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OCTOBER 16,1996
Daly challenges town’s domestic partner law
BY ERICA BESHEARS
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Jack Daly, Republican candidate for
state auditor and executive director of
the N.C. Fund for Individual Rights,
plans to file a lawsuit against the town of
Chapel Hill today.
Daly, a UNC law student, is contest
ing the portion of Chapel Hill’s domestic
partners ordinance that extends health
insurance benefits to partners of town
employees on behalf of an anonymous
NCFIR client. Daly’s lawsuit will claim
that a municipality does nothave author
ity to define a “dependent. ” Town Attor
ney Ralph Karpinos said state law had
never been tested in court.
State statute defines a “dependent” as
Spirit of march moves
in attendees after year
BY CRISTINA SMITH
STAFF WRITER
The mall in Washington, D.C., will
look today as it always does the glim
mering mirrors of water surrounded by
poignant reminders of our nation’s vi
brant history.
But last year on this day, the pools
reflected much more than stone monu
ments to the past; they reflected the faces
of a million men making a statement
while they made history.
On the one-year anniversary of the
Million Man March, an event for black
males organized by the National Afri
can-American Leadership Summit, key
note speaker Louis Farrakhan will ad
dress an estimated crowd of up to 50,000
outside the United Nations building in
New York.
The New York event, inaugurating
the World Day of Atonement, is not
intended to replicate the Million Man
March. The day calls for an end to injus
tice, exploitation, violence and war world
wide.
“It’salow-key rally,” said Tyson King-
Meadows, a graduate student instructor
in political science at UNC who teaches
a class on black politics in America.
The Hartford Board of Education has
recognized the day by cancelling classes
after hundreds of teachers and employ
ATN to pull plug on old
e-mail system Thursday
■ Students who do not
switch to the new Isis will
not be able to use e-mail.
BY KERRY OSSI
STAFF WRITER
The combination of last week’s e-mail
crash and today’s deadline for switching
accounts to the new Isis system has many
students frustrated with the University’s
e-mail services.
Jeanne Smythe, director of academic
applications and systems at Academic
Technologies and Networks, said Tues
day that though today was the deadline
to change to the new Isis, ATN would
not turn off the old machine until 8 a.m.
Thursday.
“We want to make sure we have plenty
of staff available to answer people’s ques
tions when they realize (hey can’t log
on,” she said. "So we’re going to wait
until the next morning instead of turning
it off at midnight on Wednesday.”
Smythe said ATN would not throw
away anyone’s mail if they had not
changed from the old system by the dead
line, but students would be unable to log
on to their accounts until they switched
systems.
Smythe also said e-mail addresses
would not change under the new system
and students could still receive mail at
the old address, email.unc.edu.
The new Isis system performs better
and faster than the old one, Smythe said.
± Election education
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about the issues. Page 2
Republican candidate
for state auditor JACK
DALY plans to file the
lawsuit today.
a spouse, child or a
person for whom
one provides finan
cial support. Daly
said extending that
definition to in
clude domestic
partners violates
the statute.
“A municipality
has only that au
thority granted to
it by the General
Assembly,” he
said. “If it is not
empowered to do something and does it,
then it has exceeded its authority.”
After similar Georgia and Minnesota
ordinances were struck down for that
ees requested the day off. In addition to
Farrakhan, Winnie Mandela and civil
rights activist Dick Gregory are sched
uled to speak.
The World Day of Atonement marks
the third phase in a plan to awaken con
sciousness to the issues facing blacks,
King-Meadows said.
Months after the Million Man March,
the second phase was executed through
the National Political Convention of the
Oppressed, held in St. Louis last month.
“The purpose (of the convention) was
to develop a strategy for educating voters
and mobilizing around a national agenda
for African-Americans and other op
pressed people,” King-Meadows said.
By putting forth a national agenda of
issues, convention participants and orga
nizers strove to prevent political parties
from ignoring or exploiting minorities
and their concerns, he said.
Although the controversial Nation of
Islam leader launches today’s rally, King-
Meadows said it was important to note
that the march and convention, as well as
the rally, were the result of the coming
together of many black groups—not just
the Nation of Islam.
Many of the march participants were
not members of the Nation of Islam, he
said, but support its organizational and
political efforts.
“The Nation of Islam is significant
It handles more mail, allows more people
to use it at one time and has more disk
space and better security.
