3V Satis ®ar Urel
Police
Roundup
Event Set to Showcase
Undergraduate Work
The first annual Celebration of
Undergraduate Research will be held
today as part of prolonged efforts to
highlight die research of undergraduate
students.
Sponsored by the Office of
Undergraduate Research, the work of
more than 90 students from 30 campus
departments will be presented from
1:30 p.m. until 5 p.m.
The work will be displayed at the
Johnston Center for Undergraduate
Excellence and other nearby campus
sites. The celebration will include poster
presentations of honors theses as well as
a variety of dramatic art and music per
formances.
The event is being held as part of the
University’s ongoing efforts to boost
intellectual climate, which was one of
the lasting efforts of the late Chancellor
Michael Hooker.
University
Thursday, April 27
■ At 1:19 a.m., the Department of
Public Safety received information
about a possible controlled substance
violation in a Morrison Residence Hall
room, according to police reports.
Magistrate Maddrey found probable
cause and issued a search warrant,
police reports stated. The police
searched the room at 1:40 a.m.
No further information was available.
■ At 12:16 a.m., an anonymous
source reported smelling marijuana
coming out of an Ehringhaus Residence
Hall room.
Police recovered several marijuana
smoking devices and a plastic bag of
marijuana, reports stated.
One student was cited with posses
sion of drug paraphernalia and released,
reports stated. Another student was
cited with possession of drug parapher
nalia and possession of marijuana and
released, according to reports.
Wednesday, April 26
■ A Chapel Hill resident discovered
an envelope containing SSOO on
Boundary Street near Brooks Hall.
He returned the property, according
to police reports.
City
Thursday, April 27
■ Carrboro police officers observed
and followed a Chapel Hill man driving
erratically early Thursday morning,
reports stated.
The man was seen in his white sta
tion wagon at 2 a.m. driving erratically
near the intersection of Jones Ferry
Road and Old Fayetteville Road,
reports stated.
Officers noticed him pick up a
woman, who was searching for a ride in
the rain. Police continued to follow the
man after his brief stop, according to
police reports.
Officers stopped him after the sus
pect turned onto Old Fayetteville Road.
Reports state that the man said his
erratic driving was caused by looking in
the back seat at the passenger. He
claimed that she was wondering where
she could obtain drugs and alcohol,
reports stated.
There was no sign of alcohol on him
and after officers questioned him, the
man was sent on his way.
The woman appeared to be drunk
and had difficulty with speech, reports
stated. Because of the rain, officers
drove her to a friend’s house.
Wednesday, April 26
■ A Chapel Hill woman was arrest
ed for attempting to obtain a prescrip
tion drug under false pretense.
Jenny Paige Robinson, 26, of 230
Nature Terrace, was arrested for one
felony count of attempting to obtain
property by forgery, reports stated.
The prescription drug that Robinson
requested was a 40-pill bottle of
Percocets, a potent pain killer used to
ease discomfort, reports stated.
The place of arrest was Eckerd Drugs
at Timberlyne Shopping Center.
Robinson was transported to the
Orange County Jail and held in lieu of
a $1,500 secured bond, reports stated.
■ Carrboro police are investigating
an incident of communicating threats at
an area residence.
Officers are searching for a person
making calls to 1000 Smith Level Road,
threatening the resident with burning
down the apartment, reports stated.
The resident, who wished to remain
nameless, said the voice on the message
was distorted but seemed to be a man.
1 “I had some bad service and if you
don’t watch it I’m going to burn the
complex down,” the message said.
I Police are continuing their investiga
tion.
ECU Chancellor Plans to Retire
ECU Chancellor Richard
Eakin says he will work
until university officials
select anew school leader.
By Jennifer Hag in
Staff Writer
After 13 years at East Carolina
University, Chancellor Richard Eakin
has decided to retire and take a research
sabbatical before returning to ECU as a
professor of education leadership.
In a press conference Thursday,
Eakin said he was resigning so that one
chancellor could handle all the upcom
ing changes at ECU.
“It is clear to me that the opportuni
ties ahead will require a long-term com
mitment, and now is an appropriate
time to recruit anew chancellor,” he
said.
In the coming years, ECU will cele
brate its centennial and initiate a fund
Opening Young Eyes to the Old World
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DTH/KATE MELLNIK
Tiffany Bennett demonstrates how she kissed the Blarney Stone
on her trip to Ireland in March.
Annual Apple Chill Block Party to Hit Franklin
Vendors and store owners
hope to cash in when an
estimated 28,000 people
visit the Sunday street fair.
By GINNY SCIABBARRASI
Assistant City Editor
An annual Chapel Hill tradition -
one soaked in funnel cakes, clowns, fam
ily fun - will hit Franklin Street on
Sunday.
Sunday’s Apple Chill festival, sched
Bush Addresses Educators
On Student Performance
By Lucas Fenske
Assistant State & National Editor
GREENSBORO - Republican presidential
candidate George W. Bush spoke to state education
officials Thursday, reminding them that excellence
and accountability were key to improving K-12
education.
