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Matthews Wins Big in SBP Runoff
The face-off between
Brad Matthews and Erica
Smiley ended with cheers
from both campaigns.
Bv Elizabeth Breyer
Staff Writer
The yearly drama of the student body
presidential election finally ended
Tuesday night as Brad Matthews
grabbed the presidency away from
opponent Erica Smiley in a runoff.
The results revealed a decisive victo
ry for Matthews, who garnered 61 per
cent of the vote. His 2,054 votes topped
Smiley’s 1,338. “I’m thrilled and very,
very happy that so many students
responded,” Matthews said. “Now it’s
time to get to work, starting tomorrow.”
As members of both campaigns flood
ed Peabody Hall to wait eagerly for the
results, both candidates were visibly ner
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DTH FILE PHOTO
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Democratic Governor-elect Mike Easley shakes hands with supporters after giving his acceptance speech Election Night. Easley won 52 percent
of the vote, while Republican candidate Richard Vinroot received 46 percent and Libertarian Barbara Howe won 2 percent.
Presidential Debate Hits N.C.
By Kathleen Hunter
State & National Editor
WINSTON-SALEM, OCT. 12 -
Republican presidential candidate
George W. Bush and Democratic candi
date A1 Gore attempted to delineate
their views on issues ranging from for
eign policy to education to the environ
ment during the season’s second presi
dential debate at Wake Forest University
on Wednesday night.
The debate, which took place in
Wake Forest’s Wait Chapel, was attend
ed by nearly 2,000 spectators and mem
bers of the media and moderated by
PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer.
The debate was conducted in a tele
vision talk-show style format, with the
two candidates and Lehrer seated
behind a table to facilitate more of a
conversation between the candidates.
Wednesday’s debate was the first time
such a format, which Bush specifically
requested when debate details were
being negotiated, was used in a presi
dential debate. The more relaxed setting
seemed to make the opponents more
. civil than last week’s debate, though
! their tones grew more heated as the
1 night wore on.
• The event began with a discussion of
| the two candidates’ views on foreign
; policy. Both candidates acknowledged
• that the United States has a large lead
• ership role to play in the post-Cold War
• era, but each differed on how the United
■ States should deal with conflicts in the
! Middle East and Kosovo.
I Gore also said the government has an
; obligation, because of its position as the
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j Top faculty members and administrators take part in the procession that
* kicked off the installation ceremony of Chancellor James Moeser.
vous. Smiley perched on the comer of a
desk, smiting at times and staring straight
ahead at others. Matthews sat quiedy in
the front row, surrounded by cameras
and conversing with campaign workers.
Before the results were read,
Elections Board Vice Chairwoman
Marissa Downs
announced that
there had been a
problem with bal
lot collections at
the Hanes Art
Center poll site.
Downs said
some voters cast
ing ballots in the
early hours at that
site might not have
“I’m thrilled and very, very
happy that so many students
responded. Now it’s time to get
to work, starting tomorrow. ”
Brad Matthews
Student Body President-Elect
been asked to show the proper identifi
cation, but that the problem was quickly
caught.
“We have done our best to evaluate
the effects of the error,” she said. “We
found 57 ballots not in accordance with
world’s only superpower, to have a
hand in world events. “Like it or not, the
United States is now the natural leader
of the free world,” Gore said. “Other
countries look to us."
But Bush criticized the Clinton
administration for being too quick to
deploy troops to resolve international
conflicts. He said the government needs
to focus on rebuilding its military
strength and to streamline its foreign
policy goals. “We do have an obligation
(to help other countries),” Bush said.
“But we can’t be all things to all people.
We have to be grounded in our gen
erosity.”
The debate then turned to the issue of
racial profiling. Gore said racial profiting
prevention is one issue he would tackle
as president. Bush recognized profiting
as a problem but warned that the gov
ernment must be careful not to limit
police officers’ ability to investigate
crimes.
The merits of federal legislation
increasing the penalty for hate crimes
was then discussed, with Gore accusing
Bush of failing to support a Texas bill
strengthening hate-crime legislation in
the wake of the murder ofjames Byrd, a
black man who was killed by white
supremacists in Texas last year.
Bush denied the accusation and tout
ed the importance of severely punishing
those found guilty of crimes. “The three
men who killed James Byrd - guess
what is going to happen to them,” he
said. “They are going to be put to
death."
One of the issues on which the two
candidates were most polarized was the
Year in Review
the (Student) Code, and we feel that low
number will not undermine the overall
results.
Smiley said she had no plans to
appeal the election on the grounds of
mistakes made by the Elections Board.
As the numbers were finally read and
Matthews’ lead
began to mount, a
smile slowly crept
across his face.
He credited his
success to commu
nication, one of the
backbones of his
platform.
“I think the key
for me was making
connections with
people, . iking time to contact people
you see and relaying your message
throughout the student body,” Matthews
said.
Smiley’s campaign workers sur
rounded her with hugs as the numbers
issue of same-sex marriages, with Bush
opposed to the idea and Gore advocat
ing legislation that would legitimize a
civil union between homosexual cou
ples.
