Utyp Saily (Ear Hrrl
Police
Roundup
University
Friday, April 28
■ A University employee found his
1993 Plymouth on fire at 7:04 a.m. on
Connor Drive, police reports state.
When the police arrived, they found
the victim attempting to put the fire out
with a cloth.
The officer told the victim to move
away from the car and proceeded to put
the fire out with an extinguisher.
According to police reports, the
Chapel Hill Fire Department extin
guished the engine of the vehicle with
water.
No criminal investigation was filed.
■ A University employee reported
that his checkbook and credit cards
were stolen from his office at 1700
Airport Road.
According to police reports, the vic
tim contacted his credit card company
and discovered that someone else had
made three purchases with his card.
A stop was placed on the third pur
chase, police reports stated.
Sunday, April 30
■ A student’s personal items were
stolen from the Student Recreation
Center at 7:46 p.m.
According to police reports, the stu
dent reported missing a cellular phone,
clothing, a wallet, a UNC ONE Card
and a check card.
■ A visitor to UNC Hospitals said
she found scratches down the left side of
her 1992 Honda Accord parked in front
of the hospital, police reports stated.
Monday, May 1
■ A student was hit by water bal
loons thrown by three unknown males
at 2 a.m.
According to police reports, the vic
tim was walking between Morrison
Residence Hall and Chase Hall when
she was hit with the water balloons.
She began to scream, but the sus
pects fled the area.
■ A student reported that her wallet
was stolen after it was taken from her
room in Spencer Residence Hall.
The student told police she placed
her wallet on her dresser at 11:30 p.m.
Friday, reports stated.
She discovered it was missing at
11:30 p.m. Saturday.
The victim’s roommates said they
were in the room all day and had not
seen anything suspicious, according to
police reports.
The student was advised to cancel
her credit cards.
City
Sunday April 30
■ A Durham man was arrested
Sunday night on various charges rang
ing from felony larceny to misde
meanor drug possession.
Derrian Demont Cates, 23, of 7514
Russell Road was apprehended at 10:16
p.m. after officers responded to several
suspicious conditions inquiries, reports
stated.
A man was spotted running from a
burglarized vehicle.
The officers approached the suspect,
but Cates fled the scene by foot, reports
stated.
He was located by a K-9 dog on 214
Pittsboro St. in masses of foliage,
according to police reports.
Cates was formally charged with four
counts of felony breaking and entering
in an auto, possession of stolen goods,
attempted breaking and entering, felony
larceny, misdemeanor possession of
marijuana and five other misdemeanor
counts, including possession of pills and
resist, delay and obstruct arrest.
Cates is being held in lieu of a
$22,000 secured bond.
His court date is May 5 in the
Orange County District Court in
Hillsborough.
Saturday, April 29
■ A domestic dispute in Carrboro
Saturday evening ended with the police
intervention.
A woman called officials after an
alleged assault by her boyfriend,
Howard Rosemand King, of the same
residence, reports stated.
Police responded and arrived at the
residence finding King “hanging out”
on the porch, drinking a can of beer.
The victim told officers King hit her
on the back of her head during a verbal
argument.
No physical damage was found on
her body.
King reported that the victim
attempted to choke him, placing her
hands around his neck.
Neither party decided to press
charges.
The woman told officers she was
going to take a walk to “cool down and
collect her thoughts.”
Congress to Hold Special Elections Today
Bv Courtney Mabeus
Staff Writer
Student Congress members said
Monday that they were confident that
all seats up for grabs in today’s special
election would be filled, eliminating the
need for further elections.
There are 13 Congressional seats
open after February’s election failed to
fill all open spots and several members
have since resigned, leaving more seats.
Nine undergraduate student seats
from South Campus and off-campus
areas - Districts 16,17, 18,19,21,24 and
25 -as well as four graduate student
seats - Districts 3, 5 and 8 - remain
empty.
