2Hf* Sa% ®ar
£
: ERIN MENDELL
r
*
r
Stop Feuding
Over Plan and
bet Creative
It’s time for Chapel Hill Town
Council members and the design
ers of the University’s Master Plan
- its blueprint for growth - to start
thinking outside the proverbial box
when it comes to public transportation
options.
At a public hearing Wednesday
night, town residents voiced their con
cerns about how the Master Plan
would affect them.
Their questions centered on a pro
posed transit corridor that would cut
through neighborhoods south of the
University.
Residents of the affected neighbor
hoods are worried they’ll lose their
homes, some of which are in the path
of the potential transit corridor.
And they’re justified in their con
cern. (You would be too if someone
showed a map with your house bull
dozed and replaced with train tracks.)
But residents are overreacting - at
least for now.
Although Susan Ehringhaus, senior
council for UNC, could not say
whether the University would buy
people’s homes unless the homes were
on the market, she said the University
hadn’t done so in the past and didn’t
want to in this case.
(Asa state university, UNC can
force people to sell their homes so the
University can build something such
as a road there, as long as the state
approves.)
Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary
Waldorf said it would probably take
decades for the University to begin
construction on a proposed transit cor
ridor.
Besides that, there are two other
Master Plan options, neither of which
would use land the University doesn’t
already own.
The other two options focus on bus
routes and park-and-ride lots, both of
which could be successful in that they
might ease traffic congestion on the
main part of campus.
But all the plans the University is
proposing and town residents are sug
gesting are fairly conventional.
And they’re overlooking an option
that could make everyone happy -a
monorail system.
That’s right, folks, a monorail. Right
here in Chapel Hill.
And there are plenty of good rea
sons for it.
For one, there’s a lot of talk from
both sides about environmental con
cerns.
Adam Gross, a consultant for the
University, said all the Master Plan
options encourage people to rely on
mass transit.
Well, buses could do that, but the
gas guzzlers certainly aren’t environ
mentally friendly.
But monorails run on electricity, so
not only do they not release pollutants
or use up valuable natural resources,
they also don’t become more expen
sive to operate when fuel prices
increase.
In addition, because monorails are
well above ground, they won’t get in
the way of anyone’s house.
Of course, there’s still the possibility
that some residents would end up with
big cement pillars in their yards, but
we can worry about the details later.
' A monorail in Chapel Hill might
not be practical, but town and
University leaders seem to be in need
of a little creative inspiration.
. And town residents, while right to
voice their concerns, should cut the
University some slack once in a while.
It’s not some huge development mon
ster looking to swallow their homes,
their lives and their children.
UNC Health Affairs, which will
receive a shiny new complex through
the Master Plan, is the largest employ
er in Chapel Hill, so many residents
probably have the University to thank
for their jobs.
The realization of the Master Plan
would do a lot of necessary things for
the University such as making South
Campus a nice place to live, making
things safer for pedestrians and
expanding the hospital.
The community and the state are
growing, and UNC has to keep up
with that growth.
It’s time for everyone involved to
chill out and get creative.
Columnist Erin Mendell can be
reached at mendell@email.unc.edu.
QNC Skits Promote Confidence
By Tori Kiser
Staff Writer
With a beachball and lots of laughter,
Anoushka Brod, the guest speaker for
Thursday night’s meeting of the Queer
Network for Change, taught members
about self-confidence and accepting
themselves.
Brod brings experience in improvisa
tional training from her group
Transactors Improv Troupe.
In about an hour, the group acted out
five skits.
“The beachball activity was my
favorite activity because everyone was
laughing and having a good time,’’ said
Sarah Levin-Richardson, co-president of
QNC.
L JmSr mu? ' *!3mm “
JJL. *** *r- w w • F- k.
6 | g \ % 1 / '■/ 1 '), bl J
->X" ****** , *'*
, *, , . . w4^
i . • Jjj
DTH/MIKE MESSIER
Tom Bythell (right), UNC’s forester of 2 1/2 years, and Gus Adams inspect the health of a tree in the quad. Bythell is
in charge of tree maintenance on campus as well as University-owned land in Orange County.
Dedicated Forester Takes a Bough
By Kristina Hodges
Staff Writer
Two married UNC alumni recendy
returned to campus, hoping to spend the after
noon relaxing beneath the tree where they
first met and he proposed.
But the couple would never see the tree
again - at least in one piece - because the
tree had been cut down.
The distraught husband called
UNC’s grounds department in tears to
express his disappointment in the
removal of the tree.
He was unaware that the man on
the other end of the telephone, UNC forester
Tom Bythell, cares about every tree on campus.