Gun control was another major issue
where the candidates touted quite dif
ferent policy options. Gore’s platform
centers on making it more difficult for
children and known criminals to acquire
guns. He said he would support beefing
up the enforcement of existing gun laws,
restoring the provision of the Brady law
that requires a mandatory three-day
waiting period before purchasing a hand
gun and strengthening initiatives
designed to make the nation’s schools
gun-free. Bush said he supports con
ducting background checks at gun
shows and raising the minimum age to
carry a handgun from 18 to 21 nation
wide.
But Bush stressed the importance of
instilling values in children early in life
that would prevent them from becom
ing criminals.
On the issues of health care and
Medicare, Bush said he would work to
increase the number of community
health centers, give low-income families
tax rebates to fund health insurance and
allow businesses to form health insur
ance programs as coalitions.
Gore spoke on his efforts to reduce
the size of government as vice president
and slammed Bush, citing statistics that
indicate Texas is the state with the
largest percentage of families without
health care. Bush responded by saying
Texas spends $4.7 billion annually on
the uninsured.
University Day Marks Official Start to New Era
By Kim Minugh
University Editor
OCT. 13 - James Moeser officially
accepted his role as UNC’s ninth chan
cellor during Monday’s University Day
ceremonies, marking the beginning of
what Moeser hopes to be a 21st century
Renaissance.
Moeser, who took office in August,
brings to the table a platform that he
hopes will land UNC the distinction of
being as the best public university in
America.
The far-reaching and ambitious goals
are reminiscent of late Chancellor
Michael Hooker’s visions for UNC.
But UNC has grown and changed in
that short span of time, and Moeser has
were read, but Smiley remained calm
throughout, her head tipped to the side
as she listened intently.
When the final count was in, both
campaigns cheered for their candidates.
“To think where we’ve come from,
being completely on the political out
side, (the results) are no surprise at all,”
said Michal Osterweil, Smiley’s cam
paign manager. “I’m very happy and
proud, and I think she did awesome.”
Matthews also congratulated Smiley
on a job well done and said Smiley’s
involvement had had a positive effect on
the elections process.
“I extend my compliments to the
Smiley campaign - it made the dialogue
better and will help make student gov
ernment better as a whole,” he said.
Osterweil said Smiley’s work and
ideals would continue despite the per
sonally disappointing results of the race.
“It’s really safe to vote for a candidate
who looks like all the ones we ever had,
and it’s scary to think of real changes,”
Freshman Class Sees Start of CCI
By Mark Thomas
Assistant University Editor
AUG. 22 - Somewhere, Michael
Hooker is smiling.
More than two years ago, the late
UNC chancellor stood before a crowd
ed press conference and unveiled one of
the most ambitious projects in the
University’s history - the Carolina
Computing Initiative.
And if he were here today, Hooker
would witness the debut of the ground
breaking program that requires all fresh
men to own laptop computers.
The initiative represents the first
large-scale effort of its kind at a major
university and will remain a lasting lega
cy of Hooker, who lost his battle with
cancer in June 1999.
CCI is a comprehensive effort that
includes updating the technology used by
faculty and staff as well as renovating some
of UNC’s more antiquated facilities to
accommodate state-of-the-art technology.
From rewiring some buildings to
installing wireless Internet ports in oth
ers, the University is seeking to enhance
students’ learning experience by making
technology, now a staple of academic
fife, more accessible.
In the classroom, the cafeteria, and
everything in between, UNC’s freshmen
class will be able to log on the Internet
across campus.
With the largest freshman class ever
required to own laptop computers and
the resources to support that technology
partially in place, UNC appears ever
closer to realizing Hooker’s goal of a
heightened intellectual climate.
given anew spin to some of Hooker’s
philosophies.
“With the smiling face of providence
and hard work by all of us, we stand at
the precipice of a golden age for
Carolina, a 21st century Renaissance,"
he said.
Moeser’s appointment left him
roughly four months to get acquainted
with the University community and its
history before being plunged into the
churning waters of South Building and
all it entails.
“Since my appointment in April, I
have immersed myself in the history of
this great institution,” he said.
“What stands out most vividly is the
degree to which we have experienced
several critical moments - points in time
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OTH FILE PHOTO
Student body president candidate Brad Matthews (right) celebrates his
victory over Erica Smiley with members of his campaign.
she said. “But that movement isn’t just
about Erica; it’s about students waiting
to fix and change student government to
fit their needs.”
Matthews said he would incorporate
some of Smiley’s ideas as he formulated
Easley Gets Victory
In Governor's Race
By Penelope Deese,
Alex Kaplun and Cheri Melfi
Staff Writers
RALEIGH, NOV. 8 - “We like
Mike, we like Mike” were the words
that greeted Governor-elect Mike
Easley when he pressed his way through
a rowdy crowd of about 250 supporters
to give his victory speech at the North
Raleigh Hilton on Tuesday night.
