It's Electric
A track gets
wired. See Page 3
(The iailu (Ear Ua'l
www.unc.edu/dth
m
DTH/KATH BRINE EAKER
Andrew Payne is sworn in as president of the UNC Association of
Student Governments by former President Cliff Webster.
Officials Release
Final Master Plan
UNC leaders premiered a
new, comprehensive plan
for campus growth but have
not yet secured funding.
By Kim Mimjgh
University Editor
The University’s nebulous yet widely
discussed Master Plan is one step clos
er to being a clearly defined reality.
Top UNC officials met Thursday to
witness the unveiling of the Final
Comprehensive Plan, which was com
pleted after environmental firms
Andropogon Associates and Cahill
Associates spent the summer assessing
UNC’s ecological features.
Late Chancellor Michael Hooker
conceived the Master Plan in 1998 as a
blueprint for future University growth.
The main goal for the plan is to allow
for the campus’ physical growth, while
still serving UNC’s threefold mission of
teaching, research and public service.
“It’s going to be a fluid plan that can
change,” said Adam Gross from Ayers
Saint Gross, the firm hired to begin the
plan’s first projects.
The plan maps out construction pro
jects that will use existing free space on
campus and demolish some structures to
establish recreational space.
It focuses on bringing the trademark
essence of North Campus to South
Campus, an area that is dominated by
isolated buildings and roads that inhib
it student interaction.
But no definite timeline exists for the
plan, as construction only will continue
as funds become available through pri
vate funding or endowments.
■*:Lmda Convissor, project director for
campus planning and facilities services,
said no priority list exists to guide con
struction as officials obtain money.
But officials continue to forge ahead
Institute Gives Faculty
Room to Relax, Learn
By Karey Wltkowski
Assistant University Editor
I The Institute of Arts and Humanities,
aerogram University leaders say is crit
ical for recruiting and retaining faculty,
will soon see its new home begin to rise
on McCorkle Place.
The institute, which offers fellowships
and semesterlong sabbaticals for facul
ty members, is currently housed in the
cramped hallways and tiny offices of the
West House, a 1,100-square-foot brick
building behind Swain Hall.
“We just have no room,” said Ruel
Tyson, director of the institute.
Two weeks ago, preparation began
with the creation of the Master Plan.
Odum Village, the University’s
housing for married students, is targeted
to be demolished and relocated to an
area that will be determined later.
And new residence halls will add
3,000 beds across campus.
Nearly 1.2 million gross square
footage is scheduled for condemnation,
including Venable Hall, while 6.8 million
gross square feet are earmarked for resi
dence halls, buildings or parking decks.
The entire package entails 7.4 million
gross square feet of construction. It also
calls for the destruction of South Campus
parking, freeing up 27 acres of land.
The parking will be replaced by park
ing decks that will be topped by a grassy
quad to beautify the structure.
The proposed grassy quads are just
one example of how the committee
hopes to increase environmental pres
ence on campus. “This process is not
only about protecting what we have, but
restoring what we’ve destroyed,” said
Michelle Cahill of Cahill Associates.
Although no additional land has yet
been purchased. Master Plan officials
are considering tracts of land south of
South Campus.
But residents in that area, namely the
Mason Farm neighborhood, are con
cerned that the University has not
included them in Master Plan decisions.
Diana Steele, a Mason Farm resident
and owner of Willow Hill School, said
the plan worries her. “It is very unpleas
ant to have this hanging over our head
for an indefinite amount of time.”
A forum will be held Sept 27 to allow
students, faculty, staff and Chapel Hill res
idents to air concerns and ask questions.
Convissor said she thought Thursday’s
meeting was the most successful to date.
“Communication will go on from here to
see if we can move forward.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
for constructing the new building, which
will is expected to be completed in fall
2001.
The institute’s new building will be a
two-story, 15,000-square-foot structure
featuring a Faculty Fellows Room for
weekly meetings, a University Room
that will host lectures and film screen
ings and a kitchen common room
designed to create a social atmosphere.
Tyson said private donations will
cover the building’s total construction
cost of $3.4 million. “These donors real
ly understand the value of having good
faculty at UNC,” he said.
See INSTITUTE, Page 2
How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterward .
Spanish proverb
Time's Almost Up
DTH staff applications are due
at 5 p.m. today. Turn them in
at Union Suite 104.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
N.C. State Student Wins ASG Post
By Kathleen Hunter
State & National Editor
RALEIGH - Members of the UNC
Association of Student Governments
selected N.C. State University’s
Andrew Payne as their president
Thursday night, hoping to put a second
scandal in two years behind them.
Payne, who won 20-18 in a runoff
vote against UNC-Chapel Hill’s Liz
Gardner, will now assume the ASG
president’s student seat on the Board of
Governors today at the board’s
September meeting. “I think this is sort
of anew day for ASG,” Payne said short
ly after he was sworn into office. “We
have some exciting things to come.”
MODERN AUDITIONS
nM, ; Mist Hi
Bn m ■! B
DTH/EMILY SCHNURE
Women point and bend Thursday night in competition for nearly 10 spots
in the UNC modern dance company, Modern Extension. The 12 returning members
and new dancers will perform at various benefits and shows throughout the year.
