to the test by converting the car into an electric vehicle -- and the green in its name has now taken on whole new meaning. Learn more about the makeover in The North Texan online.

Dana Tanamachi

Featured Link: The North Texan Alumni Profiles

Learn about how alumni are succeeding in their careers and making a difference in the world in Alumni Profiles featured in the online issue of The North Texan. Alumni include Graham Douglas, who created packages that include bone marrow registry kits inside a box of adhesive bandages to make it easy for people to sign up to become donors. Also featured is artist Dana Tanamachi, whose chalk lettering was featured in The Wall Street Journal and on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine.

UNT Alumni Association

Throughout the 2012 Mean Green football season, the UNT Alumni Association Pavilion at Apogee Stadium will open three hours before every home game to association members and their guests so they can mingle and enjoy food and drinks. One-day memberships can be purchased for $10 at the pavilion, which features a 3,200-square-foot patio and high-definition TVs. Alumni can support the association through its brick paver program. With as little as $100, alumni can have their names engraved on a brick paver at the pavilion. Learn more by visiting www.UNTalumni.com or contact the association at alumni@unt.edu or 940-565-2834.