4
Friday, October 13,1995
Ex-UN C Professor Keeps Custody of His Son
BY JOHN SWEENEY
STAFF WRITER
After a 36-hour delay, the decision in
the custody case between former UNC
professor James Williams and his ex-wife
was handed down Thursday morning.
In Orange County District Court, Judge
Phillip Allen revised a previous custody
agreement between the divorced couple,
ruling that Jim Williams wouldretainphysi
cal custody of their 7-year-old son, Austin,
but that custody also would be shared
more equitably between him and his ex
wife, Ashley Williams.
Jim Williams resigned from his posi
tion in UNC’s English department in July
after allegations of sexual and professional
Fraternity to Sleep Under Stars to Help Homeless
BYMATTLECLERCQ
STAFF WRITER
Continuing a seven-year tradition, mem
bers of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
Inc., will spend tonight outside Morrison
Residence Hall to raise money for charity.
Members hope to raise more than $ 1,000
for the Chapel Hill Interfaith Council for
Social Services in the fraternity’s seventh
annual sleepout for homelessness.
John Fitzpatrick, a fraternity member
who has participated in the sleepout forthe
past four years, said he hoped that 30 to 40
students would decide to camp out and
that the fraternity’s actions would raise
awareness of the problem ofhomelessness.
“We think there’s a growing need to
More Than 2,000 Expected
At Weekend SEAC Conference
BY JOE MILLER
STAFF WRITER
This weekend UNC will play host to a
national conference ran by the Student
Environmental Action Coalition. This is
the fourth such conference in the
organization's history.
More than 2,ooopeople are expected to
attend the three-day-long conference,
which will begin tonight and last through
Sunday.
“This conference will focus on the role
of young people in working for global
change and will feature youth leaders from
the environmental and social justice move
ments,” according to a SEAC press re
lease.
SEAC was started at UNC in 1988.
Since then, it has spread to more than
2,000 high school and college chapters
with 30,000 members.
“Being here with over 2,000 other stu
dents would just be so amazing to see that
there are people everywhere working very
hard all day and night every day,” said
conferenceorganizerMeganSouthem. “So
I am hoping that people feel all this energy
... and really pay attention and go to every
thing because there’s so much being of
fered here.”
Laura Marston, co-chairwoman of the
UNC chapter of SEAC, said the confer
ence would focus on renewing interest in
the environmental movement and social
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But, if you want to know what the Tar Heels will
be like and just who will be wearing Carolina
Blue this winter, then we have the answer. The
4th annual Tar Heel Tip-Off will be held on
October 14th at 11:00pm in the Smith Center.
Admission is FREE to all.
Hosted by Woody Durtiam.
misconduct surfaced during his lengthy
divorce battle last spring.
The latest round in the dispute began
when Jim Williams moved with his son to
Chicago to take a position at Governor’s
State University. Ashley Williams was not
notified of the move, and Jim Williams
was charged with contempt of court for
violating the spirit of the original court
ordered custody agreement. Ashley Will
iams also filed a motion requesting that she
be granted full custody of their son.
In his decision, Judge Allen said he
found sufficient change of circumstances
to alter the custody agreement set up by
Judge Joe Buckner in the Williams’ April
custody trial.
The new agreement allows Jim Will
draw attention to the homeless problem in
the area, locally and nationally, by putting
our first foot forward in trying to address
the needs of the homeless,” he said.
Malcolm Logan, vice president of the
eight-member fraternity, said anyone was
welcome to join the sleep out. The event
begins at 10 p.m. tonight and will last until
6 a.m. Saturday morning. Food will be
provided for those who spend the night.
“It’s equally important to the sleepout
to get other people who can’t make finan
cial donations to come out and provide a
physical endorsement for what we are do
ing,” Logan said.
Fraternity member Antoine Rogers, a
senior from Greensboro, said the money
raised would be used by the shelter to
justice.
“This conference is going to have a
really big focus on social and environmen
tal justice issues,” Marston said.
Featured speakers include Than Htay
from All Burma Students’ Democratic
Front; Meena Raman of Third World
Network; Barbara Dudley, executive di
rector of Greenpeace; and Cecilia
Rodriguez of the National Commission
for Democracy in Mexico.
Portions of the conference are free and
open to the public, including the opening
night plenaries beginning at 7 p.m. tonight
in Carmichael Auditorium.
Several Saturday night events are also
open to the public.
A performance by the Underground
Railway Theater is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
in Memorial Hall.
Folk music performers Casey Neill, Nick
Thompson, Matt Peters, Sev Williams and
Mike Garrigan will hold a concert at 9 p.m.
at the Union Cabaret.
Tickets cost $3. Also, a benefit concert
featuring Archers of Loaf and Superdrag
will take place at the Rosemary Street Park
ing Deck from Bto 11 p.m. Tickets for this
event are $5.
SEAC organizers have said they plan to
participate in the UNC Housekeepers As
sociation march scheduled for 3 p.m. Sun
day on Polk Place.
UNC students may register for the
conference for S2O.
