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OCTOBER 30,1996
Search begins for new
arts and sciences dean
■ Committee members
want the University to hire
anew dean by July 1.
BY SARA YAWN
STAFF WRITER
A committee appointed by Chancel
lor Michael Hooker to find and recom
mend anew dean for the College of Arts
and Sciences re
cently began
searching.
The committee,
which was formed
by Hooker in Sep
tember, has held a
few preliminary
meetings and sev
eral applications
have already been
received, said As
sociate Provost
Lawrence Gilbert.
The 20 members
of the committee
will look for some
one to succeed
— : —T
Chancellor MICHAEL
HOOKER appointed
the 20member
committee which will
recommend the next
dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences.
Stephen Birdsall,
who announced his intention to return to
a full-time teaching position in the De
partment of Geography when his five
year term ends in June.
“We are going for the best person in
the country,” Gilbert said.
The College of Arts and Sciences,
which Gilbert called “the heart and soul
of the University,” has 32 departments
and 34 interdisciplinary units, with an
Politicos
mobilize
students
■ Partisan groups push
UNC students to the polls
through voter awareness.
BY JASON MORRELL
STAFF WRITER
While baby boomers place college stu
dents firmly in the “slacker generation,”
many UNC political groups have mobi
lized to dispel this view by encouraging
student activism and knowledge in the
field of politics.
With 1996 as a pivotal election year,
campus political organizations have been
working in full force to increase voter
registration, as well as to inform the apa
thetic voters on election issues.
“Students must realize that the things
that go on in Washington do have an
effect on them,” said Shannon Stamey,
co-president of the Young Democrats.
“We stand to lose
the most. We can’t
keep quiet.”
Stamey, ajunior
from Cherokee,
said the group had
registered several
hundred voters
through the Caro
lina Vote Project.
Winston
McMillan, chair-
Acting Up
at UNC
A continuing taries
on UNC activism
man of the Young Republicans, said this
political action had drawn attention from
other area schools.
“When I talk about the political groups
on campus with students at other schools,
they always tell me that their school is
not politically active to the extent of
UNC,” McMillan said.
Typically, the partisan groups have
worked on political thought and issues in
abstract manners. But this semester has
been a bit different.
“This semester, we actually apply
those ideas to the campaign,” said
McMillan, ajunior from Laurinburg.
See POLITICAL GROUPS, Page 9
li; Elections '96
M The Daily Tar Heel profiles
Jf the candidates for Orange
* County commissioners.
■ Page 2
enrollment of about 12,500 undergradu
ates and 2,300 graduate students. The
dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
also serves as dean of the General Col
lege.
The committee will meet with groups
and individuals to solicit input as to who
should be chosen and what qualities the
new dean should possess.
“As we prepare to educate the state’s
best and brightest for success in the 21st
century, I will look to the next dean to
provide the college with visionary lead
ership as well as forceful, inspirational
and effective management,” Hooker
stated in a press release.
The committee will make a recom
mendation to Hooker following a na
tionwide search.
Hooker will then recommend a candi
date to the Board of Trustees before the
Board of Governors makes the final deci
sion.
Some general criteria for candidates
were laid out in an advertisement for the
new dean.
“Candidates should have significant
administrative experience, demonstrated
collegiality, excellent communication
skills, effectiveness as an administrative
leader andarecord of distinguished schol
arship and teaching,” the ad stated.
Barbara Moran, dean of the School of
Information and Library Science and
chairwoman of the committee, said she
hoped to have a replacement in the posi
tion by July 1, but said it was impossible
to say when a recommendation would be
made.
“You never can tell how long these
things will take.”
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Campus groups encourage students to actively participate in politics. Many organizations sponsored
voter registration drives in the Pit during October.
Voter turnout linked to state of union
BY WHITNEY MOORE
STAFF WRITER
ThepercentageofAmericanswhotum
out to vote in elections has declined in
recent years, a trend some analysts say
might continue next Tuesday.
“The economy is in good shape, and
people are sufficiently happy with (Presi
dent) Bill Clinton and (Gov.) Jim Hunt,”
said Thad Beyle, UNC professor of po
litical science. "(People) don’t feel the
need to change it.”