Bythell even tracked down the tree and sal
vaged a piece for the couple before it was
turned to mulch. “It absolutely kills me every
time I have to take down a tree,” he said. “I
am the biggest lover of trees at this university.”
As forester, Bythell is in charge of keeping
up with the welfare of the trees that grow in
UNC’s 4,000 acres in Orange County.
For more than two years, his job has
included irrigation, management of tree crews
Educational Foundation President to Resign
By Angela Parker
Staff Writer
Moyer Smith, president of the
Educational Foundation, Inc.,
announced Monday that his 14-year
tenure at the foundation would come to
an end Dec. 31.
Smith said his retirement had been
discussed since last spring due to his
recent involvement with the Carolina
DTH/CHRISTINA BAUR
Jason Laughlin and Gulden Ozen of Baila Tango North Carolinaperform the tango for a
group of East Chapel Hill High School students Thursday.
University & City
The activity consisted of hitting a
beachball around a circle as many times
as members could to demonstrate team
work.
Levin-Richardson said the improv
exercises are implemented *o encourage
everyone to be comfortable in silly situ
ations.
Brod teaches that a person should
have confidence in whatever he or she
does, and that it is important to be com
fortable with yourself.
“These activities really got people
energetic and working as a team,”
Levin-Richardson said.
“Basically, the improv meeting was
for fun.”
But the entire evening was not totally
devoted to having a good time. The first
and pest control.
Bythell, a 42-year-old Durham resident,
helped develop and now runs an environmen
tal education program for the University.
The Tree Protection Initiative aims to edu
cate developers about the importance of trees
on campus and how to avoid damaging them.
Through TPI, Bythell has changed policies
and contracts to take trees into considera-
forester S \ ajc
i campus. woi
tion.“We are on the cutting edge of tree pro-
O tection,” he said.
Bythell said he came to UNC from
Princeton University - where he was
\ head arborist - because he believed he
could make a difference. “I didn’t need
) a job when I applied here. I just thought it
* would be a great place to work.”
Since his arrival, Bythell has been busy over
seeing the health and safety of University trees.
Bythell said campus construction poses a
threat to University trees.
Underground work can kill trees’ roots, he
said, noting that it can take up to five years for
trees to die after it is impacted by construction.
Through TPI, Bythell gets the University’s
grounds department involved in the predesign
of construction to save as many trees as possible.
First Campaign, a multibillion dollar
fund-raising project for the University.
“I had planned to retire in 2003, but
that would mean retiring in the middle
of the campaign,” he said.
The Educational Foundation was
chartered in 1938 to help UNC grant
financial aid. The foundation also pro
vides services and funds for facility con
struction or purchase of equipment.
Much of the funding goes to sports
half of the QNC meeting was dedicated
to promoting awareness of classes that
focus on gay and lesbian studies.
These courses have existed for some
time, but due to a severe lack of regis
tration and unclear course tides, many
students are unaware of their presence.
“Under-enrollment for these courses
sends signals to the senior administra
tors that there is no interest,” said Erin
Carlston, assistant professor of English.
One of Carlston’s classes that focused
on gay and lesbian literature should
have been convening this fall, but she
said it was canceled due to lack of reg
istered students and other problems.
“Enrollment figures do not accurate-
See IMPROV, Page 6
But being UNO's forester does not-stop with
saving the trees from development damage.
Taking down trees also is part of Bythell’s job.
For this reason, Bythell said he has gotten a
“tree killer” reputation. “Sometimes we might
have to remove one tree in order to save four or
five others,” he said. “People have actually tried
to prevent some of my employees from taking
down a tree. They will physically hug it”
Bythell said many people do not understand
most of the trees he removes are decaying from
old age. Some even have incurable diseases
that could spread to other trees, he said.
Every year he plants 100 trees and 15 to 20
replacements for the trees he had to cut down.
Kirk Pelland, UNC grounds director, said
Bythell is very committed to his job. “Part of
the role of the staff is to maintain an environ
ment conducive to learning, and Tom really
does that,” he said.
Bythell said his dedication stems from his
commitment to maintain UNC’s image and her
itage. He said, “That is what people notice about
UNC - the Carolina-blue skies and big trees."
The Features Editor can be reached
at features@unc.edu.
facilities, and the foundation also coor
dinates season tickets for UNC athletics.
John Cherry, executive vice president
of the foundation, said he was not sur
prised Smith was retiring - only that the
retirement would come so soon. “The
date for Smith’s retirement is earlier
than everyone expected,” he said.
A direct committee composed of mem
bers of the Executive Committee of the
foundation will cany out the search for
Local High School Holds
2nd Annual Diversity Day
By Kellie Dixon
Assistant City Editor
The East Chapel Hill High School step team
rhythmically pounded the wooden gym floor as
part of the high school’s Diversity Day.
