Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 26, 2003, edition 1 / Page 3
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QJlfr iaily Uar Uppl Students Determine Who Stays The business forecast for Franklin Street isn’t looking any brighter now that Turtle’s Music and DVD recently announced that it would be closing its doors. Turtle’s Music provided the obvious college town market niche of newly released music CDs and tapes. Students have gotten the bad rep once again for causing more damage to Chapel Hill business. It’s been tossed around that because of UNC students’ practice of file sharing, music stores in Chapel Hill are finding it increasingly diffi cult to stay open. The music industry used to 0 Iwl COLIN SUTKER CITY COLUMNIST dominate the college scene. It is because of the music industry’s success that your mom and dad still keep that 2,000-piece record collection in the basement. Before record players and their round counterparts were produced cheaply enough for the masses, the shop with the jukebox was the place to hang out and listen to the newest buzz worthy artists top the charts. As records became affordable, the music shop still carried a decent amount of social importance, but any kid could listen to his own personal music supply. Tapes and CDs only fur thered the trend farther and farther away from the music shop. And suddenly (or actually rather slowly) the Internet age came upon us. Not only could we could buy CDs off the Web, but we could also download individual tunes through file-sharing programs. CDs by comparison, seemed a hefty price to pay for music when we could just download it for free. So cash-strapped students who love music - which is at least 90 percent of the people I know - had a choice to make: $15.99 CDs versus free music online. Universities, including this one, began hooking up residence hall rooms with ultra-speedy Ethernet con nections. It should come to no surprise that Turtle Music popped up a casualty, especially now that the Carolina Computer Initiative is offering a com puter with CD-burning technology. Do other Franklin Street shops have anything to fear? Well, for the most part, no. Restaurants still offer a commodity students crave - good food. Despite efforts to make Lenoir Dining Hall and Chase Hall better dining facilities, there’s still nothing like a slice of Pepper’s pizza. And while music shops have lost their community, coffee shops such as Starbucks, Caribou and Strong’s are crowded on a nightly basis with stu dents catching a break and a late-night caffeine boost. Bars certainly aren’t going any where. As long as there is a test to pro crastinate studying for, there is a bar making $lO per person. However, shops such as Carolina Pride and the Shrunken Head are potentially vulnerable to the power of the Internet in matching low-priced Carolina gear and consumer-minded students. Franklin Street is slowly changing. Dead wood is being discarded. And while it’s easy to blame the students for business failings, main-street Franklin is driven by the student body. As long as shops push products stu dents don’t want, don’t expect them to be around on Franklin Street long. Colin Sutker can be reached at cosu@email.unc.edu. DATE.. TODAY, Wednesday, February 26 - Friday, February 28 STUDtirhrroßES Local Artcarved Office: 919-968-7894 • Special Payment Flans Available. HI 2ZB "(Moray licensed caroHna Ring Dealer" ' Granville: Buildings Are as Secure as Possible By Sumner James Phillips Staff Writer Despite the Feb. 19 incident in which UNC student Jan Gavenciak died after falling from Granville Towers South, the building’s management maintains that security can’t be improved. Gavenciak was not a resident of Granville and it is unclear how he accessed the building. Granville, a private dormitory man aged by Allen & O’Hara Inc. of Memphis, has security measures similar to those used by UNC residence halls. “We have 24-hour desk service, all Sr DTH/ALLISON MONEY Brinklee Bailey (right), 8, plays chess with El Centro Latino Executive Director Hector Perez. Perez teaches an after school chess program for minority students twice a week. Perez says chess promotes problem-solving and creativity. Kids Learn Lessons on the Chess Board After-school program focuses on minorities By Patrick Winn Staff Writer As 8-year-old Denzel Ingram studied his row of pawns, Hector Perez hovered above, flanked by his tiny students. “You gonna beat me, Denzel?” “Yeah,” he replied, and minutes later he did. Perez draped a bronze medal around his neck, igniting envy in his student’s faces. Perez has made chess cool. Throughout the week, he’s executive director of El Centro Latino, a nonprofit Carrboro resource center for Hispanics. But twice a week, Perez is a certified Survey: Carrboro Residents Want More Jobs, Housing Survey shows disparity in town race relations By Kathryn Grim Staff Writer Carrboro residents across demographic lines would like to see an increase in job opportuni ties and affordable housing, according to the recent Satisfaction Survey presented at the Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday. The survey showed a disparity in responses concerning race relations, with almost 42 per cent of minority respondents rating them as poor or fair, as compared to just over 23 percent of doors are locked with key card access, and there is a 24-hour security patrol,” said Dennis Emy, general manager of Granville. Granville’s 1,080 residents are required to carry key cards that allow access to all three of the towers through doors monitored by a resident assistant at the desk. Visitors must be accompanied into the building by a resident. But the system is not perfect and does not necessarily keep out unwanted visitors. “Just like anywhere else on campus, you can follow someone in,” Emy said. Residents said they often let in people United States Chess Federation instructor who believes the game is a crafty way to help minority kids succeed. “They’re learning so much, and they don’t even know it,” he said. “Chess is taught to be a quiet, sedate game. ... 