Talking Politics
Price discusses
future. See Page 2
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www.dailytarheel.com
Ex-UNC Worker Faces 33 New Felony Charges
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DTH/BRENT CLARK
Carrboro police Capt. Joel Booker and investigator Matthew Dean field
questions at a press conference Thursday about recent sexual assaults.
Peppers Decides
To Stay in School
For 1 More Year ;
Football standout and basketball reserve
Julius Peppers stated he will pass up the
NFL Draft to return for his junior season.
By Bret Strelow
Senior Writer
Julius Peppers announced Thursday that he will not leave
school after his sophomore season and enter this year’s NFL
Draft. He didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement that he
would finish up his eligibility at North Carolina, though.
Peppers, a star defensive end on the UNC football team
and valuable reserve for the men’s basketball team, released
a statement saying he would return to the University for one
more year. Peppers redshirted in 1998 and is classified as a
junior academically.
“I’m happy going to school and being a Tar Heel, and this
is where I want to be for one more year,” Peppers said. “I
want to take care of things on the basketball court with Coach
(Matt) Doherty and help us win some more games. Then I will
get ready to do the same for our football team in the fall.”
Peppers, who is 6-foot-6 and weighs 270 pounds, has aver
aged 4.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in six games with the bas
ketball team. During the football season, he led the country
with 15 sacks and had 24 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Peppers said in the week leading up to the Tar Heels’ game
against Pittsburgh on Nov. 4 that he would return to school. But
after Carl Torbush was fired on Nov. 20, Peppers hedged on his
decision. New coach John Bunting’s decision not to retain
defensive ends coach Donnie Thompson also fueled specula
tion that Peppers would bolt for greener pastures in the NFL.
Peppers said that he needs another year to prepare for the
NFL and improve his standing in the draft. He also said he and
his mother feel it is important that he move closer to graduating.
Peppers doesn’t want to make Bunting’s first season as
coach any more difficult, either.
“I want to help Coach Bunting get off to a good start at
North Carolina,” Peppers said.
Bunting said he hasn’t had a face-to-face conversation with
Peppers in the last three weeks. But he said the members of
UNC’s academic support staff did an effective job relaying his
thoughts to Peppers.
“I am thrilled that he will be with us," Bunting said. “I think
it’s great for our team. I think it’s good for our program, and
I think it’s good for Julius, as well.”
The Sports Editor can be reached at
sports@unc.edu.
School Board: Scouts Must Find New Facilities
Due to their policy allowing
discrimination against gays,
the Boy Scouts must change
meeting sites by June 30.
By Geoefrey Wessee
Staff Writer
Change is in the air for local Boy
Scout troops.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of
Education voted at its meeting Thursday
to withdraw support from the Boy Scouts,
most college seniors remain confident about future enafopent options, many are waty about venturing into less stable to, especially if conditions persist
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1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Economy Dips, But Jobs Still Beckon
By Stephanie Horvath
Staff Writer
The recent economic downturn might have
made politicians point fingers and Wall Street
investors sweat through their Brooks Brothers
shirts, but University faculty say it’s still too
soon for UNC seniors to stress about the dip
affecting their job search.
Economic indicators have suggested that in
the third quarter of 2000, the booming econo
my of the last few years slowed, expanding at
the most sluggish pace in four years.
The NASDAQ has had its worst year since
its inception, falling 38 percent since the begin
ning of 2000. The market decline led to a drop
in consumer confidence that manifested itself in
slow Christmas season retail sales.
giving them until June 30, the end of the
school year, to find new facilities.
The decision comes after the
Supreme Court’s October 1999 ruling
that the Boy Scouts can legally exclude
homosexuals as members and volun
teers. Like many other boards of educa
tion nationwide, local board members
decided they were violating their own
nondiscrimination policy by allowing
the Boy Scouts privileged access to
school facilities.
The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have
historically been the only outside groups
allowed to use school facilities free of
Esse Quam Videri. (To be rather than seem.)
North Carolina state motto
Of Interest
Is the DTH right for you? Attend
the interest meeting at 6 p.m.
