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Error Spurs 2nd Election for Congress Seats
By Karey Wutkowski
Staff Writer
In yet another of the errors that have
plagued this year’s campus elections, the
Elections Board has called for a Tuesday
re-election in several Congressional dis
tricts.
Catherine Yates, elections board
chairwoman, said outdated districting
lines were used in the Student Union
and the Hanes Art Center poll sites from
9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
Minors
Decision
Pending
Student government mem
bers say the referendum
should spur University
officials to permit 2 minors.
By Kim Miniigh
Assistant University Editor
Students who hit the polls Tuesday
showed overwhelming support for a ref
erendum calling for double minors to
be acknowledged on transcripts in a
whopping 2,907 to 249 victory.
Here’s the catch: UNC does not offi
cially offer double minors, leaving any
real weight behind the referendum in
the hands of administrators.
The referen
dum was only a
means to express
student opinion,
said Finance
C o m mitt e e
Chairwoman
Lindsay Whitfield.
“The referendum
indicates to (the
administration)
that this is what the students want,” she
said. “It facilitates and accelerates the
process that might bring it about.”
Student Body Treasurer Ryan Schlitt
said that as a precedent, administrative
change often followed student-passed
referendums. “If students overwhelm
ingly pass a referendum, most likely an
action will be taken,” he said.
The idea behind the referendum
originated last fall with T.J. Maloney
and Shannon Ghadiri, chairmen of the
Academic Affairs Committee of the
executive branch of student govern
ment.
Ghadiri said double minoring was a
concern brought to her by many students.
Maloney and Ghadiri discussed the issue
with Boone Turchi, chairman of the
Educational Policy Committee.
Maloney said Turchi expressed sev
eral concerns about double minors lead
ing to overspecialization in a liberal arts
institution such as UNC.
He said Turchi told them a proposal
would have to be given to his commit
tee and then passed by the full Faculty
Council. Discouraged, Maloney said he
and Ghadiri decided to poll student
opinion through a referendum.
“It’s the best way to send a really
strong message (to the council),” he
said.
After the referendum passed in
Tuesday’s elections, Maloney said he
and Ghadiri would draft a letter to
Turchi asking for a revision of the edu
cational policy. The policy allows stu
dents to declare one major, one major
with one minor or a double major.
Maloney said the letter would also be
sent to Faculty Council Chairman Pete
Wilson, School of Arts and Sciences
Dean Risa Palm and University
Registrar David Lanier.
“We wanted the vote behind us that
would send a strong message,” Maloney
said.
Speaker Mark Kleinschmidt said
Congress passed the referendum think
ing of students’ best interest.
“Students are already double minor
ing because they meet the require
ments, but it’s not being recognized on
their transcripts.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
Congress
redrew the dis
tricts in the fall,
but the new
boundaries were
not used in some
cases during elec
tions earlier this
week.
“One person
noticed he was
given the wrong district,” she said.
After the problem was discovered,
By Lam Harac
Staff Writer
The upcoming millennial election
promises to be a pivotal one for North
Carolina, in part because of the antic
ipated changing of the political guard.
And the state’s complex political
landscape makes the results of this
year’s election
difficult to pre
dict, analysts say.
Nor t h
Carolina, histori
cally a conserva
tive state, has
shown steady
movement
toward a more
moderate posi
tion. The state’s
executive branch
has been domi
nated bv moder-
Focus on
State Politics
The DTH looks
at an issue in-depth.
See Page 5
ate Democrats, although Republican
presidential candidates have won the
stale in ever) election since 1976,
regardless of whether they won the
general election.
Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt’s
strength as a political figure during the
last decade has counteracted the GOP
inlluence, said Ferrel Guillory, director
of UNC’s Program on Southern
Politics, Media and Public Life.
“ The significance of this election for
North Carolina is this: Governor Hunt
is completing 16 years as governor. He
has been the dominant Democratic fig
ure in the state. His dominance has
kept the Democrats competitive in
North Carolina and has prevented the
Republicans from surging even more
than they might have,” Guillory said.
