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The University and Towns
In Brief
Student Suspended
For Possessing Knife
School officials suspended a 13-year
old McDougle Middle School student
after he was found with a folding knife
in his possession on school property
Friday.
Carrboro police confiscated the
weapon.
School policy states that the school
can suspend the student for up to 10
days.
Officials said they did not think there
will be further disciplinary action taken
against the student.
There is still the chance that police
will petition the juvenile court to try the
student with misdemeanor possession of
a weapon at school.
Indian Scholar Slated
To Give Free Lecture
Ada Deer, former assistant secretary
of Indian affairs in the U.S. Department
of the Interior, will address the topic
“Everything You Wanted to Know
About Indians But Were Afraid to
Ask," at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The free public lecture will be in the
Tate-Tumer-Kuralt Building.
Deer is a senior lecturer in social
work and American Indian studies at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
For more information about her talk,
call Michael Green at 843-9925.
Graduate Students Win
National Health Grants
UNC graduate students Christina
Ewig and Jessica Fields have received
$2,000 for research on women’s and
children’s health from a public policy
angle.
The students are among 15 winners
of the 1999 Woodrow Wilson-Johnson
& Johnson Dissertation Grants in
Women’s and Children’s Health.
More than 100 students nationwide
applied for these awards.
Advertising Executive
To Give Annual Speech
Harry M. Jacobs, former chairman
and chief executive officer of the Martin
Agency in Richmond, Va., will deliver
the Reed Sarratt Distinguished Lecture.
The address is set for 7:15 p.m. in the
Carroll Hall auditorium.
Jacobs will discuss innovative new
advertising techniques in his lecture
tided “The Age of Anti-Logic.”
Activist, Poet to Give
Memorial Address
Chilean novelist Isabel Allende of
Sonia Sanchez will deliver the Sonja
Haynes Stone Memorial Lecture
Tuesday in Carroll Hall.
Sanchez, an English professor and
chair of women’s studies program at
Temple University, won the American
Book Award in 1985 for “homegirls and
handgrenades."
Local Women’s Center
Needs More Volunteers
The Chapel Hill Women’s Center is
recruiting First Response Volunteers to
act as a first contact for individuals who
sall or walk-in to the center.
Volunteers will be offering informa
tion, referral and support to individuals
and must be able to give at least three
hours per week and a six-month com
mitment.
Training begins in late November
and early December. For more infor
mation, contact Kim Shumate at 968-
4610.
County Dispute Center
To Sponsor Workshop
The Orange County Dispute
Settlement Center is offering a work
shop on “Communication and Conflict
Resolution Skills,” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nov. 22.
The workshop will be held at the
Homestead Center, located at 600
Homestead Road in Chapel Hill.
This workshop will cover effective
communication skills and offer creative
ways in solving and learning from con
flicts. The fee SBO. Preregistration is
required. For registration information,
call 929-8800.
Town Seeks Volunteers
to Assist Flood Victims
I Volunteers are needed to work
Saturday in the flood-damaged town of
Speed.
; To register to volunteer, e-mail the
Carolina Center for Public Service at at
cps@unc.edu or call Rachel Windham
at 962-5296.
-From Staff Reports
UNC-TV Officials to Alter Gay Show
By Will Folishee
Staff Writer
After canceling a documentary aimed
at teaching homosexual tolerance in
schools, UNC Public Television officials
said Sunday they would recreate the
program to include broader views of
acceptance.
Diane Lucas, director of program
ming for UNC-TV, said the station
would create a program that dealt with a
definition of tolerance that included
more than just homosexuality.
The documentary “It’s Elementary:
Talking About Gay Issues in School”
sparked controversy after it aired on sev
eral PBS stations across the country this
summer. UNC-TV officials decided to
cancel it last week because of its debat-
The Total Package
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Student Dancer Takes Stage
By Robin Clemow
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Sofia Vallila was squatting mid
stretch in the back of the dimly lit
Union Cabaret late one September
night when one of the Pauper Players’
audition staff members tapped her on
the shoulder.