The step team was among other groups that per
formed at 2nd annual Diversity Day. The program
showed diversity through performances from the
Remember Quartet, the high school step team, two
dancers from the N.C. Tango Association, the
ECHHS chorus and the Chapel Hill High School
chorus.
The event, which was held during the regular
school hours, also gave students the chance to dis
cuss issues pertaining to ethnicity.
Michelle Johnson, a social worker at ECHHS
l mwHB-. /'.iSmK, .’ wv
DTH/SEFTONIPOCK
Sarah Levin-Richardson (left) and other Queer Network for Change
members look on as Jesse Davidson performs improvisational comedy.
Special Elections
To Fill 13 Open
Congress Seats
The Oct. 17 elections follow this month's
appointment of the new Elections Board
chairman and selection of the board.
By Stephanie Horvath
Staff Writer
Students will have another chance to hit the polls and choose
who will represent them now that the Elections Board has
announced special elections to fill vacancies in Student Congress.
Thirteen empty seats in Congress will be filled Oct. 17. The
elections could not be held until the newly appointed Elections
Board Chairman Jeremy Berkeley-Tuchmayer selected an
Elections Board. The Rules and Judiciary Committee of
Congress approved the board Tuesday, and it goes before full
Congress for approval Oct 3.
Berkeley-Tuchmayer was named Elections Board chairman
in mid-September, filling the position that had been vacant
since Congress rejected Student Body President Brad
Matthews’ nomination of then-Elections Board Vice
Chairwoman Marissa Downs in April.
Speaker Alexandra Bell said Congress has been operating
despite the vacant seats, but she looks forward to seeing them
filled. “I prefer to have more people in there, more opinions.”
She also said the special election will provide a chance to
diversify Congress. “I’d like to see a more diverse Congress,
more women,” Bell said. “It’s kind of a big, white, male Congress
which isn’t bad. It’s totally not that anyone’s doing a bad job, but
Congress just doesn’t look like the University right now."
The process begins next week with candidate interest meet
ings at 5 p.m. Oct 2, Oct 3, and Oct 9 in Suite C of the Student
Union. Students interested in running must submit a petition
with 10 signatures from residents in their district by Oct 10.
Five of the empty seats are for off-campus undergraduate
districts, including Granville Towers. Three seats are for the
undergraduate on-campus districts that include Hintonjames,
Morrison, Craige, Ehringhaus residence halls and Odum
Village. The remaining five seats are for graduate districts.
“Graduate students often have a lot to do, so it’s much hard
er to find someone for those seats,” Berkeley-Tuchmayer said.
But Bell said several students already have shown an inter
est in running. “I’ve been getting e-mails for the last month
about wanting to run,” Bell said. “I think four to five candi
dates in each district have contacted me. I’m confident Jeremy
can get the word out to off-campus and graduate students.”
Berkeley-Tuchmayer said the Elections Board plans to pub
licize the election by putting up fliers, setting up a table in the Pit
and sending e-mails through listservs.But attracting voters to the
polls might prove more difficult than rounding up candidates.
“It’s a special election, and it’s hard to galvanize an election
when people go to the polls and can’t vote,” Berkeley-
Tuchmayer said. “You have to live in an open district to vote.
Most of those districts are off-campus.”
The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.
Smith’s replacement, hoping to find some
one who can take the position Jan. 1,2001.
Smith said by officially retiring Dec.
31, he could stay and train his successor,
provided the committee finds a replace
ment sometime in the near future. “A
December retirement should allow for a
smooth transition period, which makes
sense for everyone involved," he said.
As president of the foundation since
1977, Smith was responsible for the
Friday, September 29, 2000
administration of the Educational
Foundation office. “I originally took the
job as president to have the opportunity
to give something back to the University
and play a leadership role,” Smith said.
Smith received his >mdergraduate
degree from UNC in 1961 and his mas
ter’s degree in 1965. Smith is also a former
UNC football letterman, assistant football
See SMITH, Page 6
and organizer of the event, said this is the second
year ECHHS has held the forum. Johnson said
when she arrived three years ago, she saw an eth
nic separation and wanted to try to bridge the gap.
Forty-two speakers from community organiza
tions were present and students chose two sessions
to attend during the morning hours.
“The (community speakers) came to talk about
diversity and the type of work they provide and the
population of people they service or services they
provide,” Johnson said.
Freshman Camia Collins said she enjoyed
Diversity Day for several reasons and was inspired
to leam more about a mentoring program called
Blue Ribbon. “We learned a lot of good stuff about
See DIVERSITY, Page 6
3