o the ^ -r
Serving UNC-Wilmington Since 1 948
VOLUME LItl , Number 22
Inside
This
Issue...
Speaker discusses AIDS
policy overseas/3
Renovated aquarium
reopens Friday/ 9
Women’s basketball
nearly wins tourney/13
2 * 15 K
I
UNCW Life...
The Scene
Classifieds..
Sports. 13
Seahawk Shocker!
UNCWhits
second round
for first time
Jessie Nunery
College basketball fans would
have thought that UNCW stood for
UNC-Who early last week. But af
ter the Seahawks danced their way
to Sacramento, Calif, and knocked
off the fourth-seeded USC Trojans.
UNC Wilmington was put on the
map.
Behind 18 points from Brett
Blizzard and 21 points from Craig
Callahan, the Seahawks took a nail-
biting 93-89 overtime victory for
their first ever NCAA Tournament
The Seahawks, who led by as
many as 19 points in the second
half, played arguably their best col-
lective game of the season, getting
Guard Tom Coverdale tries to keep up with Seahawk guard
Brett Blizzard during Saturday’s game against Indiana.
Blizzard led both teams with 29 points.
contributions from each player who Even more impressive was the play
stepped onto the court. Forwards of sophomore guard Joel Justus,
Ed Williams and Anthony Terrell who came off the bench to score 10
continued their consistent play, points, including a few acrobatic
with Williams knocking in impor- shots to preserve the Seahawk lead,
tant free-throws and Terrell pulling SEE GAME, PAGE 1 5
down nine rebounds.
Owrch attendance falls lo exhibit
Aflerarisenear
Septll, church levels
arc now back to normal
Ryan Jessup
The nation’s church atten
dance has been fickle since the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
National attendance of re
ligious ceremonies increased
significantly shortly after the
attacks. However, by Novem
ber numbers were back down,
and after six months atten
dance looks similar to the
weeks before the attacks.
The Harris interactive poll
indicated that during the week
of the attacks 82 percent of
Americans prayed or attended
a religious service, according
information
from the ABC
News Web site.
“In a period of
crisis, people look
for something that
is stable and com
forting, so they
end up turning to
the church.” said
Melvin Hall, di
rector of missions
of the Wilmington
Baptist Associa
tion.
The Barna Re
search Group, an
online group that
has been devoted
to gathering data
about the Chris-
See Religion,
Page 5
2j;^colors and repeated shapes illus-
e Alison S. Spiesman’s “D*ar John.”
esman's wor1 is currently on cfisplay in
^anwick Center. See story page 9.
MARCH 21, 2002
BOG approves
tuition increase
Heather Brady
The final nod of approval from
the UNC Board of Governors on
a system-wide tuition increase
came from a meeting held earlier
this month.
The board approved a 9 per
cent increase in tuition in all of
the UNC system’s 16 schools, in
addition to approving the campus
requested tuition hike at $200 and
a $135 increase in student fees,
which is only a portion requested
by the board of trustees earliei
this year. Other debt service con
struction fees will be approved as
the need for the funds arises
cording to construction sched
ules.
According to the BOG ap
proved hikes, tuition for n
year’s in-state Seahawks will rise
to $2,826.
Overall, the increases across
the state will raise $39 million for
the system’s schools, according
to wire reports.
Officials are also predicting a
$1.2 million shortfall in next
year’s state budget, so students
will likely see future increases to
account for the budgetary crisis
of recent years. Those numbers
will not be finalized until near the
end of the summer when the Gen
eral Assembly meets for budget
approval. University administra
tors cannot make definite plans
for next year’s budget until the
fall, said Kay Ward, assistant vice
chancellor.
“At this time we don’t know
what the final impact will be,”
Ward said.
University officials are con
tinuing to work on a board man
dated five-year tuition plan that
reflects the foreseeable tuition
and fee increases at all UNC sys
tem schools. The final numbers
for the plan will be official in the
fall, following the approval of the
state budget.