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®be Satin ®ar Heel M News/i p 107 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 UNC Officials Pitch Plea For Capital Improvements By Matthew B. Dees State & National Editor RALEIGH - Calling the issue their “No. 1 priority," delegates from the UNC system and N.C. Community Colleges asked a legislative committee Monday to make every effort to address the schools’ urgent capital needs. The Joint Select Committee on Higher Education Facilities heard impas sioned pleas from state education and business leaders as they described dilap- Astronaut Eyes Chancellor Spot By Jason Arthurs Staff Writer Charles Brady wants to go where no astronaut has gone before - South Building. A NASA astronaut and UNC alum nus, Brady said the University was at a crucial crossroads and offered his lead ership as chancellor to reinspire students and faculty to make UNC the nation’s best learning institution. Brady’s supporters sent endorsement letters to the campus community in the early stages of the search, hoping he would be interviewed for the position, said Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Lee Conner. While Brady said he was almost sure he would not be interviewed tor the position, he said he wanted to be a part of the University’s future. “I’ve been told that the committee is going in a more academic direction,” he Police Seek Suspects in Shooting Police are searching for two men in connection with a shooting that occurred behind Ham's restaurant. By Anjali Kalam Staff Writer Police have no leads in a weekend shooting case that sent a Carrboro man to the hospital with an arm wound. While sitting in a car parked at a local restaurant, a man was shot in the arm and punched in the face by an unidentified assailant early Sunday morning. The attack took place at the rear end of the parking lot of Hams of Chapel Hill, located at 310 W. Franklin St., reports state. Chapel Hill police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said the victim and at least one other person were seated in a sta tionary vehicle when the assailants came toward the car. “They were approached by two black males,” she said. “One of them hit the victim and pulled out a handgun and shot him.” The victim, who was seated in the passenger’s seat, was shot once in the arm by one of the unidentified assailants, Cousins said. She said the victim, a 21-year-old male, did not want his name to be revealed. Cousins said police received a call from UNC Hospitals at about 2:52 a.m. Sunday reporting the incident. As of Monday afternoon, UNC Hospitals officials said the victim had See GOTHAM, Page 2 idated facilities and severe space con straints on all of the state’s campuses. “To not do whaf s needed for higher education in North Carolina not only cripples our university system, it also cripples our economic engine,” said Ben Ruffin, Board of Governors chairman. The sense of urgency and earnestness that marked Ruffin’s and other officials’ words likely stemmed from the knowl edge that legislators would be hard pressed to find funding for the estimated $6.9 billion of capital needs. said. “I stand ready to serve, and I have a lot of energy.” Richard Stevens, chairman of the Chancellor Search Committee, said he could not comment on any candidate, ex-candidate or potential candidate. In addition to being a NASA astro naut, Brady was a U.S. Naval officer, a member of UNC’s Phi Beta Kappa, a leader of the prestigious Blue Angels flight squadron and a mission specialist on NASA’s longest shuttle mission. He will receive a doctorate degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, a joint program with NASA, in June. Brady said viewing the universe from space gave him a humbled perspective on life -a perspective which, he said, prompted him to offer his service to an institution he loves. “It’s something I felt spiritually led to See BRADY, Page 2 PASSI 1.2 aPr SMw ' * inf < FLIRSCHITKI. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech before a crowd of more than 200,000 in Washington, D.C. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Tuesday, February 29, 2000 Volume 107, Issue 163 David Crotts, the legislature’s senior financial analyst, told the committee that natural disasters, tax cuts and lawsuits forcing reparations to taxpayers have left the state budget almost dry. Crotts said the best way to fund the projects would be to issue security inter est bonds, a method that would be financed by interest from the capital facilities rather than from tax dollars. The bond method was proposed by See COMMITTEE, Page 2 H : CflSHk -irr- term®- ' Pari H DTH/KATHKRINE FAKER Anthony Bingham directs traffic around a parade of Chapel Hill-Carrboro school buses along Cameron Avenue. He said he was reacting to the traffic problems, not having known beforehand that the buses would be there. Nil TUE Tfinnu ■ ■■■K: DTH,KATHLEEN HUNTER Ben Ruffin, chairman of the Board of Governors, talks to the N.C. General Assembly's facilities' needs committee in Raleigh. BLOCKING BUSES No Single Leader Continues To Rally Race, Officials Say By Courtney Weill Senior Writer More than three, decades ago, Martin Luther Kingjr., rose to promi nence as the central leader of the civil rights movement. On Aug. 28, 1963, millions of Americans - black and white - found inspiration in King’s vision for a color blind society as he preached from (he steps of the fK Lincoln Memorial. On that muggy day, he command ed both the audience gathered along the