Hatty ®ar Ttel
J?
Volume 103, Issue 145
102 yean of editorialfreedom
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
INSIDE
TUESDAY
| tEfjP lath) gar Ilrel \
About This Series
The Daily Tar Heel conducted an intercept
pofl on campus during the week of Jan. 29
- Feb. 2 to determine how important they
thought the following 10 issues should be
to the next student body president
Top 10 Student Issues
Q Conveying students' concerns to
administrators
0 Conducting an ethical administration
0 Stopping increases in tuition and student
fees
Q Changing things that affect students daily
such as dining and housing
(D Working with Student Congress to
allocate student activity fees
Q Improving safety on campus
0 Addressing the concerns of women and
minorities
Q Making cable and internet more easily
accessible to students
Q Serving as a University liaison to state officials
(Q) Creating an executive branch diverse in
race and gender
Campaign Moves to High Gear with First Candidate Forum
■ SBP hopefuls criticized
each other’s platforms at the
Di Phi forum Monday night.
BY SHARIF DURHAMS
STAFF WRITER
The four candidates for student body
president established the differences in their
platforms during a Monday night forum
sponsored by the Dialectic and Philan
thropic Societies.
When asked to
point out the flaws
in his opponent’s
platforms, Aaron
Nelson said issues
like candidate Lee
Conner’s plan to
increase lighting on
Campus Y
Candidate Forum
Frank Porter
Graham Student
Union 211 and
212,6 pja
campus have already been approved by
University administrators. “Youshouldn’t
have something in your platform that’s
already in the works,” Nelson said.
Conner said his contributions were in
strumental in increasing lighting. “I’m the
one that that made these things happen,”
he said. “I’m the one candidate who is
making part of his platform a reality.”
Including lighting improvements in his
platform was necessary to ensure that Uni
versity administrators actually follow
through on improving campus safety,
Conner said. “It’s not done yet. It’s still
going through,” he said.
Candidate Sean Behr said his platform
Weekend
Trailer Fire
Kills Two
■ The weekend blaze left a
man and his stepson dead
and his wife hospitalized.
BYDIANEM. BLACKMAN
STAFF WRITER
Two Chapel Hill residents died early
Saturday morning when fire broke out at
the Riggsbee Mobile Home Park on Air
port Road. A third was injuredintheblaze.
Wayne Rhodes and his 6-year-old step
son, Dominic Mack, died when flames
consumed their mobile home. Carla
Rhodes was listed in good condition Mon
daymomingatUNCHospitals, saidßobin
Gaitens, UNC hospital information of
ficer.
Gaitens said the listing means that
Rhodes’ body vitals were stable, she was
conscious, comfortable and the outlook
was excellent.
According to Chapel Hill Fire Depart-
See FIRE, Page 4
Women Unite
More than 30 UNC students
returned from the Women's
Empowerment Expo. Page 3
in
What Happens to Your Money?
Editor’s Note: The Daily Tar Heel is running a series on the top five issues and the
student body president candidates' proposals for addresssing them. Today, we
examine the No. 5 issue: working with Student Congress to allocate student fees.
BY JAMES LEWIS
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR
Working with students to allocate student fees was the fifth most
important issue facing the next student body president, students said
in The Daily Tar Heel elections survey.
Every year, undergraduate students pay S2O and graduate students pay sl2
to a student activities fee fund. After expenses, Student Congress is left with
about $150,000 each year to allocate to student groups.
In the past, critics have questioned how the money is
distributed and whether the process which student groups go
through to apply for a portion ofthat fund is fair and equitable. )—\
This past school year has been no different. fr*
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Rosenberger vs. Uni- ~—
versity of Virginia Board of Visitors, ruled that universities must consider all
groups even those political or religious in nature for funding. UNC had
previously denied these groups funding. Add to that the UNC Student Code,
which prohibits giving funds to student organizations that discriminate, and the
allocation process has hit a major roadblock. Since then, UNC’s student
government, with aid from the University legal coun
sel and student affair’s administrators, has been try
ing to decipher the meaning of the ruling for UNC.
Daniel Vandergriff, president of the North Cam
pus chapter of Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship,
said student government had been making progress in dealing with the issue.