Speaker Alexandra Bell said she had
spoken individually with students inter
ested in the open seats. “I feel confident
that we’ll fill up almost every seat,” she
said.
But Speaker Pro Tern Sandi
Chapman said special elections might
be needed again during the fall semester
if some students did not return to
Congress. “It’s mandated that there be a
special election for any unfilled seats,”
she said.
Assessing the Value of a Degree
How UNC Graduates Fare in the 'Real World'
By Worth Civils
Staff Writer
Paying more to attend well-respected UNC
schools does not always guarantee bigger bucks after
graduation, causing many students to question the
level of education worth pursuing.
Recent statistics show that more students are
attending community colleges and technical schools
as opposed to traditional four-year universities.
These students pay lower tuition and some
are starting out with higher salaries
than many graduates from UNC
schools, where tuition is much higher.
While many UNC graduates have
first-year starting salaries below $30,000,
- p J The’ increase cemlted
some from two-year technical programs earn
a starting salary closer to $40,000 a year.
Similarly, many graduates from four-year
colleges are making competitive salaries
upwards of $50,000 with-
Students Opt for Diverse Course Load
By Anne Fawcett
Staff Writer
Despite recent pushes to list minors
and second majors on UNC diplo
mas, many job-hunting students hope
the “University of North Carolina” at
the top of the diploma will be their
primary ammunition.
“A degree from Carolina shows
that you attended a prestigious uni
versity, you stuck it out for four years
or more, you learned to hang with
some really challenging professors
and you learned how to study in an
intellectual environment,” said Cory
Cavin, a senior communication stud
ies major.
A CAPTURED SPRING
DTH/KATF, MEI.LNIK
Michelangelo D'elia, a senior exchange student from Italy, works
on a charcoal landscape near the Davie Poplar on Monday afternoon
for Professor James Gadson's Art 4 Basic Drawing class.
m
Last week,
Congress mem
bers faulted the
Elections Board
and cited its failure
to publicize
today’s elections.
Members said
the board should
have also held a
mandatory candi
date interest meet
ing. The Student
Code states that
the interest meet
ing for candidates
must be held
Speaker Pro Tem
Sandi Chapman
said unfilled Student
Congress seats
demanded
a special election.
seven days prior to the election.
But Marissa Downs, Elections Board
vice chairwoman, said that because
board members received a low number
of petitions for the open seats, they did
not feel the need to hold such a meeting.
“It’s important not to mistake (the
meeting) for publicity,” Downs said.
She said it had been common to forego
the interest meeting during special elec
tions because it was easier to contact
potential candidates individually.
Yates said she anticipated a last-
out paying the additional cost for graduate school.
Jim Newlin, a fiscal analyst for the N.C. General
Assembly, said community college graduates in the
“hot careers” were making higher starting salaries
than many graduates from four-year liberal arts
schools. “Hot careers” are in fields with competitive
starting salaries, such as the computer industry or
technical engineering. The demand is high for grad
uates with technical degrees, Newlin said. “If I’m a
community college training students to be Novell
Cavin hasn’t decided what to do
with his degree yet, but he knows it
will help him in the long run.
And he is not alone.
While many students choose their
majors at UNC specifically as the
foundation for their future careers,
others decide to focus on studies that
will have only tenuous connections to
their jobs after graduation. These stu
dents, embracing UNC’s liberal arts
tradition, choose majors that provide
a broader base of knowledge.
These divergent tendencies are
reflected in the makeup of the top 10
campus majors. The first four are rel
atively practical sequences - biology,
psychology, business and journalism.
News
minute rush for the available seats.
“A lot of people have called in the
past few days trying to see if they could
still get on the ballot,” Yates said.
To secure candidacy, students must
turn in a petition with 10 student signa
tures or rely on write-in votes on Lhe bal
lots. These petitions would have been
due at the interest meeting.
Citing the small scale of the elections,
Downs said the board did not feel the
need to launch an all-out publicity cam
paign for the seats, which she said might
have fallen on deaf ears due to the lack
of student awareness about
Congressional districts.
