lailu (Tar Tbrl
* News
106 years of editorial freedom
Serving the students and the University
community since 1893
Historic Aid Proposal Set for BOG
The Task Force on Student
Financial Aid will include
graduate and professional
students in its proposal.
By Alexandra E. Hoerl
Staff Writer
A UNC task force charged with the
project of crafting a proposal for North
Carolina’s first-ever state need-based
financial aid program ironed out the
kinks in its final report Wednesday.
The Task Force on Student Financial
Drawing the _ t =
=BattleLines
'lt's the Price to
Pay for Justice'
By Jennifer Chan and Lani Harac
Staff Writers
Asa convicted double murderer awaits lethal injection on death
row, his looming execution has ignited the support of death penalty
advocates statewide.
Harvey Lee Green faces execution 2 a.m. Friday while two other
convicted murderers, one in Delaware and one in Florida, will be exe
cuted the same day.
And while death penalty opponents light can
dles in vigils for the convicted murderer, sup
porters applaud the theory behind his death,
saying it is a racially fair and cost-effective
system.
Death penalty
proponents reject the
idea that murder does
not justify a state-sanc
tioned death. They say
Do you support the
death penalty? Go to
www.unc.edu/dth
to cast your vote.
capital punishment is a
morally acceptable penalty
for murder.
Eye for an Eye
“(Execution) is as moral as
the act done that warrants it,”
said N.C. Sen. Robert Rucho,
R-Mecklenburg.
Steven Myers, presi-
dent of UNC’s College Republicans, echoed
Rucho’s sentiment.
“When an individual takes another life,
it is such a violation of the moral code that
it demands equal payment,” Myers said.
One in 1,000
Supporters of capital punishment also
do not consider concerns such as wrongful
execution a problem.
Rucho said technological advances in
criminal investigations narrowed the chances of
innocent victims being executed.
“God forbid we make a mistake,” he said,
“but the chances are not as likely today."
Tim Helms, who successfully spon
sored a bill supporting the death penalty in
Aberdeen, said the chances of wrongful exe-
See PROS, Page 12
UNC Professor Receives Presidential Recognition
President Clinton will award
Professor Jacquelyn Hall
with a National Humanities
Medal on Sept. 29.
By Derick Mattern
Staff Writer
A UNC historian will receive nation
al recognition from President Clinton
Aid, which was formed this summer, has
developed a program that would offer
aid to financially disadvantaged in-state
undergraduate, graduate and profes
sional students as early as the 2000-2001
academic year.
The next step for the proposal will
come at the Board of Governor’s
October meeting, where BOG members
will participate in a workshop outlining
the program, said Jeff Nieman, a non
voting BOG member who served on the
task force.
Nieman said the full BOG would
then vote on the aid program in its
November meeting, after which the pro-
UVV uuiivij
ithal injection on death Protesters continue to fij
upport of death penalty rfmJL victed murderer awaits letf
Friday while two other ( \ death row inmates schedul
next week for tracking the oral history of
the neglected South.
The National Endowment for the
Humanities announced Wednesday that
Professorjacquelyn Hall would be given
a National Humanities Medal. The
award will be presented Sept. 29 by
President Clinton at the White House.
Clinton chose all eight of this year’s
winners, which include producer/direc
tor Steven Spielberg and best-selling
author Garrison Keillor, based on the
As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.
Publius Syrus
Thursday, September 23, 1999
Volume 107, Issue 80
< T *
iX- ..j
posal would be
sent to the N.C.
General Assembly
for funding.
Gary Barnes,
task force chair
man, said he esti
mated that the
panel’s recom
mendation to the
BOG would
request between
$32 and S3B mil
lion for aid.
He said he
thought both the
BOG member
Jeff Nieman
said the new aid
program could help
UNC students.
recommendations of the National
Council on the Humanities.
Hall is the director of the Southern
Oral History Program, which records
the history of the 20th century in the
words of laborers and everyday citizens.
“I am very pleased,” Hall said.
“This is a great honor not only for me
but for the program. The work was done
by many people.”
Her work in Southern history deals
with all aspects of life, but focuses on
BOG and legislators would be receptive
to the request because the program
would provide low-income students
access to higher education.
UNC Graduate and Professional
Student Federation President Lee
Conner said he was pleased graduate
and professional students would be able
to apply for aid under the proposal the
task force will present to the BOG.
He said graduate students’ inclusion
came as a relief because some task force
members had suggested that the pro
gram be limited only to undergraduates.
“I’m very happy about that,” Connor
said. “You at least want to give (graduate
'Pushing Christian
Ethics to the Limit'
Protesters continue to fight against the death penalty while a con
victed murderer awaits lethal injection Friday.
The impending execution of Harvey Lee Green, the first of three
death row inmates scheduled to die in North Carolina, has prompt
ed a slew of vigils, rallies and requests for clemency by the inmate’s
family and supporters.
And while death penalty supporters call
Green’s approaching death a vindication,
protesters say execution is immoral and
perpetuates racism and social injustice.
