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MARCH 12,1996
Student Files Anti-Discrimination Suits
■ UNC law student Jack
Daly is also a Republican
candidate for state auditor.
BY GRAHAM BRINK
STAFF WRITER
A UNC-CH law student filed a civil
rights lawsuit Monday against the UNC
system in an attempt to eliminate alleged
discrimination in awarding scholarships.
Calling the current system of awarding
scholarships “abhorrent, immoral and per
sonally offensive," Jack Daly, 23, an
nounced the filing of a two-part federal
lawsuit that contends that sexual prefer
ence-based and race-based scholarships
violate the first and 14th amendments.
In the first claim, Daly, one of eight
white plaintiffs from various institutes in
the UNC system, said that minority pres
ence grants discriminate against the plain
tiffs on the sole basis that they are not of the
favored race.
The UNC system created minority pres
ence grants in the 1970s to boost minority
enrollment.
“Scholarships should be based on need
and merit, not skin color or religious be
liefs," Daly said.
Daly acknowledged the long history of
discrimination against black students in
the UNC system, but said history does not
justify the current discrimination.
“Fighting discrimination with another
form of discrimination will only compound
the problem,” Daly said. “We must help
the economically deprived, but not on the
basis of race.”
In the second claim, Daly, the sole
plaintiff, said the Alan Berman Memorial
Scholarship, which commemorates the
1974 law school graduate, violated his first
amendment rights by excluding students
who hold traditional Christian beliefs.
Robbins’ Bid to Dismiss Suit Fails in Pre-Trial Hearing
■ The case will be heard by
the Student Supreme Court
on Thursday night.
BY NATALIE NEMAN
STAFF WRITER
A trial will be held Thursday night to
determine whether a Senior Class recall ’
election will occur, despite arguments from
the Elections Board and Senior Class Presi
dent-Elect Ladell Robbins and Vice Presi
dent-Elect Amelia Bruce during a pre-trial
hearing Monday.
In the run-off election held Feb. 20,
Katie McNemey and Minesh Mistry de
feated Robbins and Bruce by a narrow
margin. After a recount, it was determined
that Robbins and Bruce had won the race
by a single vote.
Mark Shelboume, legal counsel for
plaintiffs McNemey and Mistry, said, dur
ing the pre-trial hearing, that a trial should
be granted because evidence that the Elec
tions Board had not adequately performed
its job existed.
Students Allotted 30 Tickets
For NCAA Opening Rounds
BYROBBIPICKERAL
SPORTS EDITOR
John Swofford, UNC’s director of ath
letics, was excited when he learned that the
Tar Heel basketball team would be playing
its first-round and
second-round
games in Rich
mond.
“I was watching
the seedings Sunday
night, and I was ini
tially thrilled to be
playing so close to
home,” Swofford
said. “And then I
realized what a
ticket nightmare it
was going to be.”
Indeed, only 30
tickets will be avail
able to students.
UNC athletic director
JOHN SWOFFORD
said tickets are in high
demand for the games
in Richmond.
Vouchers will go on sale at 8 a.m. today at
the Smith Center ticket office. Cost is $25
each, and students must show valid UNC
identification and a driver’s license.
Virginia Commonwealth University is
hosting the East Region site. According to
the VCU ticket office, each of the eight
Every great man has his disciples, and it is always Judas who writes the biography.
Oscar Wilde
Crime on Break
Despite a Sunday
carjacking, local police said
there was no rise in crime
during the vacation. Page 3
M
“Fighting discrimination with
another form of discrimina
tion will only compound the
problem. We must help the
economically deprived, but not
on the basis of race. ”
JACK DALY
Law Student
According to Daly, the Berman Scholar
ship is awarded to homosexual law stu
dents and law students involved in homo
sexual rights.
It is a felony in North Carolina to en
gage in the homosexual activities that are
conditions of consideration for the Berman
Scholarship, Daly said.
“I should not have to give up my Chris
tian beliefs in order to be eligible for a
scholarship,” he said. “There must be a
compelling governmental interest to award
such a scholarship.”
In a written description of the Berman
Scholarship, Ellen Smith, director of pub
lic information at the UNC-CH School of
Law, stated that the scholarship is awarded
on the basis of a sound scholastic record
and financial need.
A preference is given to students inter
ested in working to advance civil rights for
homosexuals.
“The scholarship is not given on the
basis of sexual orientation,” she said.
Susan Ehringhaus, senior UNC-CH
council, said scholarships awarded by pri
vate groups, such as the Berman scholar
ship, are exempt from governmental guide
lines. Daly disagreed.
