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(She iatly ®ar MpeT p IXB 106 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Police Using 1 Composite in Assault Cases Bv Matthew B. Dees State & National Editor Local law enforcement officials say the description of a man wanted in con nection with an attempted sexual assault on campus Tuesday night closely resem bles that of a suspect wanted in a similar incident during the weekend. At a press conference Wednesday, authorities said officers were still follow ing numerous leads received from Crimestoppers and other sources. School Officials Push for Safety By Meredith Hermance Staff Writer With the start of another school year, local education leaders remain torn on the best method to remedy the alarming trend of violence in schools. While some school systems are beef ing up security efforts, others are putting emphasis on communication between students and faculty. During their first day back at school Wednesday, students at A.L. Stanback Middle School cruised the halls in newly mandated transparent bookbags made of clear plastic or mesh. Stanback Principal Alisa McLean said the backpack restriction developed from student suggestions on how to make the school a safer place. “We realized that we were going to have to do something different but not (something) alarming,” she said. “We didn’t want to be as drastic as saying no backpacks, ao we think this is a happy medium.” In addition to the new backpacks, stu dents must display ID cards and visitors are required to wear fluorescent arm bracelets, McLean said. However, Neil Pedersen, superinten dent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, said no extra precautions were being taken at the schools in his district. “There are not going to be any metal detectors or additional security," he said. “We want to make sure the stu dents are well-supervised and that they know the expectations.” Pedersen said he wanted the school year to start on a positive note, focused on academics. Kim Hoke, spokeswoman for the sys tem, said communication between stu dents, parents and faculty was key. “Codes of student conduct will be re emphasized and information will be dis tributed to both students and parents Hunt's Task Force Wants Schools to Involve Parents Bv Kathleen Hunter Assistant State & National Editor Schools across North Carolina will be encouraged to involve parents more in their children’s lives, thanks to the recently released recommendations of Gov. Jim Hunt’s Task Force on Youth Violence and School Safety. Prompted by the April 20 school Students Test Out New Advisers By Alexandra Molaire Assistant University Editor Although University administrators revamped the academic advising sys tem, some students are still confused about who to turn to for help in sketch ing out a road map for their majors. Senior Eric Au entered Steele Building on Wednesday to change his major but did not know his adviser. He said he wanted to switch from applied sciences to computer science. Because of the new system, Au was not sure if his adviser had changed. “(The administrator was) kind of shuf fling around trying to find me an advis er,” he said. In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence. Cesar Chavez “We’re getting a whole lot of infor mation about who it might be, but we don’t have any new information that would lead us to an arrest,” University Police Capt. Mark Mclntyre said. Officials released a security bulletin Tuesday night describing the suspect as a 5-foot-9-inch, 175-pound Hispanic man in his mid-20s. The release included a composite drawing identical to the one posted after another attempted sexual assault early Sunday morning near Grimes outlining new penalties for violent acts committed in school,” she said. A police officer will also be present at each school, she said. The state requires every school to have a “safe school plan,” which outlines the way the school is made safe for students. While the guidelines of the plan are set by the state, the specifics are deter mined by individual school officials. “One size does not fit all,” said Chip Grammer, security supervisor for the Cumberland County School System. “We have individual safe school plans tailored to meet the individual school’s needs.” David Christenbury, principal of Grey Culbreth Middle School, said his school’s plan had not changed much. “We haven’t added any new initia tives but we’ve revisited our crisis plan and safe schools plan,” he said. Christenbury said the biggest factor in promoting safety was communication between students and faculty. “You could have 25 police officers, and something could still happen,” he said. “We want the students to feel com fortable talking with us, especially if they see or hear something unusual.” Pedersen said the Columbine High School shooting last spring heightened sensitivity to distressed students. “After Columbine everyone was on edge and apprehensive about the least little thing,” he said. “We will continue to be vigilant, but I think the nervous ness and anxiety has dissipated.” Despite apprehensions, Hoke said the first day in Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools was routine, as expected. “All of the children were in class, the teachers were teaching from the begin ning of the day,” she said. “The day seemed to proceed very smoothly.” The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu. shootings in Littleton, Colo., the project reports the findings of state policy mak ers, educators and crime control experts. The recommendations, released last week, served as a follow-up to the 1993 Task Force on School Violence that required all N.C. schools to come up with a “safe school plan.” Members discussed alternative meth ods of dealing with school violence. The advising desk referred Au to the same adviser he had before the depart ment revised its system, he said. “(My adviser) doesn’t come in until noon, so I have to come back in,” he said. Junior Brian Nichols, a dramatic arts and communication studies major, said his only gripe was waiting 20 minutes to see his adviser. “I think it’s pretty well laid out,” he said of the new advising system. “At least now I know who I have to go see.” Associate Dean of Academic Advising Carolyn Cannon said long lines were typical at the beginning of the year as students ironed out schedules. The