Michelle Wyatt, director of voter reg
istration at the N.C. Board of Elections,
said that in North Carolina only about 65
percent of registered voters came to the
polls in recent elections, and only 74
percent of eligible voters bother to regis
ter.
Low voter turnout can be blamed on a
variety of things. However, political ob-
Acoustic’Autumn’
A nwH UNC senior Mike Garrigan
|H|B releases his CD tonight at
Abl2 Cat’s Cradle. Page 5
Walker discusses trials of censorship
BY JAMIE GRISWOLD
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Internationally recognized poet, nov
elist and essayist Alice Walker spoke
about her experiences with censorship to
a sold out crowd at Memorial Hall on
Tuesday night.
Walker, who joked about having to
stand on a step to peer over the podium,
said censorship often occurred where it
was least expected.
“When we think about censorship and
banningbooks, we often think about other
countries,” Walker said. “But people’s
books are banned, and books are burned
here.”
Walker, whose novel “The Color
Purple” is often banned for its discussion
about incest and spousal abuse, spoke
about the removal of two of her short
stories from a lOth-grade English test in
California. One ofthe stories was banned
for being anti-religious, and the other,
“Am I Blue?” for being “anti
meateating,” because at the conclusion
of that story, the narrator spits out a piece
of steak.
“They said if children from farming
communities went to school and they
had to read this story, it would make
them really unhappy about their parents
and farming,” Walker said. “In other
words, they might start to question their
own meat eating."
Ironically, in the same week the sto
ries were banned, California Gov. Pete
Wilson wanted to give Walker an award
for being a state treasure.
“On one hand, I was about to be
named a treasure of the state, and on the
other hand my work was being denied to
lOth-graders,” she said. “So of course I
wasn’t interested in being a treasure.”
Walker is best known for the Pulitzer
servers most of
ten say voters are
pleased with the
nation’s course
anddon’twantto
instigate change.
“The content-
IgLg
ment of citizens, whether or not they
think they need a change, helps deter
mine whether or not they vote,” Wyatt
said. “ Discontent usually prompts people
to vote.”
Since 1992, the number of registered
voters in North Carolina has increased
from 3.8 million to 4.3 million, some
thing Wyatt attributes to the National
Voter Registration Act, which made it
easy for people to register.
But Wyatt said North Carolina was
still behind where it could be.
“Looking at voter turnout across the
country, North Carolina is 44th or 46th
If you drink like a fish, swim, don’t drive.
Bumper sticker
Jones garners
A SMB P reseason plaudits
UNC guard Marion Jones is
f a Naismith candidate and
All-ACC. Page 6
Prize-winning “The Color Purple,” which
was made into a major motion picture.
She is also the author of four other nov
els, two collections of short stories, four
volumes of poetry, two collections of
essays and two children’s books. Her
most recent work, “Banned, ” is a nonfic
tion account of the experience of having
her work banned.
Walker said it was important for young
writers to recognize that practices such as
book burning and censorship exist.
“One of the things that I like to tell
people, especially the youth, is to always
remind them that all kinds of opposition
may occur toward their talent, ” she said.
“Your gift may be denied, even thrown
back at you. But if it’s a true gift, one that
truly benefits the people, it’s all right.”
Walker also spoke about her work
against female genital mutilation. She
said she first learned about the practice as
an 18-year-old student in Kenya.
“As someone from here, I couldn’t
even imagine it,” she said. “I really
wrestled with this for about 20 years,
trying to think about how I could write
about it.”
Walker said she asked herself many
questions about the physical and emo
tional effects of genital mutilation on
women and children and came to the
realization that educated people needed
to help victims of the practice become
free. Walker first introduced her readers
to the practice in “The Color Purple” and
again in “The Temple of My Familiar."
“As black people, we have been the
recipient of so much assistance and
struggle,” Walkersaid. “Asadutyandas
a token of appreciation, you have to
extend freedom to people who need it.
And the person who needs it most, who
has the most to fear, is the African female
child, who is the least of all in this world.”
out of the 50 states, and that’s pretty
bad,” she said.
Beyle pointed to voter apathy as a
factor in low turnouts.
“It looks like there’s a lot of apathy
and a lack of energy in politics this year, ”
he said. “If there’s a lack of energy, people
probably aren’t interested in the out
come.”