“The state-run university is advertising
and administering the scholarship so it
becomes part of the public domain,” Daly
said. “Even though the government isn’t
i. — x •-
The team of KATIE MCNERNEY and MINESH MISTRY (left) is suing
LADELL ROBBINS and AMELIA BRUCE and the Elections Board.
“We have some basic questions of (elec
tions) law here,” Shelboume told Chief
Justice Wendy Sarratt, who presided over
the hearing. “Is it sufficient to leave the
ballot boxes unsealed for 13 hours? The
fact is: These errors have removed a sense
of fairness.”
The plaintiffs have a total of seven wit
nesses: three who saw ballot boxes stuffed
over capacity, three who witnessed Elec
tions Board members categorizing students
schools received 350 tickets to be divided
by each respective athletic department.
Swofford said 30 of those 350 tickets
would be available for students, 30 would
go to the band, and four tickets would be
available for each of the 13 varsity basket
ball players.
TTiat accounts for 112 of UNC’s allot
ment.
Moyer Smith, the executive vice presi
dent of UNC’s Educational Foundation,
said the foundation expected to receive
around 100 tickets, which it would make
available to members based on the amount
of donations made.
That accounts for 212 of UNC’s allot
ment.
Finally, Swofford said the remaining
tickets were reserved for season ticket hold
ers, faculty, administration and coaches’
families.
Swofford said that with so few tickets
available to each school, it was impossible
to satisfy the ticket demands of any con
stituency.
“When your program is as popular as
ours is ... it’s an absolute problem,”
Swofford said.
See TICKETS, Page 2
GOP Youth Vote
UNC's student Republican
leaders are divided over
which gubernatorial
candidate to back. Page 3
w . IK
DTH/GRAHAM BRINK
UNC law student Jack Daly answers questions at the State Legisature building
in Raleigh on Monday afternoon. Daly has filed suit against the UNC system,
claiming its method of awarding scholarships unfairly favors minorities.
involved in the initiation of the award, the
government will be asked to enforce the
scholarship guidelines.”
Daly, a Republican candidate for state
auditor, described these claims as “front
burner” political issues that cannot be eas
*
wtong and one who says the ballot boxes
were not properly secured, Shelboume said.
Joseph Burby, legal counsel for defen
dants Robbins and Bruce, said McNemey
and Mistry’s allegations were based on
speculation rather than fact. “The allega
tions are so unfounded and outrageous
and without any supporting evidence, ” he
said. “Plaintiffs have the burden of estab
lishing the possibility of an election error.
This does not establish its probability.”
DTH/ERDCPERU
Chris Johnson, a senior from Charlotte, reads Howard Korder’s "The Lights' outside Caffetrio on Monday. Johnson,
who is reading the play for a production class, said he frequents the spot about four times a week.
Butler Blasts UNC
With Late Rally
Butler scorched the Tar
Heels for three runs in the
seventh inning. Page 5
J 5&
ily dismissed.
“People should not be summarily re
jected for scholarship consideration on the
bases of race or religious preference, ” Daly
said. “We should strive for a colorblind
society.”
Even if ballot boxes were brimming
over, both sets of candidates would be
affected equally, Burby said.“ The plain
tiffs are grasping for straws,” he said.
“We’re hoping tonight that you can save
everyone some time by not granting a trial. ”
Robbins and Bruce have 23 witnesses:
13 members of the Elections Board, them
selves and eight other witnesses.
Elections Board Chairwoman Annie
Shuart and board member Brian Ferrell,
who represented themselves, argued that
McNemey and Mistry filed their elections
complaints as an administrative error, in
stead of filing it as a complaint with certi
fication of the election, as described in the
Student Code. Because they filed the com
plaint the wrong way, their request for a
trial should be dismissed, Ferrell said.
After Sarratt rejected this motion,
Ferrell argued that the fines levied against
McNemey and Mistry for failure to re
move posters after the elections put them
over the spending limits allowed for candi
dates. Candidates who exceeded the limit
were automatically disqualified from elec
tions, Ferrell said.
McNemey and Mistry were on a “fish
Drinking and Drama
Today's
Weather
Partly to mostly
cloudy, high 40s.
Wednesday: Warmer, high 50s.
Graduate Programs Nab
Magazine’s Top Honors
■ U.S. News and World
Report ranked five UNC
departments in the top 25.
BY JOHN SWEENEY
STAFF WRITER
Although Chancellor Michael Hooker
has expressed concern in recent months
over UNC’s fall in the U.S. News & World
Report college ratings, newly-released
rankings named five UNC graduate pro
grams among the top 25 in the nation.