With 93 percent of precincts report
ing, Easley snagged 52 percent of the
vote, Republican candidate Richard
Vinroot jftibived 46 percent and
Libertarian ‘candidate Barbara Howe
had 2 percent.
When the cheers died down, Easley,
standing next to his wife and son,
announced his victory in the 2000
gubernatorial election, making Easley
North Carolina’s first elected governor
of the 21st century. “I have so many
people to thank, but I want to start with
my wife,” he said. “We started this thing
CCI creators said part of that height
ened intellectual climate is keeping
UNC’s students on the cutting edge of
technology. “We want our students to be
as competitive as any in the country,”
said Marian Moore, vice chancellor for
Information Technology Sendees.
For some CCI administrators, one of
the main sticking points of the program
was funding, a point Hooker addressed
early on.
To guarantee that no student who
wanted a computer would be left with
out one, Hooker established a $3 million
fund to be distributed in the form of
grants. To date, nearly 900 grants have
been awarded to this year’s freshman
class of 3,400.
“Our commitment is to students. No
student will be turned away because they
can’t afford a computer,” Moore said.
In addition to the grants, the
Universityjraran offering pre-approved
to all freshmen, making
UNC the first public university to do so.
To keep the price of the laptops as
low as possible. Hooker and the CCI
team accepted offers from several dif
ferent computer firms, including Dell
and Compaq, but it was IBM that came
to the table with the most appealing
offer. “IBM became the laptop of choice
following an extensive bidding process,”
said Linwood Futrelle, director of dis
tributed support for Academic
Technology & Networks.
UNC students are paying less for
their computer than what an IBM
employee would receive through their
worker discount.
To keep UNC on the cutting edge
where the University took great strides
that changed its culture or its character
by orders of magnitude.”
And with the Carolina Computing
Initiative in its infant stages, administra
tive holes staring him in the face and the
$3.1 billion bond referendum so close at
hand, Moeser has found himself in the
nucleus of one such point in time.
CCI was Hooker’s brainchild that
Moeser inherited and now oversees.
While the plan, which requires all
incoming freshmen to own a laptop
computer, has not been problem-free, it
is one that Moeser thinks will keep
UNC in step with the changing techno
logical timflftk
“We aiWWll under way in imple
menting (CCI) -a first for a major pub
Monday, January 8, 2001
his plan for the next year. “I will push for
ward with the idea that student govern
ment must be accessible and will be out
there letting people know what we do is
important,” he said. “It will be hard work,
but I am excited to have the chance.”
together so working families would have
a voice - tonight they will.”
He assured his supporters that he
would fulfill his platform promises, such
as improving public education and pro
tecting the environment. “We have
enormous potential in North Carolina,”
he said. “We have everything we need
to be great - we have the resources; let
us now show we have the resolve."
At the Marriott City Center in down
town Charlotte, Vinroot greeted a dis
mayed yet supportive crowd, as he gave
his concession speech around 10:15 p.m.
“We turned over every rock and
every stone,” Vinroot said. “I’m very
glad about how we came up from defeat
and almost grabbed a victory tonight.”
After thanking his family and many
campaign advocates, including his for
mer basketball coach Dean Smith,
Vinroot said he is going to take it easy
now that the election is over.
See EASLEY, Page 5
and from falling behind, CCI coordina
tors have developed a life-cycling plan
which stipulates that a quarter of facul
ty and staff computers are replaced each
year by UNC at a cost of $4.5 million.
With more than two years of work
behind it, this semester marks just
another beginning for CCI and, despite
the long road ahead, many of those who
worked on the project feel it has thus far
been successful. “A major part of our
goal was to move resources from the
classroom and into students’ hands - we
have done that,” Moore said. “Our mis
sion, our challenge, was to design a pro
gram for all students.”
Moore, who has been involved with
CCI from its beginning, said the pro
gram is much more than just a laptop
requirement. “You can’t just put a piece
of equipment on a desk and say, ‘You
are finished,’” she said.
Moore said distribution, orientation
and support services are also integral
aspects of CCI.
When Hooker introduced his vision
for CCI, more than half of UNC’s enter
ing freshman owned personal computers.
But to those within the CCI effort, that
was not enough. “(This) program
addresses the issue of imbalance between
students who have computers and those
who don’t,” Hooker said in 1998.
Chancellor James Moeser, who
claims no credit for CCl’s success, said
the project marks a watershed moment
for more than just UNC.
“(CCI) is one of the most significant
moments in the history of American high
er education,” he said. “Carolina is setting
the standard nationally.”
lie University -as a means of trans
forming the learning environment for
students and for faculty,” he said.
Moeser also inherited an administra
tion and faculty decorated with honor
and prestige -and plagued with vacan
cies.
The administration still lacked top
tier leadership in academics, financial
affairs and research. But with Moeser’s
arrival came some closure.
Nancy Suttenfield, vice president for
Case Western Reserve University, was
appointed as the vice chancellor for
finance and administration last month.
Robert Shelton, vice provost for
research at the University of California,
See U-DAY, Page 5
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