“We recognize that it’s a critical func
tion for the University, and we’re willing
to commit the resources to do a good
job,” she said.
Last Wednesday’s e-mail crash left
some students questioning this job.
The system went down at 7:15 p.m.
and was back up by noon on Thursday.
ATN restored the system using the backup
saved from Tuesday night, Smythe said.
“We tried several tactics throughout
the night to get it back up quickly,”
Smythe said. “But at 5 a.m. we finally
decided we had to go to the backup from
Tuesday, which caused some mail to be
lost.”
Director of Client Services Linwood
Futrelle said the backup restoration meant
students lost any mail received between
midnight Tuesday and 6 p.m. Wednes
day that they had not saved in a folder.
Futrelle said a student employee, who
he did not want to identify, caused the
crash.
“He unplugged a cable from a string of
disk drives he thought was inactive,”
Futrellesaid. “It was an honest mistake."
Because human error caused the crash,
Smythe said this particular problem
would not happen again.
“I was really frustrated by the crash,”
said Kristen Cuffee, a senior from
Carrboro. “Ifyou’re relying on e-mail for
a class, then it’s a huge problem when
something like this happens, especially if
it’s for a grade.”
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Bertrand Russell
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Deferred rush could be A
problematic, say Greek T
Affairs committee
task force members. Page 5
reason, Daly and his client decided to
challenge the Chapel Hill ordinance.
“The state Supreme Court rulings are not
binding, but they are still persuasive,”
Daly said.“Wewillpointtothesecases.”
Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos said
the rulings will have little to do with the
suit because the law in North Carolina
was different from those in other states.
“Our laws are interpreted by our court."
Karpinos, who advised the Chapel
Hill Town Council about the ordinance,
said, “Paying for health insurance ben
efits was an issue about which we had
some concern.” No N.C. law states
whether extending benefits was allowed.
Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf
didn’t want to comment on the suit. She
said the council voted for the ordinance
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DTH FILE PHOTO
One year ago today, Nation of Islam members lined up to begin the Million Man March in Washington, D.C.
Today, the World Day of Atonement will be marked in a slightly quieter fashion in New York City.
because it provides political might and a
social force," said Malcolm Logan, a
senior at UNC who marched in Wash
ington. Logan added that all blacks were
encouraged to voice their own opinions.
“The goal ultimately is to uplift every
one,” he said.
More important than raising aware
ness, the march created bonds among
people, Logan said. “The Million Man
March heightened a sense of brother
hood in the black community. To me,
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DTH/BRAD SMITH
Alex Weiss shows a couple of student volunteers the ins and outs of
drumming while an aspiring musician looks on in the Pit on Tuesday.
Common threads
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1 display of the entire AIDS
Memorial Quilt Page 6
with knowledge of its legalramifications.
“We made a choice,” she said.
Although all five employees who re
ceive health benefits for domestic part
ners are involved in heterosexual rela
tionships, Daly raised the issue of this
summer’s state legislation banning same
sex marriages.
“The question is whether a homo
sexual lover is a dependent,” he said. “I
don’t think anyone would argue that was
the intent of the General Assembly.”
A press release stated that Daly’s cli
ent was a Chapel Hill resident who
wanted to remain anonymous to avoid
“reprisals at the hands of the militant
homosexual movement.”
Karpinos questioned why Daly was
filing the suit less than a month before the
that is the most important effect it had.”
King-Meadows agreed that the march
strengthened cohesion among blacks.
“There is a greater sense of political and
economic efficacy,” he said, explaining
that blacks are learning that they can
transform their communities without
government intervention.
“It’s more than just buying black,” he
said. “It’s buying black and investing
black.”
King-Meadows said another difference
Today's
Weather ,
Mostly sunny; high *
70s.
Thursday: Cloudy mkJTOs.
election. Daly said the suit was not re
lated to his bid for state auditor.
He has filed several lawsuits over the
course of his campaign, including one
contesting UNC-system minority pres
ence grants and one alleging racial gerry
mandering of General Assembly districts.
Last week NCFIR took on the case of 6-
year-old Johnathan Prevette of Lexing
ton, who was punished for kissing a class
mate. Daly said his cases addressed is
sues of national importance. “If some
one were to say those suits are frivolous,
they are speaking out of ignorance.”
Council member Mark Chilton said
he did not view the suit against the town
as serious. “I think these suits are usually
not about law,” he said. “They’re more
about publicity.”
a year had made was the encouragement
of community involvement in small
groups working to support the goals of
national organizations such as the Na
tional Association for the Advancement
of Colored People.