“You’re up next," she said.
Vallila looked
up daunted. Still
squatting, she
turned her stare to
the scuffed floor of
the stage, then up
to the girl who
was singing scales
for the judges. Her
face got suddenly
pale, and she let
out a nervous
laugh.
“Me?” she
asked. “Sing?”
Behind the
Scenes
m
’VI
A five-part series
exploring two
students' paths
to opening night
Two hours earlier Vallila had decid
ed not to show up for her audition for
Pauper Players’ fall show “Pippin”
when her phone rang.
It was David Lorenc, a Players regu
lar, who will play Pippin in the show
that opens Friday. He knew Vallila
through her older sister, a senior at
UNC, and convinced the young dancer
to give it a try. He failed to mention she
would have to do more than show off
her 11 years of dance training.
“I didn’t know I was going to have
sing,” she said, laughing at the surprise
weeks later. “I specifically told them I
just wanted to do a dance audition.”
But on the prompt from the audition
staff, the freshman slowly rose from her
squat, swallowed her nerves and took
the stage. “I haven’t sung since I was
10,” she told the judges, timidly smiling.
After a bit of coaxing from the
judges, Vallila began singing scales in a
University & City
able content.
The film chronicles children in six
classrooms around the country talking
about what they thought it meant to be
gay and how gays are viewed in society.
Lucas said UNC-TV was concerned
about the national controversy and
advocation angle that the documentary
took. “As broadcasters we have a
responsibility to present a balanced pre
sentation of all controversial issues.”
The documentary, written and direct
ed by Oscar-winning documentarian
Debra Chasnoff, was canceled after
viewers voiced pros and cons and offi
cials had consulted the UNC-TV
Viewer Advisory Board. “We received
lots of e-mails, phone calls and letters
vehemendy attacking and defending the
documentary,” Lucas said.
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DTH SEFTON IPOCK
Freshman Sofia Vallila, a player in the upcoming show " Pippin," draws
her sword during a rehearsal Sunday night in the Union Cabaret.
shaky but surprisingly in-tune voice. She
stumbled through “My Country ’Tis of
Thee” with lots of “la-las” thrown in for
lyrics as an impromptu audition piece.
As for the monologue -another
unexpected element of tryouts - Vallila
shocked the room by offhandedly recit
ing the opening to “Canterbury Tales.”
And she did it in Old English.
“We had to learn it in high school,”
she said. “I thought it was a neat thing to
know, so sometimes I recite it for friends
just joking around.”
She said she never thought such ran
dom knowledge would pay off, but the
next week her name was on the posted
cast list. Sophia Vallila - Player.
It was one of the dancing parts, and
perhaps it was her energetic, skilled
movement that won her the part rather
than her knowledge of Old English.
But her poise on stage when the
music was turned off proved she could
Political science Professor Pamela
Conover said she was disappointed in
UNC-TV’s decision but was not sur
prised because of its previous decisions
regarding gay issues. “The documentary
was more controversial than what the
station airs,” she said. “They did air fea
ture shows during Gay Pride Week, but
they were aired at 11 p.m. at night.”
Conover said she applauded any tol
erance programming, even broad-based,
because it recognized connections
between racism, sexism and homopho
bia. But she said it could not substitute a
frank discussion about homosexuality.
“This state is reluctant to discuss
issues of sexual orientation,” she said.
Maia Kaplan, co-chairwoman of the
Queer Network for Change, also said she
was disappointed that the documentary
By Jennifer Heffernan
Staff Writer
Leaks to the press, withdrawn can
didacies and secrecy behind closed
doors marked the 14-month search
that ultimately selected Michael
Flooker as UNC’s eighth chancellor.