Bush, after attending a
$ 1,000-a-plate fund-raising
luncheon at Greensboro’s
Koury Covention Center,
briefly stopped at the “Closing
the Gap” Conference in the
same building.
The conference drew edu
cation officials from across the
state to discuss ways to erase
the performance gap between
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white and minority students in N.C. schools.
Delegates said they were pleased Bush discussed
the issue but wished his speech had not cut short
the previous speaker, Lou Anne Johnson. The
movie “Dangerous Minds” was based on Johnson’s
experiences as a teacher for at-risk youth.
raising campaign to collect SIOO million.
University officials will also have to bal
ance the need to expand the university
to accommodate 27,000 students by
2008 with neighboring citizens’ con
cerns over property values.
ECU currently has 18,000 students,
an all-time enrollment high.
Eakin said he hoped to spend more
time with his fami
ly once he left the
chancellorship.
“I’m about to be
62, and it’s time to
take on new and
different chal
lenges,” he said.
Eakin said he
would remain as
chancellor until a
replacement was
“I’m about to be 62,
and it’s time to take on
some new and different
challenges. ”
Richard Eakin
Chancellor of East Carolina University
found.
“I have agreed, in order to assure that
the university does not lose any momen
tum in the transition,” he said.
ECU Board of Trustees member
uled from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., is expected
to draw a crowd of nearly 28,000 fair
goers downtown.
Now in its 28th year, the event began as
an arts and crafts fair in an area park and
has evolved over the years to features var
ious bands and dance acts along with local
performers.
“Every year there’s something differ
ent,” said Parrish Anderson, coordinator
of this year’s Apple Chill. “It’s a visual del
icacy to come and see these works of art.”
Anderson said the Parks and
Recreation Department had issued per
mits for about 210 vendors, ranging
Bush said there were three ways to erase the
racial achievement gap and produce better stu
dents. “In the South, the debate used to be over
access,” he said. “The new challenge is no longer
access for every child but excellence.”
First, he said schools must push students to excel.
“Every child can learn if we set high standards,”
Bush said. “If you have low expectations (for stu
dent performance), they will be met.”
Second, he said he made sure as Texas governor
that local, not state, officials had control of schools.
“Should I get another job, I would make sure
schools were controlled by local citizens,” he said.
“They care more than someone in Washington.”
Third, Bush said it was important for states to
measure student performance. “Whenever I men
tion the need for strong accountability, I always see
children squirm,” he said. “But we’re going to do
measurements.”
If elected, he said, he would make sure state offi
cials would have access to federal funds to help
eliminate the racial achievement gap and boost
overall student performance.
Angela Watson, Winston-Salem curriculum
coordinator, said Bush was eager to help teachers.
News
Jordan Whichard said the search prob
ably would begin at the May BOT meet
ing and last anywhere from nine months
to a year.
Whichard said the nationwide search
would include faculty, student, trustees
and alumni opinions.
Officials would not speculate on
whether the search would be open to the
public.
James Smith,
executive assistant
to the chancellor,
described Eakin as
a man of high
integrity.
“He makes deci
sions in a forthright
way after consult
ing the people nec
essary,” Smith said.
Smith also said Eakin was a success
ful fund-raiser.
In 1996, Eakin helped raise more
than SSO million in the Shared Vision,
one of ECU’s largest fund-raising cam-
By Jennifer White
Staff Writer
When Tiffany Bennett applied to
be a counselor for a group of contest
winners traveling to Ireland, she
had one clear advantage.
Sure, she had spent her sopho
more year student-teaching in Spain
and had leadership experience as
president of
Chapel Hill
Players impro
visational com
edy group.
But it was
Bennett’s job as
a school bus
driver that she
swears most
likely got her
the job.
I
“They wanted you to have
worked with kids more than any
thing else,” she said. “I know the
most enticing part of my application
was that I drove a school bus. That
definitely helped to pull me in.”
Each spring, Parade Magazine, a
national Sunday newspaper supple
ment, sponsors an overseas trip for
about 100 outstanding young news
paper carriers.
The contest winners ranged in
age from 12 to 18 and are known as
“Young Columbus” winners.
Fourteen college seniors from
around the country are also chosen
to act as counselors on the all
expense-paid trip.
Bennett, a senior Spanish major
from performance acts to arts and crafts
booths to food.
Unusual performers also will partici
pate in this year’s festival, including a
mime who moves only if given money
and Contact Dancers who use one
another as dance props.
Traffic is expected to be the biggest
problem of the day. Officials will block
off Franklin and Henderson streets from
10 a.m. to 8 p.m., allowing for prepara
tion and cleanup from the festivities.
Last year’s After Chill, a tradition of
dancing and music in the streets after the
official event, led to close to 50 traffic
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But she said she wished the previous speaker,
Johnson, was able to finish her speech by reading
a letter written by her students. “I appreciate Bush,
but I wanted to hear more (from Johnson).”