"Organization translates into influ
ence,” he said.
Another influence the march had on
the community at large was to break the
See MARCH, Page 6
Report details highs, lows of
SBP’s first 6 months in office
BY JOHN SWEENEY
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Stressing the importance of account
ability in his administration, Student
Body President Aaron Nelson released
the “October Report” detailing the ups
and downs of his first six months in
office.
“We do not seek recognition for our
work but instead accountability for our
promises,” Nelson stated in the opening
to the report, which was unveiled at the
Oct. 9 meeting of Student Congress.
The report addresses issues raised in
Nelson’s campaign platform, goals of the
administration that have been formu
lated since Nelson’s inauguration and
issues that have come up unpredictably.
While the administration fulfilled only
15 of the 34 promises set forth in the
original platform, most of the 14 issues
that have come up since Nelson’s inau
guration have been dealt with success
fully.
Nelson could not be reached for com
ment Tuesday, but members of his cabi
net said they were pleased with the work
that was included in the report.
Graduate and Professional Student
Federation President Katherine Kraft, a
member of Nelson’s cabinet, came into
office when he did and has worked with
him on many issues. Kraft said she was
sometimes overwhelmed at the amount
of work that had been completed and the
number of goals that had been achieved
by the executive branch.
“It truly is amazing how much our
administrations have done,” she said. “It
103 years of editorial freedom
Serving the students and the Unhersity
community since 1893
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Volume 104, Issue 91
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
01996 DTH Pubhshmg Cop.
AH rights reserved
Low minority
presence felt
in congress
■ Members say they want
to increase minority and
female representation.
BY EVAN MARKFIELD
STAFF WRITER
Because of the relatively low numbers
of females and minorities involved with
the 78th Student Congress, representa
tives say they hope to increase the in
volvement of these groups.
Speaker of Student Congress James
Kilboume said seven females, two blacks
and two Asian-Americans currently were
numbered among the 33 members of
Student Congress, but he added that he
hoped to increase female and minority
involvement.
“We try to get the entire campus in
volved with what we’re doing,” he said.
But some Student Congress members
are concerned about the lack of diversity.
“I think that you don’t have too much
variety(inStudent Congress),’’said Vince
Rozier, speaker pro tempore of Student
Congress.
However, Kilboume said the reason
for the lack of diversity might have a lot
to do with a partial lack of interest on the
part of women and minorities.
“The problem is not that there is preju
dice, but that individuals do not compete
and try to win elections,” he said.
Former Student Congress member and
current Student Body Treasurer Julie
Gasperini agreed with Kilboume’s state
ment and said education of students was
necessary to increase involvement.
“The only thing we have a responsibil
ity to do is to educate the whole student
body as to their opportunity to become
involved in student government,” she
said.
Gasperini added that the aim of such
education should not only be minorities
and females, but all students who may
want to get involved. “I don’t think it’s
necessary to give emphasis to any par
ticular group,” she said.
Kilboume echoed this idea of educa
tion for the campus, and said Student
Congress is working on a web page so
students can get information on Student
Congress’ activities.
He added that his main goal was to
“increase interest” and to “have more
people involved.”
seems like we’ve been in office two years
instead of six months.”
Student Body Vice President Lindsay-
Rae Mclntyre said she felt the
administration’sbiggest success was deal
ing with Hurricane Fran, which left the
campus covered with debris. Student
government helped organize several
cleanup projects, the largest of which
included more than 3,000 students.
“It required us to come together as a
team in a hurry and to motivate and
mobilize the student body,” she said.
The report cites the “spirit of commu
nity and accomplishment” fostered by
the cleanup effort as the most important
achievement.
Kraft said that particular achievement
gave her a great sense of satisfaction.
“I have to agree with Aaron when he
says we have done a lot to develop a sense
of community,” she said.
Mclntyre cited the lack of “hands-on
outreach” to students to understand their
concerns as among the areas where the
administration had not been as success
ful as hoped.
“We can have student body meetings
and we can do surveys, but my primary
frustration is getting the concerns of stu
dents into our hands, so we can work
with them to find solutions to those con
cerns,” she said.
Mclntyre said she hoped to use the
next six months to develop better com
munication with students.
Another big issue discussed in the re
port is funding from the state legislature.
See REPORT, Page 7