new advising program was geared toward giving students more Thursday, August 19, 1999 Volume 107, Issue 56 ■ • II Residence Hall. “It could possi bly be the same person, but we’re not going to limit our investigation to just that," University Police Chief Derek Poarch said. He would not comment on whether the man’s Police composite of assault suspect it' m ' | ti ™ | §1 ■■: ■ | Jb ~ ' 'Wr * DTH SEFTONIPOCK Students at A.L. Stanback Middle School have to abide by new rules this year such as wearing ID tags and car rying clear or mesh backpacks. The precautions implemented are designed to make students safer at school. “I think what we need to realize here is that the issue of school violence is something that involves everyone,” said Joanne McDanial, assistant director of the Raleigh-based Center for Prevention of School Violence that aided the study. “Parents need to get involved in the schools their children attend, and schools need to outreach to parents. So really, it’s a two-way street.” advising time. Cannon said. “We want to provide students with a more satis factory advising experience,” she said. In fall 1998, UNC created the Carolina Advising Initiative in response to student complaints that advisers were not accessible enough because they worked only part-time. Asa result, the advising department hired eight full-time advisers for the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences this summer. The new advising structure is divided into eight teams, each focused on differ ent majors. There are the eight full-time advisers, five assistant deans, 23 part- See ADVISING, Page 6 accent could also link the two crimes, though he said the victims'in the first incident recalled their attacker’s dialect. At about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, a female University student was dragged between two cars in the parking lot behind Hanes Art Center and threatened with a knife before escaping, according to a police report. She was not injured. Poarch said the victim in Tuesday night’s attack was very upset, possibly affecting her testimony. He said he hoped to pursue a later interview. April White, Hunt’s assistant press secretary, said the report would serve as an incentive to schools to redefine their safe school plan to include more stu dent-teacher interaction. According to the project, the number of reported incidents of school violence was down 19 percent from the 1993-94 school year. But White said schools should not let these numbers stop them Mit& m*g*djtgf * * DTH RACHEL LF.OARD Sophomore Latoya Brown waits to speak with her academic adviser in Steele Building on Wednesday. Officials began alerting businesses and residents to be on the lookout for the suspect Tuesday night, Poarch said. A group of administrators and stu dent leaders, including Student Body President Nic Heinke, also gathered to spread the word. They alerted residence hall officials, resident assistants at Granville Towers and sororities and fra ternities. The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu. from installing new safety initiatives. “The task force is important to make sure our schools stay safe,” she said. “We have been really lucky so far no to have a Littleton or a Paducah.” Three stu dents were shot to death at Heath High School in Paducah, Ky. in 1997. Schools, like Heath, also focused on See SCHOOL VIOLENCE, Page 6 News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina © 1999 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Heavy Use Freezes UNC Site Officials say the Student Central Web Site stopped responding when too many students tried to log on. By Brian Bedsworth Staff Writer As the University prepared for the start of the semester, heavy congestion on the Student Central Web site led to two virtual traffic jams that froze the server for several hours, Administrative Information Systems officials said Wednesday. AIS technicians said they were unaware that the server was frozen Tuesday night and did not correct the malfunction because nobody reported having problems using the Web site. “What happened was a breakdown in communication,” said Joel Dunn, director for systems and communica tion at AIS. “We did not get any notifi cation that there was a problem, so we didn’t do anything pro-active.” Student Central is a World Wide Web site run by the University that allows students to register for classes, view grades, schedules and bills. ‘ Dunn said that as UNC offered more online services, students had become increasingly dependent on them, which placed more strain on the servers. The servers have repeatedly been unable to handle increasing traffic. A UNC online system crashed during housing registration for fall 1998, and students who went online to register for fall 1999 classes faced delays. i“ d< ?nt Cenfrd jjozg 4 t 3 p,m. and at 1 p.m. due to neavv congestion. Dunn said AIS had ejected activity on the server to slow after 5 p.m. because the registration feature would not be available. Asa result, when the server froze Tuesday night, the decrease in traffic did not register as a problem on the server’s monitoring systems. But employees at the Academic Technology & Networks help line said they were not aware of the problem. “We only received one or two calls about Student Central,” said Bruce Egan, director for the Information Technology Response Center. The server was frozen until it shut down completely at 1 a.m. for routine processing functions, Dunn said. AIS restarted the server, which acci dentally corrected the problem, at 6 See SERVER, Page 6 INSIDE Back to School Janice Hilliard returned to UNC in July as the director of the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes. Hilliard said that she would revamp the program's reputation. See Page 10. We Want You Join the ranks of The Daily Tar Heel. We need writers, photographers, designers, graphic artists and more. Come to Suite 104 of the Student Union, where applications are available. They are due by 5 p.m. Aug. 27. Interest meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 24 in Union 226 and at S p.m. Aug. 25 in Union 209. Serve your community. Pick up an application. Today’s Weather Mostly sunny; High 80s. Friday: Chance of rain: High 80s.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Aug. 19, 1999, edition 1
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