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She Satlu (Ear Herl p ■■ 105 yean of editorial freedom Serving Che stsuients and the University community since 1193 Wegner to leave post as law school dean in June 1999 BY KELLI BOUTIN STAFF WRITER After a nine-year tenure riddled with success and controversy, School of Law Dean Judith Wegner announced Monday that she would not seek a third term. Wegner said she would step down when her term runs out in June 1999. “I’ve done all the things I wanted to do (as dean),” she said. Wegner said next year would be a good time for her to resign from the position because anew law school build ing would be dedicated next fall. Racial diversity program discontinued by housing BY CHRISTINE ELLIOTT STAFF WRITER The Department of University Housing has discontinued its five-year old racial diversity program for next year because administrators believe the program has reached its goals. The program helped ffiversify North and Mid Campus by giving blacks resid ing in South Campus priority in choos ing housing option four, said Larry Hicks, associate director of administra tive services in University housing. Housing option four is the option of moving to another residence hall area. “We’ve far exceeded our goals in meeting diversity," Hicks said. “We’ve got sufficient representation in all three areas to say ‘let’s pull this back and see what happens.’” Tamara Bailey, president-elect of the Black Student Movement, said meeting goals was not a valid reason to discon tinue the program. “We are glad that we have accom plished the goals, but that does not equal the long-term goal of creating a diverse living environment," she said. Tito future of identification Biometric technology is becoming increasingly popular to identify everyone from students to gun owners. These methods use fingerprints, hand geometry and facial features to identify individuals and eliminate the possibility of forgery. /j Retinal scan Introduced to many by the movie 'Mission: Impossible,* retinal scanning is a 99.8 percent accurate identification method. Once a retinal picture is on file, users must stare into an infrared light for a fraction of a second to be identified. National I.D. card Currently under debate is the application of a national identification card. If made available, it could hold such information as social security number, citizenship data and emergency health information. SOURCE ADVANCED IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES. INC. Use of biometric technology spreads BY MATT DEES STAFF WRITER Students at the University of Georgia have the world at their fingertips lit erally. The system at UGa. gives students access to dining halls, residence halls and workout facilities when they place their hands on a scanner that automatically ver ifies their identi ties. “We are the longest-running and largest bio metric applica tion in the world TUC4INOLOCU TOWN and the only university in the United States to use this technology,” said Mike Floyd, food service chief at UGa. Biometric identifiers, such as finger prints, hand geometry and facial fea- Get your facts first , and then you can distort ’em as much as you please. Mark Twain She said her biggest accom plishments as dean included effectively recruit ing faculty mem bers, students and staff and provid ing a driving force behind securing sll million in state appropria tions to construct the new building. Chancellor Michael Hooker School of Law Dean JUDITH WEGNER said she planned to pursue research after June 1999. Hicks said every year since the pro gram’s inception, a group of students and staff were supposed to meet in October to discuss die progress of the initiative but that did not happen. “We didn’t effectively communicate as a group,” he said. “How we’re gonna deal with that is we’re going to formal ize the review process (in October).” Hicks said if diversity suffered on North and Mid Campus without the program in place, University housing would consider reinstating it. Bailey said, “(Meetings) might not have been happening in the past, but if they were going to discontinue the pro gram, they should have followed the guidelines that were set and convened the review board,” she said. Brian Elliott, treasurer-elect of the BSM, said he was stunned when he dis covered the program had been discon tinued. “I feel that a lot of students were not informed of the discontinuance of this program,” he said. David Jernigan, president of the Residence Hall Association, said he was frustrated when he found out. “I don’t feel I’m being a very good voice of the Fingerprint identification This method A based on the application of fingerprint image capture, digitization, storage and J data transfer. Fingerprint mages are captured at I the poind of transection and crosweferenced for 1 positive identification in seconds. By adding this identification capability to existing security systems - barcoding and personal | identification numbers [PINs] - authorization for ] every transaction is granted only to the person whose fingerprint is on file. . Biometrics A biometric identification system has the capability of storing biological data on a personal identification card. Information such as fingerprints, face recognition, signature and vein structure can be stored and verified using a biometric card. The technology is currently being tested for industrial and governmental use. tures, are becoming