For more than a year, the commit-
tee read 180
resumes and
held interviews
in the search for
former
Chancellor Paul
Hardin’s replace
ment. Members
of the committee
including
alumni, faculty,
trustees and the
student body
president - had
to select anew
The Search
5
Is On
Part four of a series
on UNC's search for
its next chancellor
chancellor by Hardin’s set resignation
date ofjune 30, 1995.
Despite disagreements about the
process, committee members still
agree five years later that the man they
selected was the best candidate for the
job.
“As we were making decisions, we
were looking for someone who would
be the total package,” committee
member and former Student Body
President Calvin Cunningham said.
The Total Package
“Charisma - can you find some
body that has charisma?” said com
mittee member and Walter Spearman
Professor ofjoumalism Chuck Stone
be more than silent grace.
Vallila has always been somewhat of
a natural actress. “My mom’s always
wanted me to get into drama,” she said.
“I used to tell stories at the dinner table
and do voices at home.”
That humor and confidence rings in
her laugh when she talks about her first
acting experience. It’s not hard to pic
ture the bright-eyed, smiling dancer as
Alice in Wonderland. “In third grade I
was quite the actress,” she said, joking.
“Since then my career has gone down
hill a little. It’s been on the back burner
for, oh, about 10 years.”
Meanwhile, Vallila became a dancer.
She started training at 7, taking
lessons at Lehmen Studios, Raleigh’s
first professional dance company.
“I started out taking ballet, and I kept
taking more and more,” she said.
See VALLILA, Page 4
had been canceled. She said there was
not enough material addressing the topic
of gay bashing and acceptance in school.
“No one dealt with the topic of homo
sexuality when I was in school,” she said.
Kaplan said the topic needed to be
addressed and felt that hiding the mes
sage in a broader documentary about
tolerance would harm the message.
“They’re trying to avoid controversy
by clouding the issue in broader issues
of tolerance, such as racial tolerance,”
she said.
“Chasnoff made the documentary on
how to teach students about gay and les
bian tolerance, and a broader form is
not what she initially intended.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
when he was asked to describe the
interview process. “Who has a com
manding presence? Who resonates
authority and likability?”
The committee, at one time 22
members strong, echoed Stone’s
curiosity with an unceasing supply of
questions as they searched for the next
chancellor.
Some members of the committee
looked for a leader in academia,
whose intellectual excellence outshone
the competition. Some wanted a chan
cellor whose concern revolved around
the lives of students. Others searched
for a strong administrator and gifted
fund-raiser who would bring UNC to
reign as the country’s leading public
university.
Factors distinguishing a candidate
from the depths of anonymity, such as
appointment to a White House com
mission or distinction as a Rhodes
Scholar, carried great importance,
Stone said.
“You can quantify intellectual excel
lence,” Stone said. “If you’ve got a
(leader) who half the faculty feel
they’re smarter than he is, you’ve got
a problem,” he said.
Academic excellence, administra
tive capabilities and active service fac
tored into his decisions, Stone said.
In addition to those criteria, com
mittee member and current Board of
Trustees member Cressie Thigpen said
he explored the vision candidates had
for UNC.
The board’s vision was to make
UNC into one of the nation’s best
See COMMITTEE, Page 4
RSWP Set to Benefit
Area Shelter Tuesday
By Sarah Brier
Staff Writer
Residents who decide to dine out
Tuesday will find that 10 percent of their
bill is going to help the local homeless
shelter.
The Restaurants Sharing V(5) plus
V(5) Percent eat-out will take place
Tuesday. For breakfast, lunch or dinner
people can eat at a participating restau
rant and 10 percent of the tab will be
donated to hunger relief programs
throughout the Triangle.
Irene Briggaman, RSWP chair
woman for 11 years, piloted the pro
gram in Chapel Hill in 1989.
“In the fall of 1989,1 did it in Chapel
Hill alone because I was ready and had
sponsors,” said Briggaman, recipient of
an Orange County Governor’s Award
with RSWP as the focus.
Now in its 10th year, the restaurant
participation has risen from 42 in 1989
to 99 this year. About 12 local restau
rants have participated every year.