The March 18 issue of the magazine,
which hit newsstands Monday, rated the
School of Information and Library Sci
ence, Kenan-Flagler Business School and
graduate programs in chemistry, computer
science and biological sciences within the
top 25.
The magazine also ranked three under
graduate programs in the School of Jour
nalism and Mass Communication within
the top 10 in the nation.
In the journalism school, the specialty
program in print media ranked fourth,
public relations ranked fifth and advertis
ing ranked seventh.
Journalism rankings were determined
by a national survey of deans and leading
faculty.
“I would attribute (the rankings) to the
quality of the faculty and the quality of our
graduate students,” said Associate Dean
of the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication Thomas Bowers. “This is
a nice affirmation of the excellence that
we’ve worked hard to build and main
tain.”
The library science program tied for
second in the nation with the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor. It was the first
time such a ranking, determined by a sur-
“Plaintiffs have the burden of
establishing the possibility of
an election error. This does
not establish its probability."
JOSEPH BURBY
Legal counsel for defendants Ladell
Robbins and Amelia Bruce.
ing expedition” to find any way possible to
obtain a recall election, Ferrell said.
“The fishing expedition is over, and the
fish is on the boat, ” Shelboume responded.
A recall election was needed to insure
that students chose the Senior Class presi
dent and vice president, McNemey said
before the pre-trial. “The decision should
be made by the students, and as it stands
now, it’s a decision made by the Elections
Board,” she said. “Both sets of candidates
have put in numerous hours of hard work
and energy, and it’s discouraging the result
has been a misunderstanding to say the
least.”
103 years of editorial freedom
Serving the students and die University
community since 1893
News/Featurcs/Aits/Spoftr. 962-0245
Business/ Advertising: 962-1163
Volume 104, Issue 8
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C 1996 DIH Publishing Gap.
All rights reserved.
Pulling Rank
U.S. News and World Report's
national rankings of UNC graduate
programs and specialty areas.
Library Science 2nd
Journalism and Mass Communication
Print Media 4th
Public Relations sth
Advertising 7th
Doctoral Sciences
Chemistry 15th
Kenan-Flagler 17th
Business School
Computer Science 18th
Biological Sciences 25th
School of Education 32nd
School of Law 34th
vey of deans, administrators and senior
faculty, was included in the U.S. News &
World Report rankings.
The Kenan-Flagler Business School
graduate program, which placed 18th last
year, moved up to 17th in this year’s
rankings.
The program was evaluated on student
selectivity, placement success and reputa
tion.
Three doctoral science programs from
Arts and Sciences were listed in the top 25.
The chemistry program ranked 15 th, the
computer science program ranked 18th
and die biological sciences program ranked
25th.
In the chemistry program, the analyti-
See RANKING, Page 2
Jordan Group
May Donate
Funds to UNC
■ The School of Social Work
may receive a contribution
after the foundation closes.
BYMARISA FERGUSON
STAFF WRITER
UNC’s School of Social Work could get
a boost in funding if rumors of a major
donation are true.
Representatives from the Michael Jor
dan Foundation of the Carolinas an
nounced Friday that the organization
would close on March 31, and its funds
might go to the UNC School of Social
Work.
The foundation
has offices in Char
lotte and Chicago.
The closing came as
a result of expensive
administrative
costs. Representa
tives from the foun- •
dation announced
the family’s plans to
continue helping
disadvantaged chil
dren. Jordan’s
mother, Deloris, is
a board member of
\ j*WL. j
MICHAEL JORDAN'S
charitable foundation
will close due to high
administrative costs.
the School of Social Work.
The family hopes to direct its support to
the Institute of Families, a center of com
munity support being developed in the
School of Social Work, a Foundation press
release states.
“The Jordan family has always demon
strated a support for such organizations,”
said Elizabeth Benefield, assistant dean for
development and external relations at the
School of Social Work. “They are inter
ested in joining forces with this organiza
tion and others across North Carolina.”
Deloris Jordan and Michael Jordan, a
UNC alumnus and player for the Chicago
Bulls NBA basketball team, serve as presi
dent and CEO, respectively, of the Foun
dation. The Jordans hoped to have a posi
tive effect on troubled youth and their
communities.
The J ordans hopetomakemore progress
in their goals through their work with the
Institute ofFamilies, the press release states.
“The Jordan family is excited about the
transition, believing that this is a positive
move that will enable them to make an
See JORDAN, Page 2