Volume LVI, Number 24
Serving UNC-Wilmington since 1948
April 7, 2005
UNCW Students reprimanded for
“SHARING
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Plioto illustration by JuliaPol Isaac, Andy Bader and Lisa Moye I THE SEAHAWK
A group of students in Suite O have had their internet shut off by the university for illegally downloading mu
sic. UNCW is responsible for all information passing through its server and can be sued for illegal downloads.
Azalea Festival
in full bloom
Albert Hedgepeth
Correspondent
Spring is upon us and spirits are
up for the kickoff of the riverside
community’s 58th annual North
Carolina Azalea Festival, The fes
tival will be held April 6-10, with
activities to spark the minds of
people of all ages.
The festival’s major focus is to
showcase Wilmington’s excellent
past and blossoming future. This
year the festival will not only high
light local artwork, gardens, rich
history and culture, but will also
include a parade, street fair, circus,
and two concerts from popular
music stars.
Teresa Me Lamb, the Official
Party Coordinator, reminds us that
“The Azalea Festival is a very
important part of our community’s
heritage and economy.” The festi
val office reports a projected five
million dollars in commerce from
this year’s festival.
Since its establishment in
1948, the Wilmington commu
nity has been proud to use the
Azalea Festival as a springboard
for the local economy. The festival
attracts more than 300,000 people
and continues to meet the organi
zation’s mission by being a nation
ally recognized “showcase for our
community’s distinctive heritage
through recreation, educational
and family oriented events.”
The festival is largely run by
volunteerism and relies heavily on
over 100 volunteer committees to
plan and execute events such as
the Street Fair, the Pre-Festival
Party, the Parade, and the com
munity clean-up called Azalea
Pride. These volunteer groups also
see FESTIVAL page 3
Hollan Peterson
Staff Writer
Last week several UNCW stu
dents living on-campus had their
internet service disconnected for
illegally sharing music files over the
internet. As the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA)
has begun cracking down on file-
sharing the number of complaints
UNCW has received in the past year
has increased significantly.
Jennifer Allen, who lives in the
on-campus suites, was one of the
students who were reprimanded for
sharing files.
“1 was given a warning and had
to remove the program and the files
from my computer,” said Allen.
There is no follow-up inspection
to ensure the deletion of all neces
sary files from the computer, but
as of yet no student has violated the
policy twice. If such an infraction
were to occur the student would
face judicial action by the univer
sity.
According to Jennie Royal,
Assistant Dean of Students, the
purpose of meeting with students
is to inform them that what they
are doing is in fact illegal and to
protect the legal interests of both the
student and the university. However,
the meeting itself does not absolve
either from legal action.
The students who were repri
manded for file sharing range from
those who thought that they were
outsmarting the system, to those
who did not know that sharing
music files was illegal. Most were
surprised to fmd out that they were
not only in trouble for downloading,
but for allowing their own files to be
downloaded by others.
Letters of notification sent to
UNCW by the RIAA identify the
user, the file downloaded, the time
it occurred and the IP address.
The letter also recommends that
students review the website www.
musicunited.org, which contains
detailed and comprehensive infor
mation about copyright law.
“We would strongly encourage
students to review the website to
make themselves more aware of
the law and to avoid legal and/
or university judicial action,” said
Royal.
Regardless of the law many
students will continue to illegally
download music off the internet.
In efforts to curb this practice
on campus, as well as recogniz
ing the educational value of such
access, several universities within
the UNC system are experiment
ing with different providers to
enable students to download music
legally. UNCW has partnered with
Cdigix.
“As of now, for the rest of the
semester students living in the resi
dence halls can download music
for free through Cdigix,” said Sean
Ahlum, Adminsitrative Assistant
of Housing and Residence Life.
According to Ahlum, there has
been a very positive response from
students living in the residence
halls who have registered through
CDigix.
Correction
Smdents in need of Plan-B
emergency contraception are
riot required to attend a seminar
before receiving the pill from the
Student Health Center, as the pill
must be taken within 72 hours.
JTie Seahawk regrets the error