Doug Greenberg, a biology teacher at Southeast
Raleigh High School, questioned Bush’s commit
paigns.
In the years Eakin was chancellor,
ECU experienced unprecedented
growth.
During his tenure, student enrollment
greatly increased, expansion and reno
vations on various campus buildings
including the school library and the
Student Recreation Center were com
pleted and the UNC Board of
Governors declared the school a
Doctoral II institution.
“Accompanying that growth will be
the parallel challenge of providing the
classrooms, laboratories, offices and res
idence halls for those new (ECU) stu
dents and their new teachers,” Eakin
said.
Smith said there were several quali
ties the new chancellor should demon
strate. “He needs to be an exquisite lis
tener, not because he’s forced to, but
because he wants to.”
The State and National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc. edu.
from Chicago, learned about the
trip through a mass e-mail message.
After her interview, she was chosen
as one of the 14 to spend eight days
in Italy earlier this month with the
students, who acted as junior ambas
sadors.
“Our ultimate goal was to go to
the U.S. Embassy and visit the Lord
Mayor there and kind of show off
these kids and what they had done
for their newspapers and communi
ties,” Bennett said. “These kids pret
ty much are the cream of the crop of
our nation.”
Counselors worked with escorts,
which included newspaper and
Parade employees, to entertain,
interest and motivated the students.
Bennett said her previous experi
ences abroad helped her to under
stand the importance of the trip for
the high-school students.
“For a lot of these kids, an experi
ence like this leads into what they
want to do in college,” she said. “I
went on an exchange to Costa Rica,
and it definitely opened my eyes to
the world and to what I want to do
with my life. That was the purpose
of this trip for these young people.”
After spending a semester in
Madrid teaching Spanish and
English to elementary and middle
schoolers, Bennett decided to enroll
in Teach for America.
The program, sponsored by
AmeriCorp, places newly graduated
teachers in under-resourced, under-
See STAR HEEL, Page 5
related citations.
Fred Battle, who works with .the
Public Works department, said it would
be responsible for the setup and cleanup
of the fair but that police would handle
the citations.
He said there would be 35 to 40
employees on hand to help with the fair.
Businesses and restaurants on
Franklin Street are bracing for the
crowds as well.
Scotty Mathess, a manager at
Pepper’s Pizza, said that while the
restaurant did expect more business on
Sunday, it was not bringing in extra
DTH EMILY SCHNURE
Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Republican presidential candidate, speaks
at the "Closing the Gap" state educational conference in Greensboro on Thursday.
Friday, April 28, 2000
Wicker
Promotes
Education
Wicker's platform pushes
some education initiatives
begun by Gov. Jim Hunt and
environmental programs.
This is the final installment of The Daily
Tar Heel’s profiles of the top five
candidates for N.C. governor.
Primaries are slated for May 2.
By Alicia Gaddy
Staff Writer
Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker hopes to
continue to climb North Carolina’s
political ladder into the governor’s
office this fall.
But first, he’ll
have to win the
Democratic pri
mary, where he is
locked in a tight
race with N.C.
Attorney General
Mike Easley for
the May 2 nomi
nation.
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While some
polls show the Sanford native trailing
Easley, political experts say the race is
virtually neck-and-neck. Spokesman
Marc Stinneford said Wicker hoped to
move ahead of his opponent with his
ideas to improve education, health care
and the environment. “We believe the
voters are responding to Wicker’s views,
especially his plans for education,” he
said.
He said Wicker proposed plans to
implement a public preschool program,
reduce elementary' class sizes and raise
teacher salaries above the national aver
age. The focus on K-12 education mir
rors the agenda of the man he aims to
succeed, Gov. Jim Hunt
Wicker also hopes to make higher
education more accessible to North
Carolinians, Stinneford said. He pro
posed establishing a scholarship pro
gram similar to Georgia’s Hope
Scholarship.
“He wants to provide scholarships to
any student in North Carolina who
earns a ‘B’ average,” Stinneford said.
This would provide tuition to any N.C.
public or private college or university.
But the preschool and scholarship
proposals depend on the success of
Wicker’s push for a state lottery.
Without this major part of his plan,
these programs could go unfunded.
Regardless of the lottery’s fate,
Stinneford said Wicker hoped to keep
UNC-system tuition as low as possible.
He said this could be done through sell
ing UNC bonds, but only if the state
supported the idea in a referendum.
Besides improving education, clean-
See WICKER, Page 5
help.
“We’ll have a whole lot of people run
ning their butts off,” he said. “We don’t
need extra people; we’ll just have to run
a lot more.”
Courtney Holden, assistant manager
at Light Years, said the store would
probably see more business than a usual
Sunday. “I’m sure there will be more
(people),” she said. “There will probably
be more people shopping on the streets,
however.”
Scott McClellan, interim director for
See APPLE CHILL, Page 5
ment to his educational plans. “(Bush) didn’t sound
convincing,” Greenberg said. “It’s easy to say what
the crowd wanted to hear.”
The State & National Editor can be reached at
stntdesk@unc.edu.
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