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INSIDE
FRIDAY
MARCH 7,1997
Court rules in favor of Mclntyre
■ The Student Supreme
Court reaffirmed that there
are two vice presidents.
BY ASHLEY STEPHENSON
STAFF WRITER
The Student Supreme Court deliv
ered a verdict in favor of Student Body
Vice President Lindsay-Rae Mclntyre
on Thursday in a suit she filed to clarify
the position and duties of the office of
vice president.
The court reaffirmed the existence of
two vice presidents, each with its own
unique rights and responsibilities.
The first office will be filled by the
student body vice president, while the
second seat will be occupied by the
Graduate and Professional Student
Federation president.
Mclntyre said she was pleased with
Law school ranking hurt by magazine error
BY SHARIF DURHAMS
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Everyone makes mistakes, but law school deans
at UNC and other schools blasted U.S. News &
World Report on Thursday for making errors in its
law school rankings.
“It just goes to show how shabby these rankings
are,” said Kimberly Reed, UNC School of Law
director of career development and placement.
UNC dropped two places to the 35th ranked
school Wednesday when U.S. News released cor
rections to the list it printed in its March 10 issue.
When computing the rankings, employees used
figures for unemployed law school graduates who
were not looking for jobs instead of graduates
searching for work.
Managing
* ►
Chandra Taylor and Mavis Gragg,
outgoing co-presidents of
the Black Student Movement,
reflect on their accomplishments.
BY ANDREW MCLESTER
STAFF WRITER
Just when you thought election season had ended, a
quieter changing of
the guard occurred
last week.
As the terms of
Mavis Gragg and
Chandra Taylor, co
presidents of the
Black Student
Movement, come to a
close, anew leader is
ready to continue on
the path they paved.
“I think Chandra
and I were able to
make a strong foun
dation for (President
elect India Will
iams),” Gragg said.
Williams, the
BSM’s current execu
tive assistant, said she
had big shoes to fill.
“(Mavis and Chan
dra) have attempted
to make the BSM
more accessible to
students,” said Will
iams, a junior from
Raleigh.
And member
accessibility com
prised a key part of
their platform when
they ran together last
spring.
But translating
their ideas into a suc
cessful campaign did
not begin so easily.
Both women said
liw
jlBP’, * *
Sr i \ f mm
DTH/STEPHANIE SCHILLING
BSM Co-presidents Mavis Gragg and Chandra Taylor worked
hard to broaden multicultural awareness on campus.
Someday the sun is going to shine down on me in some faraway place .
Mahalia Jackson
Jagged little pill
A Chapel Hill man tried
to escape drug charges
by swallowing a rock of
crack cocaine. Page 2
■m
the verdict.
“It’s what I
wanted to happen,
so obviously I’m
happy. The court
did its job, and it
did what we want
ed to be done.”
The verdict also
clarified the use of
the word “under-
Student Body
Vice President
UNDSAY-RAE
MCINTYRE said she
was pleased with the
Student Supreme
Court's verdict.
graduate” in the
title of the vice
president and
ruled that under
graduate status
was not a qualifi
cation for the
office. The title
“undergraduate student body vice presi
dent,” used repeatedly in the Student
Code, only served the purpose of differ
entiating the office from the position of
graduate and professional vice presi-
Editors at U.S. News explained how they made
the mistake to representatives from several law
schools Thursday. “We have made a mistake, and
we apologize for the inconvenience this informa
tion has caused to our readers and the law schools
involved,” said Thomas Evans, president and pub
lisher of U.S. News, in a telephone interview.
The small error made some large changes in the
rankings. Yale remained the top-ranked school, but
the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities jumped
from 23rd to 20th, and the University of Colorado-
Boulder dropped 12 ranks to number 42.
Reed said the mistake should not have made
such drastic changes in the rankings. “When they
explained what the mistake was, it was quite obvi-
See RANKINGS, Page 4
they had to think hard to be sure they wanted to lead
UNC’s second-largest student group.