reflecting pool and the leadership of the tooking Back Facing Forward A five-part series examining turning points in black history and their effects on society today. ( civil rights movement. But as diversity and acceptance of all races increase, some black leaders say the need for a single spokesman for the race is disappearing, “Asa community of individuals (in the 19605), there was a need to change the way business was practiced,” said Condace Pressley, broadcast vice pres ident for the National Association of Blackjournalists. “What we are seeing now is the results. There are all sorts of leaders in all sorts of areas.” Pressley and others recognize a group of black figures who work to promote the race in their own fields. The barrage of names include the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, Louis Farrakhan and the Rev. A1 Sharpton. But the need for a single civil rights leader has diminished in the 21st cen tury, as black Americans are seen as equal citizens by the majority of the population, noted Black Student Movement President Chris Faison. He said the black population’s iden tification with one leader would sug gest that blacks were monolithic and would downplay the diversity of their culture. “It’s almost as if society forced black Americans to have a single leader because black America never really had one identi ty,” Faison said. Louis Fields, presi dent of the Greensboro chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that while there was an absence of a figurehead who consistently rallied the race, many leaders continued to fight discrimina tion on the local and national scene. “We do have leaders, but we don’t need them in the sense of years ago when people couldn’t speak for them selves,” Fields said. N.C. Sen. Howard Ixte, D-Orange, said that when searching for leaders, people should look to those making a difference in their own communities. “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a major black national figure who will just have an impact on blacks or be adopted as a black leader,” Lee said. See LEADERS, Page 2 News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina © 2000 DTH Publishing Corp. AH rights reserved. Forum to Focus on Inflation Students and faculty will discuss the validity of a report highlighting a trend of rising grades at UNC. By John Maberry Staff Writer The authors of the controversial report on grade inflation at UNC have invited students and faculty to voice their opinions on the subject at a forum Wednesday night. The report, issued Feb. 2, stirred opposition from both students and fac ulty who fear that stricter grading stan dards could hurt UNC’s reputation. In response to these concerns, the report’s primary author, economics Professor Boone Turchi, organized the forum for 7 p.m. in 105 Gardner Hall. The Educational Policy Committee, which Turchi heads, released the report which says the current UNC aggregate grade point average of 3.0 is too high and should be lowered to between 2.6 and 2.7. The authors of the report cite a drastic rise in overall GPA since 1987 as evidence that grade inflation is rampant. Among other reasons for the infla tion, the report states that high schools are preparing students better, students are working harder, and professors are feeling pressured to give higher marks. In response to the report. Student Body Vice President Monika Moore sent a mass e-mail message asking students to attend the forum to protest any action to establish a lower University' GPA. “I hope that since this is an issue that has direct ramifications upon students, they will make a concerted effort to come out.” Moore said. Turchi stressed that the purpose of his report was to improve the quality' of edu cation at UNC. “One of the side effects of grade inflation is that students aren’t being challenged and aren't getting all they should out of a Carolina education.” In her e-mail message, Moore expressed concern that the proposals offered by the committee would severe ly harm students’ postgraduate plans. “To name only a few, it will jeopar dize our students’ chances to be admit ted to top-notch graduate level pro grams as well as decrease the chance that they will be competitive for employment opportunities,” she said. Moore’s concerns were echoed by members of the faculty. Professor Joel Schwartz said UNC was currently the only competitive institution considering a proposal to stop grade inflation. He said he feared that UNC gradu- See GRADES, Page 2 Tuesday A Whole New World Officials from Chapel Hill High School met with parents and other educators from around the state to discuss the implementation of the International Baccalaureate program. See Page 5. Rallying for Rights Police arrested nearly 3SO protesters Monday in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco who were rallying against the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist and activist charged with killing a police officer. See Page 5. Who Wants Some? Have the inside track on who will be the next editor of The Daily Tar Heel by having a hand in picking him or her. Applications to sit on the editor selec tion board and for the editor position itself are now available in the DTH front office in Suite 104 of the Student Union. Please contact Editor Rob Nelson at rnelson@email.unc.edu. Today’s Weather Sunny; High 60s. Wednesday: Sunny; Low 70s.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Feb. 29, 2000, edition 1
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