Instead, Downs e-mailed all the grad
uate departments on campus to rally
support for today’s vote. “That’s a sub
stantial task in and of itself,” she said.
The Elections Board also spread fliers
in South Campus residence halls to
draw student attention, she said.
Downs said making off-campus dis
tricts aware of the need for candidates
and today’s vote was not an easy task.
“It’s increasingly difficult to publicize
outside (The Daily Tar Heel),” she said.
Yates said most candidates depended
on word-of-mouth to secure a seat.
But five of the final six reflect more
general areas of knowledge, including
communication studies, English and
history.
For students in the latter majors,
any job is a possibility. LING senior
and Greenwich, Conn., native Chris
Jennings knows this feeling.
Jennings said he visited campus as
a high school senior and left with
Carolina on his mind. He was
impressed by the school’s excellent
reputation and knew he would grad
uate with a valuable degree.
“1 fell in love with the campus and
everything Carolina offers,” he said.
“As someone from the North, I knew
that UNC was one of the most well-
Nader to Stump for Green Party
Politico Ralph Nader asked
to speak at UNC to gain
signatures he needs to
appear on the N.C. ballot.
By Brooke Roseman
Staff Writer
A candidate for the low-profile Green
Party in this year’s presidential race will
speak tonight on issues of social justice,
environmental equity and economic
responsibility.
Ralph Nader, a member of the polit
ical party that declares itself to be based
on grassroots democracy, will speak at 8
p.m. today in the Great Hall of the
Student Union.
Nader’s visit to campus is sponsored
by Campus Y.
There will be a community reception
Rock the Vote
Special elections will be held today at the
following polling sites to fill remaining
positions in Student Congress.
Student Union
Room 211/212
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Hanes Art Centi r . MM
9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Berryhill Hall
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
SOURCE: UNC ELECTIONS BOARD
But Bell was critical of the Elections
Board’s attempts to publicize the elec
tion and said members should have
added a map with all the district loca
tions on the board’s Web site.
Yates said she expected to have the
ballots counted by 7 p.m. so results
could be reported before tonight’s full
Congress meeting.
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
(computer) networking managers with a two-year
degree, (those students) are going to get a good start
ing salary,” Newlin said. “(A student with a bachelor’s
degree) in history who has trouble getting a job and
has to get a job selling insurance doesn’t start as well.”
The N.C. Community College System is a net
work of 59 institutions across the state with more
than 750,000 students. Schools in this system have
reaped the monetary benefits of recent enrollment
increases. For example, at Wake Technical
Community College, enrollment
reached 3,461 in 1999 - up
from 2,588 in 1997.
The increase resulted in
part from anew program that
prepares students to transfer to
a four-year college. Twenty
seven percent of the students at
See INSTITUTIONS, Page 8
UNC’s Top Picks
The following majors are the 10 most
popular among 1998 UNC graduates.
1. Biology (381)
2. Psychology (373)
3. Business (316)
4. Journalism (262)
5. Communications (253)
6. English (231)
7. Political Science (189)
8. Nursing (164)
9. Economics (157)
10. History (155)
respected schools academically and
athletically.”
Once on campus, Jennings knew
he had to start thinking about a major.
He knew he wanted to go into adver-
See MAJORS, Page 8
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Morehead
Lounge of the James M. Johnston
Center for Undergraduate Excellence.
Bridgette Enloe, co-president of the
Campus Y, said Nader’s nontraditional
views on issues would appeal to students.
“He has a fresh perspective on issues
that candidates don’t normally address,"
she said.
Enloe said Nader came to Campus Y
officials with the offer to speak.
“We don’t endorse political candi
dates, but we do seek to promote edu
cation and dialogue on issues pertaining
to our mission,” Enloe said. “His visit is
in keeping with promoting dialogue on
issues of social justice.”
