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lathj (Far MM J® M 104 yeas of editorial freedom Serving thtstuderm and the Umvtnity commaaty sura 1193 UNC officer, lawyer to decide on lawsuit ■ Lt. C.E. Swain plans to choose today whether to sue or file another grievance. BY SHARIF DURHAMS UNIVERSITY EDITOR A University Police officer, fired while in the middle of a grievance against University administrators, will consider two options today: continue his complaints or sue. Lt. C.E. Swain, who was accused of falsifying a time sheet, was fired by Capt. Jeff McCracken the same offi cer he filed a complaint against last month for allegedly trying to fix a tick et Swain gave to the daughter of a Board of Trustees member. Swain’s attorney, Alan McSurely, said Thursday that his client would decide today whether to file an additional com plaint against the University or sue. “The question that we’re think ing about is whether there’s anybody in South Building left that is not so involved in what clearly is the 'kill the mes senger’ strategy that they have decided to take,” McSurely said. “If there is anybody ; Bi- University Police fired LT. C.E SWAIN on Wednesday, accusing him of taking a break without asking his supervisor for time off. over there who has not lost their senses about this case, ... then it would be worth it, we believe, to try to resolve the issue through the grievance procedure.” Swain’s trouble with his superiors started Sept. 27, when he gave freshman Student Union to expand if students agree to fee increase ■ Plans for the new and improved Student Union will be unveiled Monday. BY CATHERINE MEDEOT STAFF WRITER In a few years, the Student Union might no longer be recognizable. Plans for the new and improved Union will be unveiled Monday in the Carolina Union Gallery. The main staircase will be removed and replaced by a full lounge. A 40,000- square-foot addition will jut out from the south side of the building into Union Circle. And a 24-hour computer lab and copy center will be available for all stu dents to use. Insightful discoveries BY LAURA GREESON STAFF WRITER While most graduate students are busy working on their master’s theses and focusing on their future careers, Elliot McGucken is finding a cure for blind ness. McGucken, a 27-year-old graduate student in the Department of Physics, is part of an elite team of doctors and engi neers involved in designing a microchip that can jy^KINGAMARK serve as an artificial retina for people with vision problems. The project was conceived in 1988 by Mark Humayan, a doctor at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. McGucken became interested in physics when he was a high school stu dent in Akrin, Ohio. He attended Princeton University as an undergradu ate and then came to the Triangle to study nuclear physics. With budget cuts looming, he soon decided to switch to a “( Administrators') interference in that police department is the cause of all the corruption that's in there.” nmiEMUiM former University Police officer Caroline Hancock, 18, daughter of BOT member Billy Armfield, a ticket for underage drinking at the home football game against the University of Virginia. McSurely cannot represent Swain if he decides to continue with the griev ance procedure rather than go to court. But Lt. Keith Edwards, a former UNC officer who spent eight years in lit igation against the University before a court awarded her backpay and attor ney’s expenses in a racial discrimination suit, is helping gather evidence and could stand with Swain. Edwards said Thursday that influ ence by University administrators caused the problems in the department. “Their interference in that police department is the cause of all the cor ruption that’s in there,” she said. Swain said in an earlier interview that Carolyn Elfland, vice chancellor for auxiliary services, ordered Swain’s supe riors to remove the ticket from police computers and later denied Swain’s complaint against his department. Swain did not want to comment extensively on the case Thursday, but he said he wanted to get his job back. Edwards said Swain’s firing was the latest in a systematic problem with the police department’s relationship with administrators, and she could prove it. “Eventually, all of this stuff may come out, and it’s really going to raise some eyebrows.” The Union renovations could be completed by summer 2002. After gathering student opinions for the past five years through surveys and focus groups, the Union Board of Directors decided the Union needed to be renovated to serve the students better. “The reason this project started is stu dents,” Carolina Union Activities Board President Amy Lawler said. “We recog nized that there’s not enough space in the Union.” Lawler said the building was too small to house the various student orga nizations which are a part of campus. “It’s really an injustice that only 50 organizations fit in die Union,” she said. The addition will allow 85 to 90 orga nizations to have a place in the Union. The Union not only houses organiza tions, such as student government and more applicable research field. Because of his skills as an engineer, McGucken was asked four years ago to join the effort to develop the microchip. “It was this huge collaboration with doctors at Duke (University), engineers at N.C. State (University) and researchers at the (Research Triangle Institution),” McGucken said. “I wrote a couple of grant proposals, and one got funded by the National Science Foundation and Fight for Sight.” The artificial retina component chip is a 2 mm by 2 mm silicon chip embedded with electrodes and photosensor cells. It is designed primarily for people with dis eases like retinal pigmentosa and macu lar degeneration, but it can also help peo ple bom blind, without the use of rods and cones. The ARCC has photosensors on its back that convert light and images pass- See MCGUCKEN, Page 7 A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Sam Goldwyn Friday, November 21,1997 Volume 105, Issue 116 BY J■■ - 4*5? ■r 'krlv'i :■ ':T>i h^ J3T \ I ■ MB IB The