“ATfAOrIGAMAiq
/(* t * to take on,” said
Gragg, a junior from
Black Mountain.
Taylor mentioned the prospect of running for BSM
president to Gragg in the middle of last year, but neither
had seriously considered putting her name on the ballot.
Run for research
The eighth annual
Franklin 5K will benefit
national breast cancer
research. Page 4
dent.
GPSF President Katharine Kraft
said, “My first reaction, in keeping with
the idea that the individual has been
clarified as either an undergraduate or
graduate, I would hope sincerely that
the person would have the ability to rep
resent graduates and undergraduates.
“In my opinion (the verdict) makes it
all the more important that the student
body president and undergraduate vice
president are utterly and completely
informed of all constituents, graduate
and undergraduate.”
The court re-emphasized the vice
president’s duties, which include “the
duties of the president in his absence, to
oversee appointments and to represent
the president of the student body and
the student body as a whole on occa
sions in which the president is not pre
sent."
The court stated that these duties did
not apply to the graduate and profes
News you can't use
U.S. News & World Report changed the rankings of 33 of
its top 50 law schools due to a calculation error. The error
occurred because, in calculating the quality of the law
school, employees switched the numbers for unemployed
graduates seeking jobs and those not seeking jobs.
University From To
Yale first first
Stanford fourth third
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 23rd 20th
University of Colorado-Boulder 30th 42nd
UNC-Chapel Hill 33rd 35th
Wake Forest 35th 30th
Ohio State 45th 47th
SOURCE: U.S. NEWS k WORLD REPORT DTH STAFF GRAPHIC
After much con
templation, the two
decided to run as co
presidents —but not
without opposition.
Several people
voiced concern
because a co-presi
dency had never been
carried out success
fully in the BSM’s
history, said Taylor, a
senior from Kinston.
Despite this oppo
sition, Gragg and
Taylor were elected
and embarked on a
mission to improve
the BSM.
Besides member
accessibility, Gragg
and Taylor aimed to
increase student in
volvement.
“We wanted to
reach out to the
University communi
ty, and we have defi
nitely done that,”
Gragg said.
Williams said this
goal had translated
into projects such as
a BSM web page and
weekly focus-groups.
But Gragg and
Taylor said they did
not want to limit
their outreach efforts
See BSM, Page 2
sional vice president, because the indi
vidual was an “ex officio member” of
the executive branch.
The court concurred with Mclntyre’s
request to prohibit the graduate and pro
fessional vice president from acting as
anything other than an ex officio mem
ber of the student body president’s
office.
The court stated that the duties of
the office of graduate and professional
vice president would include advising
the student body president on graduate
and professional appointments, repre
senting his or her constituency and
addressing other issues, if asked by the
student body president.
The court denied Kraft’s request to
“declare the undergraduate student
body vice president to be the undergrad
uate vice president of the student body,”
because any registered student may
apply for the position, regardless of class
standing.
Study shows increase in assault victims
BY RACHEL SWAIN
STAFF WRITER
Chapel Hill Police Department officials said they hoped a
report released Tuesday about sexual assaults in Chapel Hill
will serve as an “awakening” to local residents.
According to the report, 95 adults and 40 children were
reported to be victims of sexual assaults in Chapel Hill in
1996. Of the adult victims, 87 were female, four were male
and four were unidentified.
Crimes committed against adults included 15 rapes, two
attempted rapes, 25 obscene phone calls, 16 indecent expo
sures and 13 peepings, the report stated.
“We wanted to alert citizens that these crimes do occur
here,” said Sabrina Garcia, crisis counselor for the police
department’s crisis unit.
The assaults against children included three rapes, eight
indecent exposures, four crimes against nature, 12 indecent
liberties and six simple assaults. Among the child victims, 27
were female, 11 were male and two were unidentified, the
report stated.