Doug Stuber, the N.C. Green Party’s
chairman, said Nader exemplified val
ues of the Green Party, such as feminism
and nonviolence. “Mr. Nader firmly
exhibits all the values of the Green Party
and did so long before he received the
Tuesday, May 2, 2000
Cable Cos.
Cuts ABC
Broadcast
ABC Network officials say
Time Warner Cable's move
to terminate transmission
of ABC's affiliates is illegal.
By Kristina Casto
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill residents are cutting off
the cable and adjusting their antennas to
catch their favorite ABC programs fol
lowing a cable block of the network’s
signal.
In what ABC officials are calling an
illegal act, Time Warner cut off cable
transmission of ABC television pro
grams to 11 network affiliates around
the nation at midnight Monday.
The move came as five-month nego
tiations between Disney and Time
Warner, parent companies of ABC and
Time Warner Cable, broke down.
The dispute involves two issues:
Disney’s request to add two new cable
programs, Toon Disney and Soapnet,
and ABC’s demand for S3OO million to
compensate for the ABC programs
broadcast by Time Warner.
Time Warner calls these demands
unreasonable.
Nationwide, 3.5 million homes have
lost cable access to ABC programming
due to Time Warner’s block. “We are
shocked and outraged that Time Warner
unilaterally pulled ABC programming,”
said Robert Flinn, creative director at
the ABC affiliate WTVD in Raleigh.
ABC filed a petition with the Federal
Communications Commission on
Monday, charging that Time Warner
illegally dropped ABC programming
during sweeps week, a crucial time
when networks gauge viewership.
ABC officials said Time Warner,
owner of CNN, practices unfair com
petition. They argued that Time
Warner, granted broadcast rights by the
federal government, should not be a
competitor in the industry.
“Time Warner is a gatekeeper to
some very important gates,” said ABC
spokeswoman Julie Hoover. “The prob
lem today is that they are both a gate
keeper and a competitor. They favor
their own channels.”
In a statement released by Time
Warner, officials accused Disney of “try
ing to extract excessive and unreason
able terms for its cable channels."
Time Warner officials also said the
terms of Disney’s demand would cost
the company and its customers millions
of dollars. In a press release, Time
Warner officials said ABC withheld per
mission for Time Warner to broadcast
ABC’s signal.
But Hoover said Time Warner
ignored Disney’s offer to extend negoti
ations when it cut Disney’s program
ming from Time Warner’s cable service.
Time Warner officials remained
adamant that no extension offer was
forthcoming from Disney.
“If there was an extension, no one in
our corporate office saw it,” said Brad
Phillips, vice president for government
and public affairs at Time Warner.
At the heart of the debate is concern
in the media industry over the pending
Time Wamer-America Online merger.
ABC officials fear that Time Warner
will monopolize powerful interactive
technology when the AOL merger goes
through, Hoover said.
Both corporations, worried about
public relations debacles, have offered to
reimburse consumers for the cost of buy
ing equipment to compensate for the
cable blockage. For instance, Disnev
gave out 15,000 free satellite dishes in
Houston, The New York Times reported.
UNC and Chapel Hill residents who
have satellite or antenna reception will
not be affected.
The State & National Editor can be
reached atstntdesk@unc.edu.
nomination,” he said.
Stuber said Nader’s primary reason for
speaking at UNC was to gain signatures
for a petition to put him on the ballot.
“He’s coming to support the petition
drive. We need over 51,000 signatures to
get Mr. Nader on the ballot in North
Carolina,” Stuber said.
Nader ran for president in 1996 and
announced his presidential candidacy in
this year’s race on Feb. 21.
After graduating with an associate
bachelor’s degree from Princeton
University in 1955, he attended Harvard
University and later became a consumer
advocate, lawyer and author.
Nader first gained national attention
in the United States in the 1960s when
his book, “Unsafe at Any Speed,”
revealed design flaws in the Corvair, a
car produced by the 1960s automobile
See NADER, Page 8
3