increasingly com mon methods to identify everyone from bankcard holders to gun owners. Floyd said UGa. began using bio metrics in 1972 to make sure students did not abuse the school’s unique meal system, which gives students unlimited meals during the week. “Our system has a camera that takes a three-dimensional picture of your hand and compares that information to a hand image on file,” Floyd said. Biometric technology is also showing up more and more in ATMs and gov ernment buildings. Oxford Micro Devices, a Connecticut-based biometrics corpora tion, is developing a handgun with a built-in fingerprint scanner. “If a fingerprint sensor were imbed ded in the handle of a gun, only the user of the gun could fire it,” said Steve Morton, president and chief executive officer of the corporation. Tuesday, April 14,1998 Volume 106, Issue 31 said he agreed with Wegner’s assess ment of the strengths of her term as law school dean. “She has really excelled in ... recruiting high-ability young faculty.” But Wegner’s term was not without its problems. In 1995, law student Wendell Williamson killed two people in a Franklin Street shooting spree. Last year, the firing of Barry David Nakell, a tenured law school professor, and an incident involving Barry Michael Berman, a law student who smoked marijuana in class, marred public per ception of the law school. The law school’s national ranking has taken several downturns in recent years, The changing face of North and Mid Campus The Department of University Housing imptorrwnteri > racial diversity program in 1992 to increase minority populations in residence halls on North and Maf Campus. Bousing officials discontinued program for 1998 because they thought ti goals had boon reached. * l% 3j2% 10 - 2% 1 T~ — 4 -3% 25% a _ 5.2% Bta * /^Bf\ o,her ’ Biack Jt V 91J% / \ 85.5% ) 4 69.8% ) \VVhite J V White J \ White / North Campus Mid Campus South Campus 12.6% — 7 - 5% 22,9% v r — 12,0% 22.4% 8% Black HNOth er* Black Other* Black Other* \ 79.8% J \ 65.1% J l 69.6% J North Campus Mid Campus South Campus 'Asian, Hispanic and Native American studsffis SOURCE DEPARTMENT OF UNIVERSITY HOUSING residents when a program is abolished undercover,” he said. “This isn’t going to go down without my protest.” India Williams, current president of the BSM, said the campus could become % ' '- 1 # M-i W DTH / JAKE ZARiVEGAR “We expect to be demonstrating it in a couple of months." Visionics, a New Jersey-based bio metrics firm, specializes in face-recogni tion technology. Visionics provides law enforcement officials, banks and government agen cies with the technology, which identi fies people by facial features such as the crinkles around their eyes. “Because the face is dynamic, we use a dynamic system,” said Julia Webb, marketing manager for the firm. “We have figured out what all the dif ferent facial features are and which ones are necessary to identify a person.” Webb said the process was the easiest form of biometric technology to use. “With a free scan, you don’t have to do anything,” Webb said. “Not only is it convenient for the user, but it’s also convenient for the See IDENTIFICATION, Page 4 prompting alumni to criticize Wegner. University officials said they admired the way Wegner handled the rash of bad publicity. “Judith acted expeditiously, judiciously and thoughtfully in all those instances,” said Richard Cole, dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Several of Wegner’s colleagues cited Wegner’s work with other departments as one of her greatest strengths. Cole said he admired Wegner’s work in expanding the Law Library and form ing a UNC dean’s council. Wegner’s announcement came the same day an external review team segregated again without the program. It would be very hard for black freshmen to move up to North and Mid Campus without the priority. Bailey said the BSM would fight for Supreme Court fails to consider extension BY TRISHA DABB ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a request for a stay on the feder al court ruling that declared North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District unconstitutional. In an attempt to avoid delaying the May 5 primaries, N.C. Attorney General Mike Easley had asked Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist to stay the three-judge panel’s order to redraw the district. The court declared the district, which hugs Interstate 85 between Charlotte and Greensboro, unconstitutional because race was the main factor for its shape. The three-judge panel initially gave state legislators until April 8, only five days after the decision, to submit a schedule for redrawing the district. In an order issued Friday, the judges extended the deadline by a week but said that if legislators fail to produce a timeline, the court would redraw the district for them. And state legislators say the burden to make a decision, and make it quickly, now falls on them. “The (N.C. General Assembly) has got to do something soon, or just let the courts do it,” N.C. Sen. John Kerr, D- Wayne, said. “I am very frustrated by the whole thing.” After eight years of using the district, Ken said it was too late to attempt such drastic changes that could easily be han dled in the future. “The courts should just have waited until after the (2000) census and told us what to do next time,” he said. A revised plan would take coopera tion between Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly. The