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Edwards Hints at His Support
Of Nuclear Plant Protesters
By Tricia Barrios
Staff Writer
Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., offered prelim
inary support Monday for local government
officials’ fight against the Shearon Harris
Nuclear Power Plant.
Members of the Orange County govern
ment bodies met with the freshman senator to
ask for his backing in organizing a public evi
dentiary hearing about the proposed expansion
of the nuclear facility. The plant, located in
Wake County, is owned by Carolina Power &
Light Cos.
Edwards, who listened to concerns from the
Orange County Board of Commissioners, the
Chapel Hill Town Council, a state senator and
representative, representatives from both
Durham and Chatham counties and a delegate
from a local environmental group, offered
some support of their efforts.
“This is my first meeting with anyone about
the issue,” he said. “I feel like, in fairness, 1 have
[j
As part of our
student elections
coverage, the DTH
will examine the
top five student
issues based upon
the paper's survey
of 300 students.
MONDAY:
Dining services
TODAY:
The accessibilit}'
of student
government
WEDNESDAY:
Race relations
THURSDAY:
Parking
FRIDAY: Tuition
□penin^MrdQorEZ]
Baddour Calls Seating Summit
By Will Folshee
Staff Writer
In an effort to further the discussion
of lower-level ticket allocation in the
Smith Center, Director of Athletics Dick
Baddour has called a meeting with cam
pus student leaders.
Baddour requested a meeting with
Carolina Athletic Association President
Tee Pruitt and Student Body President
Nic Heinke on Feb. 16 to further discuss
the seating dilemma that arose in
January.
Because of inclement weather and
anticipation of low alumni attendance,
students with a UNC ONE Card were
allowed to sit in seats normally reserved
for the alumni ticket-holders at thejan.
27 UNC-Maryland game.
The excitement surrounding UNC’s
victory sparked a debate over whether
You only live once —but if you work it right, once is enough.
Joe E. Lewis
to at least meet with (CP&L). But it’s very hard
for me to imagine that it’s not in the public
interest to have a full-blown evidentiary hear
ing.”
Jim Warren, director of N.C. Waste
Awareness and Reduction Network, said the
public hearings held by CP&L on Dec. 7 and
Dec. 8 did not answer public safety concerns,
and did not allow the county’s team of scientists
to discuss their findings against the expansion.
“It’s easy for them to stand at a dog-and
pony show and answer questions that the gen
eral public can’t possibly understand,” he said.
“ This is nuclear science. If you want an open
process, let’s have a scientific debate.”
When Shearon Harris plant officials
revealed their intentions to expand the existing
facility last year, leaders from the county gov
ernment raised concerns about the safety of the
proposal. Warren said the expansion was
potentially unsafe and not cost-efficient, but
CP&L officials disagreed.
CP&L spokesman Mike Hughes said the two
-t k f'j
DTH FILE PHOTO
1998-1999 Student Body President Reyna Walters sits with the late Chancellor Michael Hooker in Lenoir Dining
Hall as part of her student outreach. Tnis year's presidential candidates are again stressing building such links.
By Katy Nelson
Staff Writer
If this year’s student body president
candidates carry out their campaign
promises, they will be rapping on students’
doors long after election season.
With student elections one week
away, candidates are responding to the
complaint that communication between
students and student government is luke
warm at best.
Current Student Body President Nic
Heinke holds his Cabinet meetings at dif
ferent locations on campus each week in
Jk., xcaaf
CAA President Tee Pruitt and Student
Body President Nic Heinke want to
improve student seats at the Smith Center.
students should have more lower-level
seats in the Smith Center.
“We look forward to the opportunity
to work things out,” Pruitt said. “We’re
not trying to fight the athletic depart
ment or the Educational Foundation.
We’re just looking for a compromise.”
Pruitt has been leading talks with
methods of storage were equal in safety and
that the dry cask storage method advocated by
N.C. WARN would be more expensive. “We
have technology that we have used as a plant
for 11 years, and, as a company, for 20 years,”
he said. “We would have to learn anew tech
nology. That’s not safer. Our facilities are
already built. We’d have to build new facilities.”
Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs
said the representatives were appealing to
Edwards because they were forced into the
position by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. “We came here not as adver
saries, but as advocates of the county,” he said.
“It is costing Orange County a vast amount of
money on an issue that we’re just trying to get
some truth on.”
Orange County Commissioner Alice
Gordon said she was frustrated by the lack of
help from the NRC. “The frustrating thing for
me ... is that we can’t get that hearing,” she
See EDWARDS, Page 6
an effort to increase community aware
ness of student government.
Cabinet members knock on students’
doors for the first hour of the Cabinet
meeting, talking to students about their
concerns. But members of student gov
ernment might not have knocked on
enough doors yet.
Freshman Hildy Fong said she had a
difficult time finding information on how
to join student government this year.
Fong recalled the orange bouncy balls
dispersed throughout campus to adver
tise online bookstores. “I know more
about bigwords.com than I do about stu
members of both groups to find a solu
tion to strengthen the atmosphere and
fan support in the Smith Center.
“The crowd at the Duke game was
great, but we’re trying to make it that
way at all the games,” Pruitt said.
