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81st Congress Reflects, Closes Year
Student Congress members
debated final matters of
legislation at the session's
last meeting Tuesday.
By Geoff Wessel
Staff Writer
A festive atmosphere prevailed as stu
dents began the transition to next year at
the final meeting of the 81st Student
Congress on Tuesday.
Although it marked the end of the
Cops Brace
For Rowdy
Revelers
Police say the large crowds
on Franklin Street could
spell disaster if someone
was to get hurt celebrating.
By Sabine Hirschaeer
Staff Writer
Tar Heel fans are anxiously prepar
ing for Saturday’s men’s basketball
game in Indianapolis, planning parties
and loading up on beer and snacks.
Anticipating a raucous and potential
ly dangerous Franklin Street celebra
tion, local emergency officials are mak
ing extra preparations of their own.
Reflecting on last weekend’s events,
which included bonfires and toilet
paper covered trees, town officials and
the local police department raised con
cerns about safety issues that come with
a rowdy Franklin Street crowd.
“We want the students to celebrate
and have a good time,” said Maj. Gregg
See POLICE, Page 6
Dedication to Feature Ist Amendment Celebration
By Jamila Vernon
Staff Writer
Students, faculty and alumni attend
ing the dedication of Carroll Hall this
weekend will be treated to a variety of
speakers, including a Pulitizer Prize win
ner and a television network news
Student Web Voting Slated for 2001
By Katy Nelson
Staff Writer
With hopes of increasing voter par
ticipation, a University service plans to
have a secure online voting system in
place for the
February 2001
student elec
tions.
After Student
Body President
N.C. State, Duke
Learn Online
Voting Lessons
See Page 4
Nic Heinke emphasized online voting in
his platform, talks between Heinke’s
Information Technology Committee
and Administrative Information
Services led to plans for the system’s
implementation.
AIS would allow students to cast their
electronic ballots from the convenience
of their homes by accessing Student
Central, the secure Web site used to reg
ister for classes and view grade reports,
said Dan O’Neal, associate director for
Student Information with AIS.
AIS designs, develops and imple
ments accounting and financial business
systems. They also design, develop and
operate computer-based administrative
systems for the University.
Matt Robinson, co-chairman of the
Information Technology Committee,
has worked with AIS to set up the online
election through Student Central.
“We’re looking for an amazing
year’s work, the meeting saw energetic
discussion of the items on the agenda.
“I honesdy believe this was the most
effective Congress I’ve served with,”
said Speaker Mark Kleinschmidt. “(The
representatives) deserve the respect of
every member of this University com
munity.”
The reports by Kleinschmidt,
Congress committee heads and student
body officers started the meeting off
with a hint of sentiment as representa
tives looked back on what Kleinschmidt
called an effective and productive year.
Student Body President Nic Heinke
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DTH/|EFF POI'LAND
A crowd surfer rides a momentum of hysteria on Franklin Street on Sunday after the Tar fleets advanced to the Final Four. But concerned
with public safety and in anticipation of more downtown reveling, Chapel Hill police are encouraging fans to stay on the ground.
anchor.
The dedication of the School of
Journalism and Mass Communication will
coincide with First Amendment Days, a
two-day event sponsored by the Freedom
Forum and First Amendment Center.
“That’s what we’re built on," said
Richard Cole, journalism school dean.
change in voter
turnout,”
Robinson said.
“We’re hoping to
make student gov
ernment a truer
representation of
(he entire student
body.”
Web-based vot
ing was first made
available in the
1996 student elec
tions exclusively
in computer labs
but was not used
in recent years
Student Body
President
Nic Heinke
worked with his
Cabinet to start
online voting.
due to problems in coordinating online
and traditional voting.
Robinson said that since 1996, ideas
for more universally accessible student
voting had been considered, but it was
not until this year that AIS got involved.
Robinson said Internet vendor
www.votehere.net was first considered
to run the 2000 elections but was reject
ed due to its SIO,OOO-per-election price
tag, coupled with questions about secu
rity issues.
O’Neal said such concerns should not
be a problem in the new program
because Student Central encrypted data,
meaning information could only be
decoded by providing a student’s
Personal Identification Number and
One's first book, kiss, home run is always the best.
Clifton Fadiman
Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Volume 108, Issue 21
said he also felt good about the 1999-
2000 Student Congress.
“I’m proud to say that I worked with
the Congress this year,” he said. “It
makes me proud to know that we
haven’t forgotten this is about serving
the student body.”
But in addition to remembering the
past year, Congress members were also
looking forward to the next.
Several new resolutions were brought
before the body in a final spurt of leg
islative action.
Kleinschmidt, Heinke and Graduate
and Professional Student Federation
“We have the First Amendment enshrined
on the wall in 4-inch metal letters.”
Planning for the dedication began in
July 1999 when the building was com
pleted and the school was moved from
Howell Hall.
The First Amendment Days festival
will be held Thursday and Friday starting
Personal Access Code.
