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CITY BRIEFS
Food reported stolen from
Delta Kappa Epsilon house
Chapel Hill police reports state
that $250 worth of food was stolen
Tuesday morning from the Delta
Kappa Epsilon fraternity house,
located at 132 S. Columbia Street.
According to reports, an
unknown suspect entered the
house through the kitchen door
and stole the food items.
No force was involved in the
breaking and entering, reports
state. The case is under investiga
tion.
STATE BRIEFS
Black Political Caucus hit
campaign finance violation
CHARLOTTE - The Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Black Political
Caucus was fined $4,500 for violat
ing state campaign finance law, and
ordered by the State Board of
Elections to follow stricter public
disclosure requirements.
Board members scolded the
caucus Tuesday for breaking the
law just three years after it was
warned about similar problems.
But the board declined to
impose larger fines and took no
action against N.C. Rep. Pete
Cunningham, D-Charlotte, who
loaned the caucus more than state
law allows. The caucus broke the
law by repaying the loan with
money not meant for that purpose.
Kim Westbrook Strach, the
state investigator who examined
the case, disputed caucus officials’
assertion that the violations were
made through ignorance.
She also said in a report
released Hiesday that the caucus
treasurer realized she was making
a mistake but was overruled by the
executive committee. The main
accusation involved more than
$20,000 that Cunningham loaned
the group in 2002 to pay for a
sample ballot with the names of
candidates it supported.
The caucus repaid Cunningham
with $14,000 from its political
account, which is subject to state
campaign finance laws that limit
contributions to $4,000 per elec
tion cycle and require the caucus
to list its donors.
NATIONAIa BRIEFS
Changes in overtime pay to
hurt some. Democrats say
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Democrats are challenging the
Bush administration’s overtime
pay overhaul, saying*Tiliny White
collar workers will lose premium
pay despite election-year promises
that the effects would be minimal.
The new regulations, which
were previewed Tuesday and will
take effect in 120 days, specify a
number of white-collar jobs that
will be exempt from overtime pay
eligibility. They include pharma
cists, funeral directors,
embalmers, journalists, financial
services industry workers, insur
ance claims adjusters and human
resource managers. Others are
management consultants, execu
tive and administrative assistants,
dental hygienists, physician assis
tants, accountants and chefs.
Even athletic trainers with
degrees or specialized training,
computer system analysts, pro
grammers and software engineers
generally will be exempt.
“The devil is in the details, and
we just got the details,” said Sen.
Tom Harkin, D-lowa, who led
Senate opposition to the earlier ver
sion of the proposed regulations.
WORLD BRIEFS
Chinese officials confirm
visit from N. Korean leader
BEIJING China confirmed
Wednesday that North Korean
leader Kim Jong 11 paid a three-day
visit to Beijing, and said both sides
agreed to “continue jointly pushing
forward” for six-party talks on the
North’s nuclear ambitions.
It was the first word of the visit
from the Chinese side, which usu
ally withholds details until after
Kim returns to Pyongyang.
The “unofficial” visit began
Monday at the invitation of
President Hu Jintao, the official
Xinhua News Agency said.
Hu and Kim “exchanged in
depth views on peacefully solving
the nuclear issue of the Korean
Peninsula,” Xinhua said. “Both
sides... agreed to continue the posi
tion on solving the issue through
dialogue and in a peaceful way, and
jointly pushing forward the six
parly talks process,” the agency said.
Citing Kim, the report also said
that North Korea was willing to
stick to “the final nuclear-weapon
free goal,” adding that Pyongyang’s
position on seeking a peaceful
solution through dialogue “has not
changed.”
Xinhua said Kim met with
China’s top leaders including for
mer President Jiang Zemin, who
now heads China’s military com
mission.
From staff and wire reports.
Yusko’s departure will create void
UNC, others face searches to fill slots
BY EMILY STEEL
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
When Mark Yusko, the chief
executive officer of the UNC-Chapel
Hill Management Cos., leaves die
University on July 1 to pursue his
career in the private sector, he will
create a void at UNC that mimics
several others across the nation.
Investment officers at more than
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Chancellor James Moser views a model of the science complex at the groundbreaking Wednesday afternoon. The $205-
million project, the largest construction undertaking in UNC-Chapel Hill history, is expected to be completed by 2009.