Garcia said the number of victims of sexual assaults con
tinued to increase since she started collecting data in 1991. “It
saddens me that the numbers have increased per year, but if
the reporting indicates services are better, then we’re on the
right track,” she said.
But Garcia said despite the increase in numbers, crimes of
a sexual nature were still underrepresented. “We still have a
stigma against victims supported by myths (about sexual
assaults),” she said. “Victims don’t recognize they’ve been vic
timized.”
UNC schools avoid trend
of drop in applicant pool
BY JONATHAN COX
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Although indicators suggest college
application numbers are down national
ly, most officials in the UNC system say
they do not see similar trends.
According to the Chronicle of Higher
Education, many elite private and pub
lic universities in the country faced
lower numbers of applicants in the past
year. However, at most of the 16 UNC
system schools, the number of applica
tions equalled or increased this year.
The more successful campuses attrib
uted their increases in applications to
more aggressive recruitment campaigns
and to improved campus reputations.
Today's
. Weather
* Sunny; mid 50s
Weekend: Sunny: upper 60s
Happy Spring Break!
Bullpen breaks
down for UNC
Appalachian State beat
the Tar Heels 11-10 in
10 innings. Page 7
• s JL
‘ " ' t>w
DTH/IENNYTSE
Steve Boyett and Mike Lowe hang the sign for
Franklin Street's newest addition, Starbucks Coffee.
“Our new director has addressed new
energies with new publications, more
campus visits, and direct mailing,” said
Philip Cauley, associate director of
admissions at Western Carolina
University. “Our new chancellor has
tried to implement new programs and
raise the bar on standards.”
Cauley said the number of applica
tions reflected the efforts at his school.
So far, WCU received 3,241 applications
compared to 3,029 applications at the
same time last year.
Jerry Clayton, associate director of
admissions at East Carolina University,
said the improved perception of his uni-
SEE APPLICATIONS, Page 2
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Volume 105, Issue 10
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C 1997 DTH Publishing Corp.
AH rights reserved.
IT'S ALMOST HERE
Sexual assault statistics
A report released by the Chapel Hill Police Department
compiled the number of sexual assaults that occurred in
1996. The report was written by the department crisis
unit. The following information is from the report.
• 80 adult sexual assault victims
• 40 child sexual assault victims
• 15 adult rape victims
• 47 of the assaults occurred in the victim's home or car
DTH STAFF GRAPHIC
Hillary Leary, administrative assistant for the N.C.
Coalition Against Sexual Assault, agreed. “In the past 25
years society has come about six inches in overcoming victim
blaming in the criminal system,” she said. “We still have quite
a few hundred feet to go.
“Regardless of how you acted or what you wore, it still
doesn’t make it your fault,” she said. “Is wearing a (short) skirt
a type of crime where rape is justifiable punishment?”
Both Garcia and Leary said there were numerous ways
people could prevent sexual assaults from occurring. “If some
thing occurs to you that leaves your gut with a feeling of dis
comfort or apprehension, report it,” Garcia said.
Leary said it was important to trust instincts. “Be aware of
surroundings, don’t walk alone at night, don’t accept drinks
from anyone but the bartender or waitress and watch your
drinks at all times. One of the best things is common sense.”
See you soon
Sad as It Is, this Is the last Issue of The Daily
Tar Heel until after Spring Break.
However, don't fret, we will resume normal
publication when classes resume March 17.
Also, anyone who wants to be involved in
the selection process to choose the next editor
of The Daily Tar Heel can pick up an editor
selection committee application at the Student
Union desk.
The DTH board of directors will select the
eight at-large students for the selection
committee from among all applicants.
Applications are due by 5 p.m. Friday,
March 21, and applicants will be notified of
their status March 28.
Applications for DTH editor are also
currently available. They are due by 5 p.m.
March 21.
The selection process will take place April 5
and includes an interview and a lengthy
application.
Contact DTH Editor Jeanne Fugate at 926-
4026 with questions.
The Editors