In Washington, Republican Sen.
Jesse Helms’ reign also might be near
ing its end.
Helms, who entered the U.S. Senate
in 1973, has been the dominant
Republican figure for the past three
decades, Guillory said. He has two
more years to his term, but political
figures are still uncertain as to whether
he will run again, or who will fill his
shoes if he does not.
“The year 2000 election is the first
election in which the state will look
Police Charge Suspect
In Chapel Hill Murder
By Jenny Rosser
Staff Writer
Police made an arrest late Thursday
evening in connection with the Feb. 10
murder of a 22-year-old Chapel Hill
woman.
Dwayne Rayshon Degraffenreid, 21,
of 510-A Craig St., was arrested and
charged with one felony count of first
degree murder and one felony count of
assault with a deadly weapon with intent
to kill.
Chapel Hill police spokeswoman
Jane Cousins said police were not releas
ing any details surrounding
Degraffenreid’s arrest or the murder of
Nehesia Kentae Taylor.
Taylor was found shot to death Feb.
10 after officers responded to a 911
report of gunshots in the Sykes and
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.
Walt Whitman
Friday, February 18, 2000
Volume 107, Issue 156
Id® h
Yates said she
fixed it by telling
the poll sites to use
the current map
district lines
instead of the out
dated information
used in the
Registrar’s Office
database.
The database
contains each stu
dent’s name, per-
Congress Speaker
Mark Kleinschmidt
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Despite the state's politically conservative history, more Republican candidates, like 1998 Senate hopeful
Lauch Fairdoth, are having less success securing office against their moderate Democratic counterparts.
beyond Hunt and Helms,” Guillory
said. “What’s at stake is who will get
the first chance to start something at
the end of the Hunt era.”
But local experts have said that just
w hich side will have that first chance is
still unclear.
Looking Back
Abraham Holtzman, professor
emeritus of political science at N.C.
State University, said the state has flue
tuated between Republican and
Democratic control.
“North Carolina is a conservative
to-moderate state. Sometimes the
moderates win; sometimes the conser
vatives win,” Holtzman said.
North Carolina had been a strong
ly Southern Democratic state since the
Gomains streets area at about 10:05
p.m., according to a police press release.
As officers searched the area, located
in the Northside neighborhood, they
were approached by resident Reginald
Eugene Farrington, who had been shot
in the finger. He led officers to (he 600
block of Sykes Street, where Taylor’s
body was found.
Police are not releasing the addresses
of either Farrington or Taylor but did
confirm that both were Chapel Hill res
idents. The case marks the second homi
cide this year in Chapel Hill. Michael
Gregory Crosby of Raleigh was found
shot to death New Year’s Day at the
Orange County Water and Sewer
Authority, off of Mason Farm Road.
Michael Jordan Cruz, of Raleigh, was
See MURDER, Page 2
sonal identification number and voting
district according to residence.
But District 11 candidate Bharath
Parthasarathy, w ho lost 50-43 according
to last Tuesday's vote, said he was given
the wrong district when he went to the
Union poll site at 2 p.m.
“I went and saw (Yates) immediately
after leaving the poll site,” Parthasarathy
said. “She said the (districts; had been
changed.
“I don’t know if it was gross inepti
tude or lack of communication.”
Civil War, Holtzman said. Southern
Democrats favored segregation,
looked down on unionization and dis
agreed with federal government regu
lation of state matters, although they
pushed for more taxes for education
and industry.
But the party began to show inter
nal division in the 1950s over the race
issue, he said.
The state’s Democratic Parts at the
time was a coalition between moder
ates, liberals and some conservatives,
he said. The push for desegregation
and civil rights and the influx of
Republicans coming in from the North
swayed many Southern Democrats to
the Republican Party.
Until then, the Republicans had
been in the minority, Holtzman said.