Initially, AIS considered designing a
Web-based program for this year’s elec
tion but decided to wait until 2001.
“We just want to make sure that what
ever we put out is perfect, and that’s
why we were cautious,” Robinson said.
Although computer problems
delayed election results this year,
O’Neal said he was confident the elec
tion traffic would not crash the planned
computer program.
“The demand on the computer will
be light compared to Web registration,”
said O’Neal, who noted that backup
servers would be running just in case.
Web registration for University hous
ing caused initial problems in March
1998, when the large number of students
using the system led to a system crash.
But O’Neal said considerable test
runs of the program would be made by
AIS before February 2001.
Journalism Professor Deb Aikat, who
teaches a course about online information
access, said a Web-based election would
be very simple, as long as voter identity
problems were cleared up by requiring
students to use both their PID and PAC.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Aikat said of online
voting. “It will save time and we’re trying
to be more wired, so why not?”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
President Conner all spoke about a
resolution on the night’s agenda that
would begin a process of making UNC’s
Honor Court more autonomous.
The resolution, which called lor a ref
erendum to create a student fee to fund
the Honor Court, would end Congress’
control of the court’s funding. But the
debate was not resolved at the meeting
after Kleinschmidt ruled that Student
Code mandated resolutions lose effect
when the next Congress convenes.
“I think we should table it,” said Rep.
Bharath Parthasarathy, Dist. 16, the res
olution’s sponsor. “I’m still going to be
at 11 a.m. both days and will feature
speakers, a concert, a documentary film
and a banned-books exhibit.
“This is the first time we’ve operated
this type of program,” said Gene
Policinski, media relations director for
the First Amendment Center. “We hope
it will be a model for other universities.”
SILENT MESSAGE
|| I I
hB
I)TH/MEREDITH LEE
Junior Alex Mehfar studies the 14 photographs and interviews with
sexual abuse victims in the Union Gallery. The exhibit entitled
"Breaking the Silence" was set up in recognition of Women's Week.
here in three weeks, and we’ll deal with
it then but to keep things moving we
should just table it.”
Definitive choices were made on
some of the meeting’s other issues.
Despite objections that it would cre
ate three stoplights in a row, a request
for one to be installed at the intersection
of Stadium Drive and South Road
passed and will be sent to the state’s
Department of Transportation.
Another forward-looking action was
the approval of all three of Student Body
See CONGRESS, Page 6
Policinski said the building’s dedica
tion was a good time to recognize the
Constitution’s free speech provision.
“I think it’s an honor that the school
is one of the sites to host the celebration
of the First Amendment,” said journal-
See AMENDMENT, Page 6
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina
© 2000 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
Members
Label Year
As 'Vanilla'
Congress members say the
congeniality of this year's
body replaced the bickering
that plagued past groups.
By Karey Wutkowski
Staff Writer
The 81st Student Congress came to a
close Tuesday evening, leaving behind
what members described as a markedly
unique year of mannered debate and
strong opinions.
Members said this year’s Congress
was defined by increased efficiency and
a lack of in-house contention.
“We had a low-key Congress this
year,” said Rep. David Ruddell, Dist. 6.
“It was a vanilla-ice-cream Congress.”
This year’s
members indeed
got a taste of
everything - from
legal wrangling
over the Student
Code to questions
concerning the
necessary scope of
their work.
Congress
Speaker Mark
Kleinschmidt said
the body’s mem
bers were hard
working this year
but did not
receive attention
Congress Speaker
Mark
Kleinschmidt
said Congress had
a duty to represent
all student interests.
due to the unglamorous nature of their
work, such as the redrawing of congres
sional district lines.
He said this year’s Congress differed
from previous sessions in both fhte attk
tude of the members and the nature and
breadth of their work.
Issues that arose last year, inclucling
ethics charges against member Erica
Smiley and a push by then-Speaker
Brad Morrison to bolster the body’s role
in approving presidential appointments,
created friction between the branches
and mired the group in in-house bick
ering.
Despite the seemingly more conge
nial nature of this year’s members,
Congress was no stranger to controver-
See RETROSPECTIVE, Page 6
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Hear Them Roar
The Rev. Marcia Dyson, wife of former
University Professor Michael Dyson,
called for women to embrace their
identity during Tuesday’s Women’s
Week keynote speech. See Page 5.
Footing the Bill
The Town of Carrboro has been using
money from federal block grants to
award more than 15 loans to local
businesses in an effort to encourage
downtown growth. See Page 7.
Inhaling Insulin
Fifty hospitals across the nation,
including one in Greenville, will soon
begin testing anew insulin inhaler for
diabetes patients. Sufferers hail the
product as more convenient and less
painful than injections. See Page 9.
Surprising Super-Sub
he wanted to try out for basketball
but he has become a major contributor
for the Tar Heels. See Page 11.
Today’s Weather
Sunny;
High 60s.
Thursday: Rain:
High 50s.