BUILDING A FUTURE
S2OSM complex, biggest in UNC history, prompts celebration
BY LAUREN HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The University officially celebrated
the groundbrealung for the largest
construction project in UNC-Chapel
Hill history Wednesday the $205
million Carolina Physical Science
Complex.
The ceremony, postponed from its
original September date because of
Hurricane Isabel, brought 200 guests
to Polk Place, including some of the
top administrators in the UNC sys
tem.
The complex, which will replace
aging buildings with state-of-the-art
Panelists debate
same-sex unions
Marriage, DOMA
take center stage
BY IRIS PADGETT
STAFF WRITER
The Campus Y and the
Committee for a Better Carolina
hosted a debate Wednesday night
concerning same-sex marriages
and the Defense of Marriage Act.
About 50 students attended the
debate held in Murphey Hall.
During the discussion, Mark
Kleinschmidt, Chapel Hill Town
Council member, argued that
same-sex marriages should be
legal.
His opponent, who defended
DOMA, was John Rustin, who
works for tb~ N.C. Family Policy
Council. The council is an organi
zation based in Raleigh that works
with lawmakers to strengthen the
qualities of families.
The act, signed by President
Clinton, allows individual states to
not recognize homosexual mar
riages and civil unions certified in
other states. North Carolina cur
Top News
10 public and private universities,
including the University of
Virginia and the University of
Florida, have pursued their careers
in the private world, where their
incomes multiply and they can
manage creative and aggressive
investment strategies.
“It is not just the money,” said
Yusko, who also served as the
facilities, will be built in two phases
and is slated to be completed by 2009.
The complex will house the depart
ments of chemistry, computer science,
marine sciences, mathematics and
physics and astronomy, along with a
new Institute for Advanced Materials,
Nanoscience and Technology.
Lowry Caudill, chairman of the pro
ject’s steering committee, said the
complex will facilitate collaboration
between scientists of different disci
plines, speeding up the rate of scien
tific research and discovery.
“Science today is more collaborative
than ever and will continue to become
rently does not recognize such
unions.
Frances Henderson, from the
Orange County Dispute
Settlement Center in Carrboro,
moderated the debate.
Kleinschmidt began the debate
by defending the Town Council’s
request that the N.C. General
Assembly repeal the act.
He said that he did not expect
state legislators to respond, but
that it is a small step in the right
direction.
“Domestic partner benefits
aren’t enough, because the reality
on the street is that town govern
ment raises an eyebrow at you
when you ask for marriage bene
fits,” Kleinschmidt said.
He said homosexual couples
should not have to prove that they
are permanent or, an economic
entity to qualify for legal benefits
because this is not expected of
straight couples.
Rustin argued against homo
sexual unions, contending that
there is no gene for hombsexuali-
SEE DEBATE, PAGE 6
University’s chief investment offi
cer. “One of the biggest reasons is
the opportunity. You know people
want to grow and develop and kind
of be constantly moving toward
goals, and in many university envi
ronments you’ve got difficulty pro
viding those type of opportunities.”
Officials said they are optimistic
that a qualified CIO to manage the
University’s $1 billion endowment
will be in position by late summer or
early fall.
more collaborative,” Caudill said.
“(Some scientific problems) will
require different disciplines to work
together.”
One of the buildings, which will
connect the computer science facilities
of Phillips Hall with the Schools of
Medicine and Public Health, will con
tain state-of-the-art research labora
tories for faculty and students, a
rooftop astronomy deck, classrooms
and lecture halls.
Other science facilities will be built
where Venable Hall now stands and
SEE COMPLEX, PAGE 6
Waters, 60, town visionary
BY EMMA BURGIN
AND SHANNAN BOWEN
SENIOR WRITERS
Orange County Director of
Emergency Management Nick
Waters, 60, died Wednesday after
a short battle with cancer.
Waters grew up in Windsor and
started working with Orange
County Emergency Management
about 15 years ago.
His daily routine was to ensure
the county was ready for emergen
cies like hurricanes and terrorist
attacks.
Waters pioneered Orange
County’s emergency medical dis
patch program, where telecom
municators are trained to deal
with medical situations, said Rod
Visser, interim director of emer
gency management.