UNIVERSITY
iams to maintain primary physical custody
ofhis son during the school year, but stipu
lates that Ashley Williams have custody
during the summer and all major holidays.
The agreement substantially increased
the amount of time Ashley Williams will
spend with her son.
Allen also reprimanded both parents for
their actions during the course of the di
vorce and the custody trial. “The actions
of the plaintiff and defendant have caused
us to have a very complicated case.”
Despite his decision, Allen said his sym
pathies were with Ashley Williams. “From
the evidence I’ve heard, you have won my
heart, but not my legal opinion,” he said.
Afterwards, Jim Williams’ lawyer,
Lunsford Long, said he was pleased with
'"''Everyone wants a roof over
their head!"
ANTOINE ROGERS
Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Inc.
purchase items such as blankets and cots.
He said he thought that by sleeping out
doors, the problem ofhomelessness would
be brought closer to home.
“If students had to sleep outside every
night, they wouldn’t want to, ” Rogers said.
“So it’s important that we give money to
this shelter. Everyone wants a roof over
their head.”
Fraternity members will be in the Pit
LOWMAN
FROM PAGE 3
“The tuba is a bit of a joke instrument,”
Lowman said. “It’s the one the drunks try
and throw beer bottles into.
“ But if you play (the tuba) you begin to
realize just what a remarkable instrument
it is.”
Lowman said he had dreamed of play
ing tuba in a big-league university match
ing band ever since his days in Belmont
High School’s rather modest marching
band.
The small college he attended as an
undergraduate had no marchingband, and
when Lowman finally arrived at a school
large enough to support one, he was too
busy with his graduate studies and a young
family to pursue his dream.
"I love to watch and listen to university
marching bands,” Lowman said. “Every
time I would see a really good one, I would
justthinktomyself: ‘l’m sorry I missed that
along life’s journey.’”
Then, about a year ago, Lowman de
cided to try and realize his dream.
He scrounged up an old, secondhand
tuba and began practicing with the instru
ment, trying to see how much he remem
bered.
“I gave myself three months,” Lowman
said. “And in about two weeks I was play
ing in the (Chapel Hill) Village Band. I
discovered that for me (playing) the tuba
was like a kid swimming or riding a bike—
you just never forget.”
After practicing for a few months,
Lowman approached UNC band director
Jim Hile about trying out for the marching
band.
“When he contacted me, he was very
enthusiastic about the idea,” Hile said.
BASKET
SMITH CENT E^HX
the outcome of the hearing. “(Allen) made
the correct decision,” Long said. “He saw
Austin’s needs as they are.”
Ashley Williams Lawyer, Terry Ham,
said he was disappointed with the deci
sion, but not with Allen. “I think (Allen)
did what he could do,” Ham said. “We
didn’t prove that the boy had been injured
because we didn’t have access to him.”
Ham also said he did not think Ashley
Williams would appeal the decision.
After handing down the custody order,
Allen ruled on the contempt of court charge
that had been leveled against Jim Will
iams. In lieu of a fine or a jail sentence, Jim
Williams was ordered to pay his ex-wife
SI,OOO during the next two months to help
defray her legal costs.
from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. today to accept
pledges or donations.
“This is our community for the four
years that we’re here as students at UNC,”
Rogers said. “It’s our responsibility to be
sure that the community as a whole has the
necessities to meet the needs of homeless,
and the main necessity is funding.”
Fitzpatrick said he thought it was im
portant for the fraternity to draw attention
to the issue.
“If someone doesn’t step forward to
address this, who will?” he said.
The fact that the sleep out is on Friday
the 13th isn’t important, said Logan.
“We can’t worry about that because
homeless people have to spend every night
sleeping outside.”
“But he was very concerned and worried
that he might be taking a position away
from a student.”
As luck would have it, however, several
of UNC’s marching tubas chose not to
return, leaving more than enough room for
a small psychology professor and his 27
pounds of marching Tar Heel sousaphone.
Joe Lowman was about to make his
lifelong dream happen.
When Lowman completed his stint in
UNC’s summer band training camp, he
began to realize just how intense and de
manding playing tuba with “the pros” was.
“I didn’t pass out or anything from the
heat,” Lowman said.
“And I discovered that working with
the marching band is intellectually more
difficult than anything else. I knew that
physically it would be hard —you’re hot
and sweaty after about 10 minutes of work
—but I knew I could do it. ”
The hardest part, Lowman said, was the
mechanical aspect of learning the march
ing band’s field routines; he said some of
the band’s segments can call for up to 40
field movements in only a 12-15 minute
time frame.
At this level, Lowman said, the march
ing band seemed more to him like a finely
choreographed ballet than anything else.
Despite Lowman’s weaker spots (other
students and band members reportedly gave
him personalized marching instructions),
Hile said everything was working out well
between the professor and his student
bandmates.
“I think he’s been a super addition,"
Hile said.
“He’s a solid tuba player and he brings
a truly new element to the band. He’s also
got a great personality —very enthusias
tic.”