parties split the state’s 12 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. N.C. Rep. Cynthia Watson, R- Duplin, was disappointed with the deci sion, but said she was determined gen erate an acceptable plan. “I sincerely hoped we would not have to face this,” released a report listing some ways the law school could improve. A team of law school deans from the University of Chicago, Washington University and the University of Minnesota visited the law school earlier this month. Wegner said she suggested the exter nal review to Provost Richard Richardson last year because she knew she planned to retire after her second term. She said she felt the external review would prove a useful tool in the search for anew dean. “(The report) confirms See WEGNER, Page 4 DTH/IAH ZARNBGAR AND ELYSSA KOMANSKY the program’s reinstatement. “We are in present communication with (the Office of) Student Affairs an A housing in the hopes of a positive result.” “The (General Assembly) has got to do something soon, or just let the courts doit... I am very frustrated by the whole thing. ” JOHN KERR Democratic Senator from Wayne County Watson said. “But that’s just one more challenge we have to face. I think we can compromise. I have seen good things come out of this body in my two years.” Watson said she liked the idea of dis tricts based on county lines. “I like the idea of not dividing coun ties and making districts more com pact,” Watson said. “The current plan is not allowing us to do all that we could for (our con stituents).” The problem with redrawing the 12th District, however, lays in the ambiguity of the federal court decision. “It will be very difficult to come up with a proposal because the judges’ ini tial order didn’t expressly say what the problem is,” said Julia White, spokes woman for N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight. The three federal judges said in the order that they would release an expla nation of their ruling next week, and legislators hope that will aid in the redrawing. “I don’t know what’s right, but I want it to be right,” Watson said. “It’s very controversial.” Later in the week, a federal court is also expected rule on the constitutional ity of North Carolina’s state legislative districts. UNC law student and conservative activist Jack Daly filed a suit that con tended that the districts for the state House and Senate were also unconstitu tional on the grounds of their racial compositions. News/Feuura/Ara/Spom: 962-02X3 Business/Advertising: 962-1163 Chspel Hill, North Csroimi C 1998 DTH Publishing Cotp. All rights reserved. Construction projects go to lowest bidder ■ If other factors were considered, officials said quality would be better. BYLESANAGY STAFF WRITER Because the qualifications required of contractors are not very stringent, cam pus construction projects sometimes fall short of perfection, UNC officials say. According to a N.C. general statute, the building contracts for projects cost ing more than SIOO,OOO automatically go to the contractors who will do the jobs for the least amount of money. Since pice, not performance quality, is the main selection criterion, there is no insurance that the contractor chosen will produce the most desired work. “The state statute prevents us from looking at any other qualifica tion,” said Kevin MacNaughton, associate vice president of finance at UNC. MacNaughton said the formal construction pro jects—those cost ing more than SIOO,OOO oper ate on a competi tor bidding process. During the process, the University sub mits design speci- ■ Chancellor MICHAEL HOOKER said he did not fully support the bidding process because it often produced less than qualified work. fications to the State Construction Office. “All contractors have to have a par ticular license for that particular area of work,” MacNaughton said. The contractors then submit a bid proposal stating that the lowest price they will accept to complete the job. “In construction, North Carolina state statute requires that we hire the contractor with the lowest bid,” MacNaughton said. Chancellor Michael Hooker said he did not fuDy support the bidding process because the contractor with the best track record was not always chosen. He cited delayed construction on the law school as an example of a problem that could occur. Hooker said he advocated a process that would give UNC more direct involvement in deciding who to hire. “We might get better quality work done more quickly,” Hooker said. Gordon Rutherford, director of facil ities planning and design, said he approved of the bidding process because the money used for construc tion projects were public funds. See BIDDER, Page 4 INSIDE Get in step UNC Sport Clubs and the Orange County Rape Crisis Center are sponsoring a 5K race Saturday. Proceeds benefit both groups. Page 5 <6 Paint me a picture The artist painting a mural on the Carolina Coffee Shop plans to portray the diversity of Chapel Hill. Page 2 ♦ Today's weather Thunderstorms likely; Low 70s Wednesday: Partly cloudy low 80s Time's awastin' Today is the last day to get your applications in to be a desk editor for next year's The Daily Tar Heel. We know, next year is so far off. but if you’ve got ideas and a passion for journalism, apply! Questions? Call editor-select Sharif Durhams at 962-0245.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 14, 1998, edition 1
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