Cultural Fiesta Returns to Carrboro
By Kathryn McLamb
Assistant City Editor
An array of artists, dancers, entertain
ers and organizations is throwing a party
all weekend - or a fiesta, to be exact.
La Fiesta del Pueblo returns to
Carrboro on Saturday, bringing resi
dents a unique opportunity to experi
ence and enjoy Latino culture.
The festival originated seven years ago
when a small group of residents from the
Latino community decided to hold a
party. Attendance at the first fiesta
reached 3,000, and the event has explod
ed over the years. “The intent of the fies
ta is still the same,” said Robin Moon,
board member of El Pueblo, the organi
zation coordinating the event. “We want
to showcase and celebrate the Latino cul
Initiating a massive fund-raising
campaign to increase ASG’s budget,
ensuring that the state’s historically
black colleges and universities are
funded fairly and increasing the associ
ation’s internal efficiency were all
major planks of Payne’s platform.
He also stressed the importance of
formulating a contingency plan to help
the ASG respond if a $3.1 billion bond
referendum to fund capital improve
ments at the state’s universities and
community colleges fails Nov. 7.
Three other candidates - James
Bryant of UNC-Greensboro, David
Chesley of Western Carolina
University and Richard Wheelahan of
Appalachian State University also ran
ture, but we’ve added other things.”
One of those additions has been the
El Pueblo organization, which grew out
of a network of fiesta participants.
“Three years into the fiesta, they had
developed quite a network of Latino
people and organizations,” said Mary
Lindsley, El Pueblo’s cultural program
coordinator. “It became more than just
a fiesta, so the group applied for non
profit status.”
El Pueblo, now in its fifth year, dedi
cates itself to strengthening the Triangle’s
Latino community through advocacy,
public policy and various initiatives.
In addition to launching anew orga
nization, the fiesta has also grown by
including community groups and ser-
See FIESTA, Page 2
k 'V- ;
for the post, but did not attain enough
votes to participate in the runoff.
Thursday’s special election was
called when Cliff Webster, who was
elected ASG president in April, decid
ed to resign after reports surfaced that
he was arrested on two counts of larce
ny this summer. Last September, the
ASG also held a special election to
replace former President Nick Mirisis,
who stepped down after admitting to
plagiarizing a paper at UNC-Charlotte.
Webster began the meeting with his
official resignation, consisting of a brief
speech in which he thanked delegates
for attending the meeting on short
notice, and then he slammed unnamed
student body presidents for calling for
Eastgate Shops
Announce Plans
For Relocation
While most merchants in the retail center
clean up, some are leaving, raising concerns
that remaining stores could lose customers.
By Sarah Brier
Staff Writer
After water rushed into Eastgate Shopping Center during
summer flooding, some stores have finalized the decision to
rush out of the complex.
Food Lion, spanning 25,000 square feet, was badly dam
aged when the waters of Bolin Creek surged through Eastgate
in July, forcing it to close.
Now other tenants at Eastgate are concerned that the loss
of the shopping center’s largest store will deplete business.
Wendy Melton, a spokeswoman for Food Lion, said the
question of whether to rebuild the entire store or start anew
had plagued the corporation. “We decided to close the store
for several reasons,” she said. “The flood damage was very
bad, and the shopping center w'as an older model of store and
a lot smaller than (the recently built) stores."
Melton said the repairs would be too costly and Eastgate
could not supply Food Lion the space it wanted to expand.
Although the Eastgate store is closing, anew store will reopen
at Ram’s Plaza, located off Fordham Boulevard. Construction
on the 33,000- to 38,000-square-foot store is scheduled to
begin in February. “The store will take the place of an A&P
supermarket," Melton said. “We will be tearing that building
completely down and rebuilding it.”
Joel Harper, president of the Chapel Hill Chamber of
Commerce, said he hopes the loss of the Food Lion store will
only affect the business of neighboring stores in the short run.
“There will be a huge vacant space there that is not going to
generate business,” Harper said. “It will hurt somewhat, but
it will not be detrimental.”
Harper said he does not think the threat of floods will deter
many prospective tenants. “They will ask themselves if they can
handle the threat of a flood once every three years,” he said.
Michael Williams, the manager of the Eastgate Eckerd
Drugs, said he is a litde worried about losing customers due to
the Food Lion closing. “Our sales are down a litde bit, but I
hope it will pick back up,” he said.
But other venues, including the Steinway Art Gallery, also
See EASTGATE, Page 2
JHHH ■ I Wm
DTH FILE PHOTO
Last year's fiesta drew 35,000 partygoers. Organizers for this year's cele
bration say they expect at least 40,000 people to attend.
School's Out
Today: Sunny, 80
Saturday: Sunny, 84
Sunday: Stormy, 84
Friday, September 8, 2000
his resignation. “The politics I hate so
dearly ran rampant through much of the
general body,” he said. “If I represented
the students of this university (system), I
would not have had to think twice about
this decision. I would not be resigning.”
The role of ASG president has
become too centered around what
BOG members think, as opposed to
actually serving students, Webster said.
With a parting word of advice to his
association, Webster then moved on to
the election of his successor. “If you
touch one heart, one life or one educa
tion, you have done your job.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.