Obtaining support from downtown
restaurants does not usually present a
challenge.
“Downtown has been good - there
aren’t too many restaurants not on the
list,” Briggaman said.
Various restaurants, however, chose
not to participate in the fund-raiser.
“A couple of restaurants turned us
down, and I was very disappointed,” she
said. “Local managers want to do it but
district managers don’t want to - like
Starbucks Coffee, BW-3 and Wicked
Burrito. I thought I’d get over 100
restaurants, and I was surprised when
(Michael Jordan's restaurant) turned us
down.”
Peter Grills, manager of 23, Jordan’s
restaurant, said he did not recall being
Monday, November 15, 1999
Local Store
Robbed at
Gunpoint
Local police are faced with
solving yet another armed
robbery after a masked
assailant held up The Pantry.
By Jason Owens
Assistant City Editor
Chapel Hill police are still searching
for a man who escaped with an undis
closed amount of money from a conve
nience store where he held the clerk up
at gunpoint.
The robbery, which is the fifth to
occur in the area in the past eight days,
took place at The Pantry at 1501 E.
Franklin St. around 8:45 a.m. Saturday.
According to police reports, the
assailant fled west on foot after taking
the money from the store.
The assailant is described as a 6-foot
3-inch black man weighing 220 pounds.
He was wearing a plaid shirt, dark jeans,
a multicolored knit hat, sunglasses and
a white dust mask at the time of the inci
dent
Police reports state that no one was
injured in the robbery.
Chapel Hill police Sgt Jackie Carden
said there was no known connection
between the robberies, but investigators
were looking into the separate incidents.
“Each individual robbery is assigned
to an investigator,” she said. “It’s going
to vary.
“We can’t predict when the robberies
are going to happen. There’s no set pat
tern.”
However, Capt. Tony Oakley said
that while investigative reports on the
robberies had not been released, he
thought the incidents might be related
to one another.
“I would speculate there probably is
(a connection) to have so many (rob
beries) so close together,” he said.
“There is probably something going on
there.”
Two other armed robberies in
Chapel Hill last week occurred at
Domino’s Pizza, located at 1289
Fordham Blvd., and at Fred’s Beds,
located at 117 Ram's Plaza.
They both involved multiple
assailants with handguns. There were
no reported getaw’ay cars for any of the
incidents.
Police described an additional two
armed robberies that took place in
Carrboro on Nov. 2 as unrelated to the
incidents in Chapel Hill.
Carden said the rash of armed rob
beries in the past week w'as rare in
Chapel Hill.
“It’s not extremely common that we
have three (armed robberies) in a
week,” she said. “They’re fairly ran
dom.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
approached by RSWP to participate.
“It was probably because we were
new,” he said.
However, he has organized other
charity events for the restaurant.
“What we did for the first week of
opening was we donated 23 percent of
initial revenue to flood victims,” Grills
said. “As different events come up, we
will look at them individually.
“There is a certain amount of events
we limit ourselves to.”
When asked what these limits were,
Grills said it was company policy to not
release financial information during the
first year.
Despite not receiving support from
some restaurants, Briggaman said she
expected the effort to be successful.
“My goal is to beat $20,000, but
we’re in a position where we are about
to peak out,” she said.
Each chairman works independently
and keeps the money they raise for their
area. Last year Durham and Raleigh
raised around $7,500 each. Durham’s
proceeds go to St. Phillips Community
Kitchen, and Raleigh donates its money
to the Food Bank.
“Chapel Hill typically raises more
(money than Raleigh and Durham),”
Briggaman said. “We try not to be too
proud about it. We do so well - the fan
tastic support comes from everywhere.”
Getting support for the program is
not always easy. Some people do not
want their money going to people on
the street. “We do what we think is right
through the criticisms and bad press we
get sometimes,” Briggaman said. “We
make sure the businesses know the
money is for hunger relief programs. It
makes a difference to downtown busi-
See RSWP, Page 4
3