1 teach it like a team sport.” High-fives abound among his 15 stu dents. who are largely black and Hispanic. Far from sedate, the classroom housing the after-school program rings with shrill chants of “Queen E-7! Queen E-7!” as Perez drills them on basic strategy. “You play football? Chess is the same thing,” he tells them. “Whoever controls the middle controls the game.” Perez’s lectures are heavily laced with football and basketball metaphors. But he said chess imparts certain success-pro moting skills that sports often don’t - white respondents who gave the same response. Residents also indicated interest in improv ing street lighting, increasing the number of sidewalks and facilitating car travel. Respondents from lower-income groups were less satisfied with access to affordable housing than those from higher-income groups. Seventy-seven percent of individuals in the lowest income bracket rated access to afford able housing as poor or fair, whereas more than 55 percent of individuals in the highest income bracket rated access as good or excellent. Respondents generally were satisfied with the quality of life and services provided by the town, but many residents were unaware of or did not use many of the offered services. Homeowners, more-educated residents and News they do not know. “It’s not hard at all to get into Granville,” said Sarah Lovejoy, a fresh man at Granville Towers West. “Sometimes people at the front desk will let you in even if they don’t know you.” Amy Donelson, a freshman resident of Granville Towers South, said that she feels safe at Granville and that she has let in people she does not know. “(The death) was really sad, but I was n’t surprised that he got in. Pretty much anyone that wanted to get in would be able to,” Donelson said. But Granville officials said they do powers of creativity and problem-solving While acknowledging the virtues of athletics, he said the program is impor tant because team sports are emphasized to minority kids. Chess usually isn’t. “We need more accountants... more nurses and doctors,” Perez said. “It’s important for Latinos and African- Americans to participate in that process.” On one of his Xeroxed homework assignments is a photo of two smiling competitors, both dark-skinned, female and young. He wants his class to know that chess grandmasters come in shades of brown as well as white. A dry-erase board at the head of the classroom explains “Chess = Ajedrez.” The native tongues of Perez’s students See CHESS, Page 9 higher-income residents were most likely to use town services, except for the bus system, which renters and minorities were more likely to use. Shannon Schelin of the UNC School of Government designed and conducted the survey with Carrboro Assistant Town Manager Bing Roenigk and Richard White, assistant to the town manager. The survey was mailed to 1,486 randomly selected residents and had a response rate of more than 19 percent. Residents sent in an additional 64 responses over the Internet. Schelin evaluated Internet responses separately. The majority of the respondents were home owners, white, female and between the ages of 24 and 34. Schelin said the Latino community See SURVEY, Page 9 not think there is anything else they can do to make the building more secure. “We are constandy reviewing our security procedures, but I don’t think there’s anything we could have done in an instance like this,” Emy said about changing security in response to Wednesday’s death. The death was not the first to occur at Granville. There have been two other fatal falls in the last 15 years. On March 26, 1988, UNC senior David Mentey fell to his death from a window in the ninth-floor student lounge of Granville Towers West. Ethics Charges Dropped Against Orr, McCullen Representatives were living outside of their districts By Meredith Nicholson Assistant University Editor Members of the Ethics Committee of Student Congress voted 2-1 Monday to drop charges against two representatives accused of living outside the districts they were elected to rep resent, ending a nearly two-month long ordeal. Committee members have been investigating allegations that Jennifer Orr, Student Affairs Committee chairwoman, and Rep. Chad McCullen are living in Hintonjames North Residence Hall while serving the district that is composed of Hintonjames and Morrison residence halls. Although members determined that Orr and McCullen are living outside of their district, they said the extenuating cir cumstances surrounding their situation were sufficient reasons to drop the charges. Full Congress voted 19-5 on Feb. 4 to reverse a recom mendation by the Ethics Committee that it censure Finance Committee Chairwoman Natalie Russell for living outside the district she was elected to represent. Orr and McCullen argued that they should not be punished because the new South Campus residence halls were not a part of any district and they therefore would have been dis enfranchised had they resigned their seats. Orr also said she thinks she and McCullen have represented their districts effec tively because Hintonjames and Hintonjames North resi dence halls are part of the same community. “Had I had die feeling that I was no longer representing Hintonjames. where I was elected to represent, I would say, ‘Kick me out’,” Orr told committee members. Ethics Committee member William Dupont said he made See CONGRESS, Page 9 Easley's Plan Aims To Limit Growth Of State Budget By Margaux Escutin Staff Writer Gov. Mike Easley proposed a plan Monday to protect the state against outrageous budget growth by circumventing shortfalls in the state’s budget crisis. Easley stated in a press release that he will attempt to keep state spending at or below a 10-year average of personal income growth. The press release stated that North Carolina would have saved $1.2 billion during the 2002-03 fiscal year had this plan been in place a decade ago. “It’s prudent to set a target for spending growth that is no more than personal income growth,” said Maureen Berner, UNC professor of government and public administration. Berner said Easley wants to put a cap on budget spending for the first time to move the state budget in a positive direc tion. Jonathan Jordan, communications director for the N.C. Republican Party, said the party applauds Easley’s initiative. “We think it’s a very good first step,” he said. “The gover nor recognizes the problem.” Butjordan said people needed to consider problems with Easley’s plan. A press release sent by the Republican Party on Monday states that Easley’s proposal does not pose anv solu tions because it relies too heavily on revenue projections. See BUDGET CAP, Page 9 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 The Chapel Hill Police Department was told that Mentey had taken hallu cinogenic mushrooms shortly before his fall. However, an autopsy was unable to find whether he was under the influence of the drug when he fell. Three years later, a 24-year-old homeless man, David E. Schmidt, died when he accidentally fell from one of the towers on Aug. 23,1991. The investigation into Gavenciak’s death is still under way. The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu. 3
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