But Dan Gurley, director of field op
erations for the N.C. Republican Party,
said he was optimistic that a large num
ber of people would vote this year. “I
think there will be a good turnout,” he
said. “Both parties are doing a lot to
excite their people.”
Gurley said a high turnout was essen
tial to the system. “ Democracy as a whole
is better served by a large number of
people voting,” he said.
See VOTERS, Page 9
Today's
. Weather .
" Partly cloudy, chance "
of rain; mid 70s.
Thursday: Cloudy: low 70s.
DTH/AMY CAPPIELLO
World-renowned author Alice Walker autographs copies of her work in the
Carolina Union Gallery on Monday night after speaking at Memorial Hall.
N.C. legislative races
affect UNC students
BY EMILY HOWELL
STAFF WRITER
UNC-system students should pay close
attention to who they vote for in N.C.
General Assembly races this fall, two
24th District House candidates stressed.
The N.C. House and Senate directly
control University funding, incumbent
Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange, and Demo
cratic candidate Verla Insko of Chapel
Hill said.
Republican candidate Dan Buedel of
Chatham County agreed that University
funding wasimportant, but said that too
much attention had been paid to it.
“I think it is important for people to go
to college, but if they are 14 or 16 and
know they aren’t going to go to college,
then there should be trade and apprentice
schools that they can go to," he said.
He favors school vouchers that would
enable students to go to college for at
least a couple of years, he said.
Tracy Fowler, the other Republican
candidate, also said he found funding
important, but officials should weigh the
costs of new programs against their ben
efits before funding them.
“Of course we need funding and grants,
but we have to ask how are we going to
pay for it,” he said.
Both Democratic candidates empha
sized the power associated with having a
majority in the House.
“The party that controls the House
really controls the agenda, including the
funding for education,” Insko said.
“The University’s budget was deci
mated by the Republican House last year
and restored by the Democratic Senate, ”
she said.
Hackney agreed about the importance
of the majority party in securing funds.
“It’s critical to get control of the House
and maintain Democratic control of the
Senate,” Hackney said.
But Fowler pointed to North
Carolina’s educational rating within the
nation as an example of the Democrats’
failures. “I think that if people would
stop and realize that their representative
has been saying he’s doing so much for
education, yet we’re still 48th in the na
tion, I’d have a shot at it,” he said.
Fowler said he wanted to end all teach
ers’ tenure. He supports pay raises for
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Volume 104, Issue 99
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£>1996 DTH Publishing Carp
All rights reserved.
teachers but added that they should be
merit-based and not across the board.
“We should base raises on teacher
evaluations and classroom test scores on
statewide exams,” he said.
Chatham and Orange counties’ seats
have long been Democratic strongholds.
Hackney and Rep. Anne Barnes, D-Or
ange, have held the seats since the early
1980s.
Barnes withdrew from her re-election
bid in August, and Insko was selected to
replace her.
The effects of her withdrawal are un
known, but Insko and Hackney were
optimistic about retaining the seats.
Buedel said the liberal background of
the area had its drawbacks.
“ I think this area has a problem voting
for anybody who doesn’t have a ‘D’ be
hind their name,” he said. “I think if I
were running for the other party my
chances of winning would be greatly in
creased.”
Fowler said he had studied the issues
in the campaign carefully and believed
he had a good chance at being elected.
Hackney and Insko are campaigning
together and have included mailings,
newspaper ads and public appearances.
The two are sending mailings to all newly
registered voters and Democrats who
have voted in the last two elections.
Fowler and Buedel are not campaign
ing together. Buedel said their strategies
had taken different routes. Fowler said
the Republican Party had sent out a num
ber of mailings that had included both
candidates for the 24th District race.
He has also begun running radio ads
and some newspaper ads. Buedel said he
has not been campaigning in the media.
“I don’t think signs are going to help
me,” he said. “I know that gimmicks are
what win an election, but I‘m focusing on
talking to people individually.”
Editor's note
Because of a mechanical problem with
the press on which The Daily Tar Heel is
printed, Tuesday's paper was not available
before early classes yesterday.
If you missed Tuesday's paper, copies
can be obtained at the DTH office.