silent majority BY STEVE MRAZ AND ROB NELSON CITY EDITORS For some victims of date rape, clo sure may never come with the bang of a gavel. Few women because of fear or even embarrassment pursue legal action against their assailants. Between 50 percent and 70 percent of women who are raped decide not to take their cases to court, said Margaret Henderson, executive direc tor of the Orange County Rape Crisis Center. “They are protecting themselves from additional abuse abuse from the system and from people who will “This is the one area on campus where any student is welcome. It should be a living room for campus and that ... doesn’t really exist.” LACEY HAWTHORNE Student Government Executive Assistant the Residence Hall Association, but it provides a place for students to relax and study, said student government execu tive assistant Lacey Hawthorne, a Union board member. “This is the one area on campus where any student is welcome,” she said. “It should be a living room for campus and that living room doesn’t ■ % "■ >- J'-'i-A' '■/§ M IH fIIMBII MB m f mlflffifln ■ mhk TfnH- mm DTH/JON GARDINER Graduate student Elliot McGucken shows the computer chip and special glasses that are part of his research to develop an artificial retina. till (if Ihfc ShAUiVlb condemn them or blame them. “The victim has already been physically humil iated, so open ing yourself to verbal abuse is a risky thing to do.” It is this same type of appre hension that Chapel Hill Police Detective Lara Jablonover A weeklong series shedding light on the problem of date rape on college campuses. said she saw in her work with sexual assault victims. “Victims have a fear of being blamed or feeling responsible for their really exist.” Hawthorne said the board was hop ing to build a great lounge area with a coffee shop atmosphere to provide that “living room” for students. The board plans to fund the sl3 mil lion budget available for the renovation with student fees. “The Union was built by student fees and is run by student fees,” Lawler said. “We really feel like it’s important that we stick with student fees.” Board member Katherine Kraft, pres ident of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation, said she was con cerned about the funding for the reno vation because it would undoubtedly call for an increase in student fees. “The only real concern I have is the potential cost,” she said. “I think we need to be real conscientious about sug assault,” she said. “The first thing I address is self-blame.” But Jablonover said such feelings were part of the larger picture of soci ety’s misunderstanding of rape. “It doesn’t matter how much she’s had to drink,” she said. “It doesn’t matter that she’s wearing a short skirt. It doesn’t matter if it’s 3 a.m. and she’s in a fiat house. What matters is she was a victim of sexual assault.” Jablonover said, instead, sexual assault cases should focus on the assailant and his role in the incident. She said that while she did not pressure victims to seek legal action, she tried to help them not to take the incident passively. See PROSECUTION, Page 7 gesting fee increases to students." Kraft said she heard increases might be as high as S6O a year. “That’s just too high,” she said. Hawthorne said the funding for the renovation had not been secured and not all financing aspects had been explored. “There are other avenues for fund ing,” Hawthorne said. “The only funding we won’t use is money from the administration. That would take away control that students have over this building.” The board will give students the opportunity to vote on a referendum for fee increases allotted to renovating the Union in February, Lawler said. Kraft said it is important that students vote on these fee increases. “It’s a really good time for people to come out and voice their opinion.” Ntwi/Fanna/Ara/Spom: 962-0245 Bunnets/Advertising: 962-1163 Chlpd Hill, North Csrolmi C 1997 DTH Publishing Cap. All lights reserved. After rape, decisions still remain ■ Victims have several options on if, and how, they want to prosecute a crime. BY CHALLISS E. MCDONOUGH STAFF WRITER When a rape victim feels most vulner able, the University’s system lets her help herself and empowers her to make her own decisions about whether and how to prosecute her assailant. Victims have more options than they might think. When both the rapist and the victim are students, the victim can proceed through the student judicial system, the criminal justice system, both or neither. “It gives victims more than one choice,” said Rochelle Williams, coordi nator of administrative services for the Orange County Rape Crisis Center. “(It gives them) more than one option on how they want to go about holding their assailant or attacker accountable.” Williams said that one option was not necessarily better than the other. “For some people the honor court works very well,” she said. Although University officials tell all sexual assault victims about the Honor Court option, few women choose to use it, said Margaret Barrett, associate dean of students for UNC’s Judicial Program Office. Rape cases can be difficult to prove in both Honor Court and criminal court, she said. The University requires the same stan dard of proof as a criminal case —a stan dard tougher than at most other universi ties. Unlike a criminal case, when students are punished through the University, their See HONOR COURT, Page 7 INSIDE The Tar Heels’ go-to guy Bjjjf-V \~j town to close the regular season, Sport Saturday hits stands today with a look at Brown and Saturday's game. Assisting in freedom Carolina House offers senior citizens the freedom aril Ha and comfort of home in a secure and safe environment. Page 2 Chasing a historic title UNC's field hockey team heads north looking for its third straight NCAA title. The Tar Heels face Princeton in today's national semifinal contest. Page 8 Today's weather Mostly cloudy; high 50s Weekend Mostly sunny; high 60s Na Brown (left) has the surest pair of hands in UNC's receiving corps. As Duke comes to
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