Serving UNC-Wilmington Since 1 948 Volume LII, Number 9 Inside This Issue.. WWW.THESEAHAWK.ORG October l 2, 2DQQ 1 Noise ordinance passes Protest concert planned for this Sunday at New Hanover county courthouse /11 Riverfest Fall ritual draws crowds to downtown Wilmington/ 11 Native son brings NBA to UNCW The Washington Wizards and Michael Jordan hoop it up at Trask Coliseum /17 INDEX Campus News............. OP/ED Classifieds..... A & E The Scene....... Sports Students voice concerns at election forum; SGA sponsors ^get out and vote’ day today Dan Guy Staff Writer More than 100 students gathered in the Hawk’s Nest last Tuesday to hear a panel of UNCW faculty and student opinions about the upcom ing presidential election. rf “Supporters (of the candidates) will not likely be affected by the debate,” said Political Science Pro fessor Roger C. Lowery before the debate. “Undecided voters will probably be the ones swayed. Bush needs to exceed expectations.” James FhnvThe Seanawk Several students and faculty participated in the panel discussion of the presidential campaign before last week’s debate between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. The panel was made up of Lowery and Walter D. Devries of the political science department; Lloyd E. Rohler, professor of communica tion studies; and senior, political science majors Melissa R. Clary and Melissa E. Johnson. Stephen S. Meinhold, associate professor of political science, served as modera tor. Some members of the panel were clear supporters of a particular can didate while others simply offered opinions on the election process as a whole. “Bush has a lot to gain, and Gore doesn’t have much to lose,” Johnson said. “People can’t win debates, but they can lose them.” Several members of the panel emphasized how important it was for the candidates to grab the audience’s attention. Rohler said, “The enthusiasm and excitement at the debates are very important.” Devries said, “The first 15 min utes of the debate is the key. It will See Forum, Page 5 Davis lobbies for more graduation tickets Todd Vdlkstorf Staff Writer The clockto wer that was erected on cam pus last year as a senior gift drew a lot of attention from the university. Senior class President Aaron Davis said he believes he has come up with an idea for this year’s gift that “everyone wiU be happy with.” According to Davis, this year’s gift wiU be an “architecturally designed landing.” The landing wiU be located in part of the open space on the north side of the Univer sity Union. A small bit of the hiU that was created when the ponds were dug wiU be re moved and then replaced with a brick patio, complete with flowers and UNCW spelled out in polished, concrete letters. Davis believes that there needs to be a special place central to the campus that will have the school’s letters and be visually pleas ing. “Right now, where do you take a picture to signify that you went to UNCW7’ Davis said. The price for the gift is not yet known but Davis said it will be relatively inexpensive. The estimated price and a finished design will be available soon. The money for the senior class gift is raised entirely by the senior class and does not come from student fees or state gener ated tax revenue. Davis is busy as the senior class president with other issues be sides the class gift. He is cunendy woiking on an initiative that would increase the number of tickets students are al lowed to have for graduation ceremo nies. Currently, gradu ates are only allowed three tickets for gradu- ation ceremonies. Davis does not think this is fair and wants the policy changed because graduation rep resents an outstanding moment in a person’s life. He also said that many students have more than three people who would like to attend their graduation. “I would be willing to pay extra for more tickets,” Davis said. Wizards play to sold-out Trask Wizards forwards Felipe Lopez goes up for the reverse layup. The White team defeated the Blue team 78 to 69 in this past Monday’s scrimage.