Pruitt said that since the Maryland
game he had received more than 675 e
mail messages, the majority from alum
ni, who favored getting the students
closer to the court. He said the CAA was
examining a plan that would give stu
dents access to three sides of the court.
“We’re looking at either standing
bleachers or possibly the first 10 rows of
sections 118 through 133,” he said.
“We are not asking for more seats,
just closer because we’re willing to give
up seats in the current student section.”
Officials, who are bound to the com-
See SEATING, Page 6
Tuesday, February 8, 2000
Volume 107, Issue 148
dent government,” she said.
Candidates said they recognized this
lack of connection between Suite C and
the daily lives of students, sparking them
to integrate accessibility as a key part of
their platforms.
Junior Michael Harris said that if elect
ed student body president, he would be
proactive instead of reactionary in increas
ing communication between students and
student government.
He said he planned to expand
Heinke’s policy of holding Cabinet meet-
See ACCESSIBILITY, Page 6
Graduation Deadline
Friday for Senior Class
By John Maberry
Staff Writer
This week marks a significant dead
line for seniors preparing for their final
months at the University.
All seniors must declare their intent
to graduate by Friday, said Student
Services Manager Betsy Taylor.
The registration form requires appli
cants to provide their names, majors,
current schedules, number of current
hours and signatures.
Taylor said the Special Events Office
sent a packet of information about grad
uation, slated for May 21, to degree can
didates announcing the deadline dale.
But despite the University’s attempt
to inform students by mail, some seniors
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DTH/SEFTONIPOCK
Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., meets with Orange, Chatham and Durham county officials
Monday to discuss the proposed plan to expand the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant.
Students Debate
Effects of Ruling
By Kim Minlgh
Assistant University Editor
Student Congress Speaker Mark
Kleinschmidt claimed victory Sunday in
his Student Supreme Court trial, but the
verdict hasn’t left him celebrating.
Kleinschmidt said he feared the deci
sion dropped excessive power into
Congress’ lap by
faiUnst t address
the discrepancy
between the
Student Code and
the Student
Constitution.
The court
unanimously
upheld
Kleinschinidt’s
Jan. 21 decision to
withdraw the
United States
Student
Association refer
endum from the
Feb. 15 elections
ballot and essentially upheld that the
power of constitutional amendment
belongs to Congress.
A 12-10 congressional vote in
December passed the referendum. But
Kleinschmidt opted to drop it from the
ballot after realizing the December
vote’s clear violation of the code, which
stipulates that such votes must pass by a
two-thirds vote.
But four plaintiffs argued against
Kleinschmidt’s decision, citing the
Student Constitution, which says
amendments to the constitution must be
passed by a simple majority, but at the
direction of Congress.
Kleinschmidt said he feared that
because the court upheld the code and
are still unaware of the deadline.
“I’m sure they sent me something in
the mail, but 1 didn’t read it,” said Chris
Sears, an economics major from Dallas.
Other seniors echoed Sears’ senti
ments about University mail.
“We get so used to getting unimpor
tant mail from the University that I
probably just trashed an}' notification
about a deadline,” said Christian Poole,
a physical education, exercise and sport
science major from Bryson City.
Despite their nonchalance regarding
University announcements, seniors
have been registering. The College of
Arts and Sciences reports that 1,400 stu
dents have registered for graduation out
See GRADUATION, Page 6
because Congress had the power of
amendment over the code, the result of
the verdict could be a tremendous shift
of power to the hands of Congress.
“If you open (the constitution) up to
interpretation, then it’s very dangerous,”
he said. “It will have a disruptive effect
on the system of checks and balances.”
Kleinschmidt expressed concern that
Congress would be able to dispute any
consntunoiud clauses.
outsources ‘tom The Daily Tar lleel
that although Kleinschmidt’s arguments
were valid, it wasn’t likely Congress
would abuse its power
They said Congress’ power was lim
ited to deciding the ease or difficulty
with which resolutions could be passed
into referendums w ithin Congress.
Beyond that, any referendum must
still be passed by the student body and
thus serves as a check on the pow er of
Congress.
Supreme Court Justice Dan Roberts
said student petitioning was the primary
w'ay to amend the constitution.
“We believed the amendment
process was particularly important to
students,” Roberts said. “The student
way is the primary way.”
The court also denied the plaintiffs’
estoppel argument, a plea to overlook
the law in fairness. The plaintiffs argued
that the referendum should have
remained on the ballot in light of all
their efforts to lobby for USSA support.
Since the verdict, students w ho support
USSA are working toward getting the ref
erendum back on the ballot through peti
tion. The court ruled that the plaintiffs
failed to utilize all available avenues to get
the referendum on the ballot
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
a. "
Speaker of Congress
Mark
Kleinschmidt
said the decision
greatly increased the
power of the body.
Tuesday
A Calculating Kid
An eighth-grader at McDougle Middle
School took first place in a local math
competition. He is now training for the
statewide competition and ultimately
the national championship in
Washington, D.C. See Page S.
Meet the Candidates
Five groups are in the running for
2000-01 senior class president and
vice president positions.To find out
more about the candidates and their
backgrounds, peruse their profiles.
See Page 8.
Today’s Weather
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Cloudy;
High 40s.
Wednesday: Sunny;
High 50s.