IVCF applied for funding in early January, but the allocation bill has been
tabled, pending a further clarification of the Rosenberger decision.
“I think the Student Congress should allocate based on need and the way the
student body is represented in those groups,” Vandergriff said.
See PROCESS, Page 4
was unique because it established attain
able goals. “I think it’s the most realistic
platform out there,” he said.
Behr said he disagreed with the “laun
dry list” mentality used by other candi
dates . He criticized opponents for Hying to
address a large number of topics without
elaborating on them.
Michael Farmer said including students
in government was the unique aspect ofhis
platform. “We have to get in people who
are different, with different ideas and dif
ferent goals,” Farmer said.
The idea of a student fee audit commit
tee in Nelson’s platform was presented by
Student Body President Calvin
Cunningham, Farmer said. “I think every
single person up here had something in
(their platform) that was already in the
works,” he said.
During the forum, all candidates agreed
that increased pay and funding for gradu
ate students was important. However, they
disagreed on where the University should
find money for these expenditures.
Behr said better communication be
tween the Graduate and Professional Stu
dents Federation and the executive branch
wouldhelpgraduatestudentsgetthemoney
they needed.’Treat the GPSF President as
vice president of student government.”
Nelson said UNC should refocus cur
rent expenditures to pay for graduate stu
dent health insurance. “We can pay for
this if we make it a priority for the Univer
sity ,” he said.
UNC could use money from its endow
ment or seek private donations to assist
' "nHy^ ‘if
V' v A I-* I ML . I Jr '
.... v —... —. ....
7 " < H? Jr
I ill v m
DTH/RYAN MATTHEW
Jeremy Kimmel, left, and Wesley Eason drink coffee as they attempt to brave the freezing temperatures Monday.
The snowy weather outside has driven students to look for warmth in any way possible.
Either I vs bssn missing or nothing has hssn going on
Karen Elizabeth Gordon
Chapel Hill, North CaroliM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6,1996
&
Elections ’96
Monday's noon filing deadline
forced candidates to brave the
cold to enter the race. Page 2
Students apathetic
about elections
See Page 3
,T, ... ffimHEt v jsSS
DTH/IASONDRI
Michael Farmer speaks at the student body president candidate debate at the Dialectic Philanthropic
Society Chamber in New West Hall Monday night as Aaron Nelson (right) prepares his rebuttal.
graduate students, Conner said.
If elected, Conner said he would use his
position on the Board of Trustees to en
courage the development office to look for
Cup of Java
Student Fee Allocation Process jf
How it Works
■ Each semester, undergraduate students pay a S2O student activities fee. Graduate
students pay $ 12. The Student Activities Fund Organization (SAFO) acts as a bank
distributing funds to recognized student groups as Student Congress sees fit
What's Wrong?
■ Some student groups say the process is too JpSh.
complicated and timeconsuming and should be :
streamlined to improve efficiency and remove some mm
of the paperwork involved in applying for student VB Q
activities fees. <5 © O W
■ The U.S Supreme Court ruled last summer that
student groups cannot be denied funding A
because of their religious or political nature. h
I However, the UNC Student Code prohibits funding V Wf Mf
any student organizations which hold beliefs ■
excluding certain groups from membership. 3> H SHi
What the SBP Candidates Say
I Sean Behr wants to act assn advocate for student groups seeking fundhg.
I Lee Conner proposes a 'Code Convention' to resolve problems in the procedure.
■ Michael Fanner wants to bring student groups together to deal with the allocation process.
■ Aaron Nelson says congress should allocate funds in a way drat most benefits the campus.
DTH/CHMS KDUMAN, DANIEL NBLOCJL PM WEBB
private funding.
Farmer said he felf the Association of
Student Governments for all 16 UNC
schools could help cut costs on insurance
Sullivan Fined
Officials fined UNC hoopster Ryan
Sullivan S6O for an October charge
of possession of marjuana. Page 3
for graduate students. “Why don’t we talk
to representatives from all 16 schools and
talk about getting something for a volume
rate,” he said.
Muslim Stud
Holy Month
BY MARK LINEBERGER
STAFF WRITER
Since mid-January, a group of students
has been abstaining from food and drink
every day from dawn until sunset. While
this may seem extreme to some, for many
Muslims, it’s a way of life.