Waters also led a strategic plan
ning project in the mid-1990s to
implement the Initial Response
Vehicle paramedic system. “Every
time a call comes in now, a para
medic is dispatched,” Visser said.
“He changed the whole system to
focus on two words: patient out
come.
“He was a giant in the field.
People all over the state looked to
him for ideas and his down-to
earth, common sense way of deal
ing with things.”
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2004
“I think it is very integral that we
have someone at the helm as
quickly as possible,” said Richard
“Stick” Williams, a member of the
management company’s board and
chairman of the University’s Board
of Trustees. “Our goal is to be the
absolute best public university in
the nation, and the endowment
plays a critical role.”
Officials said they will be able to
lure candidates to the position by
highlighting the work already
N.C. officials
prepare for
session’s start
Growth, funding, salaries
key for UNC-system leaders
BY CHRIS COLETTA AND LAURA YOUNGS
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITORS
A mix of familiar issues is on the dockets of the
University, the town and the UNC system as they seek
to curry the favor of lawmakers before the N.C.
General Assembly convenes May 10.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s satellite campus, full funding
for system enrollment growth and salary increases for
faculty and staff are just a few of the issues officials
hope legislators will take up this summer session,
which is expected to run until early August.
Although other things, such as the economy, might
be foremost on the General Assembly’s mind, officials
expressed confidence that the legislature will do all it
can to help them meet their needs.
“They have really done the best they can to protect
education,” said Kevin Fitzgerald, UNC-CH’s legisla
tive liaison. “In a difficult time, you see that the key
higher education needs have been met.”
Fitzgerald pointed to the funding of enrollment
growth, which is also asked for in the UNC-system
Board of Governors’ legislative request list, as some
thing he thinks will get funded.
Though allocating money for such growth will
require about $63.9 million for the entire system, leg
islators usually provide such funds.
Mark Fleming, UNC-system associate vice president
for state governmental affairs, also said enrollment
growth funding is key, adding that it could help law
makers in their efforts to kick-start the state economy.
“We passionately believe that our university system
is the economic engine for the state of North
Carolina” he said. “An investment in the university
system vJtfbe one of the best things legislators can do
to help diseconomy.”
In addition, both Fitzgerald and Fleming pointed
to the BOG’s request for a 6 percent increase in fac
ulty salaries as a priority. The BOG made no specific
request for staff who fall under the State Employee
Act, but it did request that the workers see a sub
stantive raise.
But in recent years, universities have come under
fire for allocating money from tuition increases to fac
ulty raises, and Fleming said finding the money
might be hard.
“It’s going to be another difficult budget year, and
it’s going to be tough to get 6 percent.”
Plans to push for anew cancer center at UNC-CH
also are under way. The Senate approved SIBO million
in funding for the center last year, but lawmakers were
unable to reach an agreement with House members
before session’s end.
On a local level, the Chapel Hill Town Council
mostly wants the legislature to adopt changes that
will make its job easier.
Council member Mark Kleinschmidt said issues
such as funding for University fire protection and
increased flexibility in choosing school sites are pri
mary goals.
“These requests are things that come out of our
daily functioning,” he said. “That’s really the source of
all these.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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DTH FILE PHOTO/LEAH LATELLA
Nick Waters, the pioneer of Orange County's emergency medical
dispatch program, died Wednesday at age 60 after battling cancer.
Orange County Commissioner
Steve Halkiotis said that Waters
was one of the most talented peo
ple in the emergency preparedness
field.
“The skill, the expertise he
exhibited the man was top in his
show,” he said. “I watched Nick
over a number of years. He was not
afraid to speak his mind or step
forward to a challenge.”
Many who worked with him
accomplished. The company has
functioned as a private foundation
for two years, and has pursued cut
ting-edge investment strategies.
But officials said they will hire a
candidate who will not manage
investments outside the University
system, a point of contention that
led Yusko to his resignation.
“Institutions like this have got to
be very, very careful in what people
SEE CEO SEARCH, PAGE 6
considered him a visionary in his
field, and Lt. Terry Russell of
Emergency Management said
Waters brought the county to the
forefront of emergency prepared
ness.
“People look to us as a standard,”
he said. “There’s no doubt in my
mind we are the best emergency
management department in this
SEE WATERS, PAGE 6
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