Inmates’ poverty often results in poor
defenses, said Ken Rose, director of the
Center for Death Penalty Litigation.
Inmates cannot afford
lawyers who can make
or break a trial, he said. “I
never heard of a rich per
son put on death row,” said
N.C. Rep. Mickey Michaux,
D-Durham.
Two Wrongs?
Michaux said that
beneath the statistics
laid an ethical reason for his opposition to
capital punishment. “You just can’t punish
feet criminal justice system. “This issue push
es Christian ethics to the limit. Sometimes it’s
tough being a Christian.”
Point of No Return
Recent scientific innovations such as DNA
testing have proved numerous death row
inmates innocent, Stone said. Since 1972,
See CONS, Page 12
labor and women. Her topic of study is
women since they gained the right to
vote in 1919 and the diversifying popu
lation of North Carolina.
“(We’re) looking at the re-peopling of
North Carolina,” she said.
Hall considers the medal to be a
recognition of her, and thus women’s,
scholarship as well.
“I am proud and feel lucky to be (part
of) the first generation of women to
write women’s history,” she said.
and professional students) a chance.”
But Barnes said funding limitations
might cause the program to be phased
in, instead of enacted all at once.
In this case, Nieman said freshmen
would receive first priority to acquire aid
and graduate students last
Conner expressed concern that grad
uate students would be the fifth and final
group to receive aid. But he said he was
pleased with the task force’s final deci
sion. “If (graduate and professional stu
dents) are not allowed to ride in the car
now, we are never going to leave the
See TASK FORCE, Page 15
A weeklong series
exploring the death
penalty in N.C.
murder with legal murder,” he said.
Vengeance is the reason for the
death penalty, said Dan Pollitt, a for
mer UNC-Chapel Hill law professor.
“People feel better when they get some
son-of-a-gun that commits an atrocious
crime and execute him,” he said.
Journalism Professor Chuck Stone
said he opposed it because of his
Christian beliefs, coupled with an imper-
John Reed, director of the Institute
for Research in Social Science, said her
scholarship was a reason for her selec
tion.
“(She’s) a heavy hitter in her field,” he
said. “This is great for the University, the
South and the country.”
Other UNC faculty also said they
thought highly of Hall.
“I think it’s richly deserved,” said
See HALL, Page 15
News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245
Business/Ad vertlsing 962-1163
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
© 1999 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
Disaster
Cleanup
Continues
State officials address the
potential hazards posed by
hog waste and pollution
released by floodwaters.
By Marc Cochran
and Brent Kinker
Staff Writers
The environmental devastation
caused by Hurricane Floyd’s
floodwaters could wreak long-lasting
havoc on the state, officials say.
“This has the potential to be the
worst environmental disaster in the
United States’ history, but only the
potential,” said Rick Dove of the Neuse
River Foundation. “Just pray that it
turns out bet
ter.”
The waters
have engulfed
junkyards,
hog-waste
Death Toll Rises
In Floyd's Lethal
Aftermath
See Page 4
lagoons and sewage-treatment centers,
officials said.
Until the flood levels drop, officials
say no exact numbers for animals killed
by the storm or the amount of pollu
tants released would be available. They
can only speculate on the actual dam
ages incurred and are hoping for relief
efforts to curb the potential effects.
The University aided the relief effort
Wednesday when experts from various
fields, such as communicable diseases,
water safety and mental health assem
bled to provide information to commu
nities struggling with Floyd’s aftermath.
Representatives from 10 areas affect
ed by the flooding participated in a tele
conference tided “Hurricane Floyd:
Information for Health Providers,” held
at the Mayes Telecommunications
Center in the School of Public Health.
N.C. Health Director A. Dennis
Mcßride said he hoped the participants
would realize that a host of state
resources were willing to help.
“We want the people to know that
they are not alone,” Mcßride said.
All state agencies are doing their best
to help the victims, officials said. The
efforts mainly focus on shelter, security,
medical services and search and rescue.
Dove said animals killed by the
flooding could pose a severe environ
mental problem. “There are hundreds
of thousands of dead hogs that need to
be disposed of,” Dove said. “It will take
a long time to get rid of them all.”
He said incinerators were being
brought in to dispose of livestock car-
See CLEANUP, Page 12
\mm
Race Hits Center Stage
Pia,
nTr!' \ Re
Play Makers
Repertory
Company’s
\ first play of
\ this season
it profiles
M the life of
the civil
* rights
activist
Ida B. Wells. The show
marks Tazwell Thompson’s move from
director to writer. See Page 5.
On the Stands
Applications for the joanna Howell
Fund, which honors the memory of a
DTH editorial writer who died in the
1996 Phi Gamma Delta fraternity fire,
will be available at the DTH front desk
in Suite l(H of the Student Union and
are due by Oct. 4. The fund provides
$250 for a student to write an in-depth
article about an issue affecting the
University community.
Today’s Weather
Sunny;
Mid 70s.
Friday: Sunny;
Low 80s