Muslims all over the world, including
the 30 to 50 in the Chapel Hill area, are
celebrating Ramadan, the Islamic month
of fasting. According to Mohommad
Bonawan, president of the Muslim Stu
dent Association (MSA), Ramadan is an
experience that seems to unify the Muslim
community.
“Ramadan is a time for Muslims to get
their mind back on the right track,”
Bonawan said.
In the Koran, the holy book of the Is
lamic faith, Muslims are instructed to set
aside Ramadan, the ninth month on the
Muslim calendar, as a month of self-con
trol.
“Fourteen hundred years ago,
Mohammad the prophet wanted us to fast
to achieve unity,” said Haffan Ahmad, a
senior from Pakistan and a member of the
Muslim Students Fast for
Holy Month of Ramadan
News/Features/Aits/Spora 962-0245
Business/Advertising 962-1163
C 1996 DTH Publishing Corp AD rights reserved.
Today's Weather
Partly sunny; high mid>3os.
Wednesday Partly sunny high
mid-40s.
Annexation
Creates
Controversy
■ Calvander residents said
they were not represented
fairly in the process.
BYSUZANNEWOOD
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen might
receive a letter from the Orange County
commissioneis tonight stating the com
missioners and residents ofCalvanderwere
not involved in the development of the
“joint planning area” covering a 4-square
mile portion of Calvander, said Commis
sioner Don Willhoit.
Both Carrboro and Orange County have
authority over the area known as the Small
Area Plan and must approve any zoning
plans together. The commissioners and
residents, however, felt they were not in
volved early enough in the planning pro
cess to make a difference in the outcome of
the project, Willhoit said. “It’s joint plan
ning, it should be joint planning,” he said.
Having the commissioners become in
volved in the planning two years after the
project was started was not fair to the
residents of Calvander, Willhoit said.
“In my opinion, we really ought to be
doing this together,” he said. “It’s really
hard after a group has been out of contact
with an idea for two years to come in and
make changes.”
The complaints of Calvander residents
and the commissioneis that they were not
involved in the planning process were un
founded, said Alderman Diana McDuffee.
“Coming up with this plan was a real
openprocess,”McDuffeesaid. “Thegroup
of 30 worked for two years and nobody
was excluded from this process. If the
county commissioners missed what hap
pened, I don’t know how that could have
been.”
Alderman Jacquelyn Gist agreed the
planning process had been open to the
Calvander residents and the commission
ers.
“When the Small Area Plan workgroup
was formed over two years ago, anyone
who wanted to could join the group, ” Gist
said. “It is not that there wasn’t an oppor
tunity for the people of Calvander to get
involved.”
Even though the residents of Calvander
were invited to join the planning group,
theywerenotgiven equal say on theproject,
said Commissioner Alice Gordon. Only
six of the 30 members of the group were
from Calvander, and those members felt
their ideas had been ignored, she said.
Willhoit said he had heard the same
complaints from the six Calvander mem
bers of the group. “At least one person
came to me and said she had been a mem
ber, but that her concerns had not been
heard.”
The residents of Calvander did not like
the plan of turning farmland into business,
manufacturing and residential districts,
Gordon said. The commissioners are the
See CARRBORO, Page 4
MSA.
The dates of Ramadan vary from year
to year, because of the fact that the Muslim
year is based on the moon and is therefore
shorter than the standard 365-day year.
While the word “fasting” may imply a
long stretch without food, there is a ritual
involved that dictates when Muslims may
eat.
During Ramadan, Muslims gather just
before dawn each day before morning
prayer to share in a small meal called
suhur. Following the meal, no food or
liquids are supposed to pass between their
lips until after sunset, when they gather for
iftar, the evening meal.
“The fasting is supposed to help de
velop an appreciation for things others are
often without, things which we often take
for granted,” Ahmad said.
However, there is more to Ramadan
than just fasting.
“You’re supposed to pay more atten
tion to exerting control over base desires. It
also involves abstinence from cheating,
lying, backbiting and lust,” said Ahmad.
See RAMADAN, Page 4