LEA BRINGS THE 'D'
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DTH GREG WOLF
North Carolina's Cherie Lea defends Wake Forest's Alisha Mosley during
UNCs 75-69 victory Thursday at Carmichael Auditorium. Lea finished
with one point, three assists and two boards. See Story Page 7.
Congress approved the Rules and
Judiciary Committee’s recommenda
tions for new district lines in December.
“By law, (Congress) has to redislrict
every two years,” said Congress Speaker
Mark Kleinschmidt. He said this year’s
committee did a thorough study of
where students lived on and off campus
and even created anew district.
“The Rules andjudiciary Committee
created anew district scheme by draw-
See CONGRESS, Page 2
N.C. conservatives - Republicans
and former Southern Democrats -
took the position that political issues,
including civil rights and education,
w'ere best solved on a state and local
level. But the liberal-moderate position
was willing to accept federal govern
ment intervention, he said.
The division has persisted through
the last two decades. “(Conservatives)
see (government intervention) as an
infringement on the rights of the busi
ness community,” Holtzman said.
Persistent Issues
Though the contenders in current
N.C. politics might be new, the issues
being discussed are not.
See TRENDS, Page 5
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina
© 2000 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
State DOT
Joins Fight
For Safety
Some of the campus plans
to boost pedestrian safety
include new stoplights,
signs and traffic islands.
B\ Katf. Macek
Staff Writer
In the biggest push yet to improve
campus pedestrian safety, the N.C.
Department of Transportation has
joined forces with UNC and local offi
cials to address what has become a
pressing issue.
There have been 27 accidents involv
ing pedestrians in the past 20 months,
including a fatality, according to recent
reports.
Officials will implement physical
improvements such as traffic and flash
ing lights, signs and concrete islands.
Renovations are focused on
Manning Drive, Columbia Drive and
South Road. The improvements will not
necessarily remain in place because
they are only pilot projects, said Vance
Barham, a traffic engineer for the DOT.
Most projects are slated to be com
pleted by this spring. Some smaller
improvements, such as the replacement
of current pedestrian signs with brighter
fluorescent yellow-green signs, will be
completed within a month.
The estimated cost for the install
ment of traffic and pedestrian lights at
the intersection of Manning Drive and
Morrison Drive at Craige Deck is
$60,000. The concrete islands on South
Road are expected to cost roughly
$25,000, Barham said. The DOT has
already approved both projects.
These plans are being realized
through the chancellor-appointed
pedestrian safety committee. Created in
January by Public Safety Director
Derek Poarch, the 14-member group
consists of DOT officials, Chapel Hifl
representatives and University students.
The committee met Wednesday to
discuss ways of improving safety on
UNC’s campus and in Chapel Hill.
There is also a smaller subcommittee
including experts from the state trans
portation department, the city, the
UNC Center for Highway Safety
Research and the University’s trans
portation planner. This subgroup meets
separately to consider the feasibility of
proposals made by the main committee.
A proposal to add bike lanes to
Columbia Drive was sent to the sub
committee Wednesday and long-term
plans were discussed, including nar-
See PEDESTRIAN, Page 2
Friday
A Mother's Love
Thelma Clark,
the mother of
convict and
activist Eddie
Hatcher, spoke on
campus Thursday
night to raise
awareness of her
son’s plight.
See Page 3.
Timely Trifecta
Forward Jackie Higgins hit a 3-pointer
from the top of the key with 40
seconds remaining to help the North
Carolina women's basketball team
defeat Wake Forest 75-69.
See Page 7.
Looking for Revenge
The North Carolina men’s basketball
team takes on Virginia at 4 p.m. Sunday
at the Smith Center. UNC. which has
won three consecutive games and five
out of its last six. lost 87-85 to the
Cavaliers on Jan. 18 at University Hall.
Today’s Weather
'4
Rainy;
Mid 50s.
Saturday: More rain;
High 60s.