UNC
I BALL!
Today Marks Last Chance
To Register to Vote in Pit
BYDAVE SNELL
STAFF WRITER
Student activists will be out in lull force
today in a final push to register voters
before the Nov. 7 election. Today is the last
day to register.
“More students vote in SBP (student
body president) elections than in load elec
tions,” Student Body Vice President Amy
Swan said. “That’s pathetic.”
Student Body Vice
President AMY
SWAN said students
should register to vote
because local issues
affect them.
Registration ef
forts will be intense,
Swan said. There
will be tables set up
in the Pit from 11
a.m. until 2 p.m.
where last-minute
registrations can be
completed in time
for the upcoming
elections.
“If we show up
at the polls in big
numbers this year,
it will show that we
are a body of voters
to contend with,”
Swan said.
Many students
pay taxes in Chapel Hill and Carrboro and
deserve the right to make their voices heard,
said Mohan Nathan, student body co-sec
retary.
“What goes on in the town affects what
happens here on campus,” Nathan said.
Swan also urged students registered in
their hometowns to change their registra-
Lowman and Hile both said Lowman’s
presence in the band had unforeseen ad
vantages for students.
“He is very much a liaison (between the
studentsandfaculty),” Hilesaid. “Hisreach
in the band, to students, goes very far and
wide.”
“The fact that I’m in the band makes me
an accessible, approachable faculty mem
ber," Lowman said “I think anything that
helps students see themselves as our peers
or even as an apprentice is what
college is all about.”
But life for Lowman isn’t all football
games and band rehearsals. Asa full pro
fessor in the department of psychology, he
carries a full class load complete with gradu
ate students.
Lowman is also an assistant dean with
the College of Arts and Sciences, a role
which he says eats up roughly one-third of
his his time.
When not teaching or advising,
Lowman also finds time to sing with the
Carolina Blue Barbershop Quartet and
occasionally in opera productions in the
region.
Last year, Lowman sang in the chorus
of Verdi’s “La Triviata” produced by the
Triangle Opera Theatre.
Lowman also helps to advise the Alphi
Phi Omega service fraternity and the UNC
Psychology Club.
Although Lowman said he was having
a great deal of fun with the band, he was
not planning on returning to the ranks of
marching Tar Heels once the semester is
over.
“I think going to Kenan Stadium
especially marching from Wilson (Library)
is the biggest rash in the world, and it’s
always over too quickly," Lowman said.
“But this is a one-time thing.”
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31 )t Daily ®ar Hr el
tion to Orange County.
“Students spend most of the year here,
and Chapel Hill is the place where the laws
affect them the most,” Swan said.
Swan cited examples of recent legisla
tion passed in Chapel Hill that directly
impact the University. Noise ordinances
and the controversial open-container law,
which has raised concern among students,
are examples of local laws which directly
affect the student population of the town,
Swan said.
“These are issues that come up in every
student’s life,” Swan said. “Elect people
who will listen to student needs and ad
dress them.”
Nathan emphasized that other campus
groups have been key to the success of the
registration effort.
“Alpha Phi Alpha (fraternity) showed
great leadership in getting the drive (for
registration) moving, and other groups have
followed along,” Nathan said. In addition
to Alpha Phi Alpha, SEAC, B-GLAD and
the UNC Young Democrats have been
active in the drive, Nathan said.
“They have been very integral in getting
the effort off the ground,” Nathan said.
For example, UNC Young Democrats
went door to door in residence halls around
campus registering people to vote, said
Aaron Nelson, UNC Young Democrats
president.
Nathan said the biggest problem was
getting voters to go to the polls.
Sstudents who cannot make it to the
tables in the Pit can also obtain the registra
tion forms in Davis Library.
ENDORSEMENTS
FROM PAGE 3
it produces, and also we’ll be proceeding to
look at other aspects of the issue of open
land.”
While the Sierra Cub was focusing on
Carrboro candidates, the Greens issued a
series of endorsments for candidates run
ning for office in Chapel Hill.
In support of Foy, Greens spokesman
Dan Coleman stated in a press release that
Foy “represents an opportunity for new
leadership for Chapel Hill."
In the release, Coleman said that Foy
was “hard working and knowledgeable of
the issues.”
This year also marks the second time
Chilton has received support from the
Greens.
“In the past two years, Mark has
emerged as a leader on the town council,”
Coleman stated.
“He is a strong vrjjcje for fairness and
environmental responsibility.”
Coleman stated in the release that
Franck’sworkontheChapelHilltranspor
tation board showed him to be a strong
voice for the curtailment of auto depen
dency.
“Richard Franck has shown himself to
be thoughtful and knowledgeableonarange
of issues,” Coleman stated.
Coleman also stated that the Green:
were expecting Capowski to remain at
advocate for community-oriented devel
opment along with environmental and so
cial responsibility.
Capowski said he was pleased the
Greens expressed confidence in him.
“I am happy with the endorsement, ol
course,” he said. “All endorsements help a
campaign.”
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