Jan. 17 in 318 Greenlaw Hall.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
By Ben Gatling
Staff Writer
CARRBORO - A former University
employee has been charged formally by
Carrboro police with an additional 33
felony charges, including rape.
Dwayne Russell Edwards, 33, of 100
Rock Haven Road, Apt. M-304, was
charged by Carrboro police on
Thursday with first-degree rape and sev
eral counts of first- and second-degree
sexual assaults, which occurred in late
December.
He also was charged with other
felony offenses, including larceny and
kidnapping.
Edwards, who has previous arrests in
Cumberland County, was first arrested
and charged with seven different
felonies by Chapel Hill police Tuesday
in connection with the rape of a UNC
But University Career Services Director
Marcia Harris said seniors should not panic yet.
“I think (graduating seniors) should be con
cerned enough not to assume it’s a good econ
omy, and they’ll have multiple job offers,” she
said. “But I don’t want to scare students by say
ing we’re getting into a recession. We’ve seen
dramatic downturns, and this doesn’t appear to
be one yet.”
Harris stressed that a large number of busi
nesses are still contacting UCS to request inter
views and to publicize job offers. For the past
several years, college graduates have had the
luxury of entering a labor market in need of
workers.
But Harris said UNC graduates are usually
able to find jobs, even in times of economic
decline. “Our students tend to do well in almost
charge. But the board’s action last night
will change that.
The new policy the board adopted
allows use with “no fees or very low
fees” for any “youth-serving groups”
that meet certain criteria.
The criteria include compliance with
school board policies, including nondis
crimination, and goals compatible with
those of the school board.
“We didn’t want to create a situation
just for Scouts,” said Chapel Hill-
Carrboro City Schools spokeswoman
Kim Hoke.
In addition to losing meeting space,
student that
occurred on
Hillsborough
Street
The Durham
Herald-Sun report
ed that Edwards
also has served
prison time in
Jackson Cos., 111.,
for burglary and
forgery and was
released on parole
after one year. He
was then released
from parole in
August of 1999.
Former UNC employee
Dwayne Russell
Edwards
reportedly has served
prison time in
Jackson Cos., 111.
The first local assault occurred Dec.
22 at Ridgehaven Townhomes and the
first rape was reported at 1000 Smith
Level Road on Dec. 26., according to
police reports.
the two Cub Scout packs chartered by
local schools will lose their charters in
June.
Last night’s decision was one of two
options presented to the board. The
other option considered, to have the
local Boy Scout units continue using
schools after signing a contract pledging
compliance with school board nondis
crimination policies, was rejected due to
lack of support from Boy Scout leaders.
“I can’t see how local organizations can
say we will be in defiance of Boy Scouts
See SCOUTS, Page 4
Carrboro police Capt. Joel Booker
said investigators issued a warrant for
Edwards’ arrest for the two December
assaults after searching his home and his
upstart business, Edwards Educational
Center at 705-A W. Rosemary St
“After the (Chapel Hill) assault on
Tuesday, we had another piece of the
puzzle,” Booker said.
“Once the search warrant was served,
it brought into the picture the other
crimes.”
Both assaults happened within a
small geographic area, although in the
first assault there was no evidence of
forced entry, Booker said.
“The apartment complex Edwards
lives in is on the other side of the road
from where the assault occurred,” he
said. “Between the two assaults, the level
See EDWARDS, Page 4
DTH/ IASON COOPER AND LAUREN DAUGHTRY
any economy,” Harris said. “We do surveys
every year, and back in the early 1990s when
the economy was tough, six months after grad
uation only 7 percent (of graduates) were still
looking for jobs.”
Economics Professor Michael Salemi said it
is too soon to tell if the dip in the economy will
become a recession. He said that while lagging
holiday retail sales indicate an economic slow
down, the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to
cut interests rates by 0.5 percent on Jan. 3 might
give the economy “a soft landing.”
“It’s certainly too early to be hitting the panic
button,” Salemi said.
But in times of economic decline, some
seniors fear that newly hired employees often
See ECONOMY, Page 4
Honor Code?
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has a policy against any kind of discrimination, but the U.S.
Supreme Court upheld a Boy Scout policy, based partially on its oath, that permits barring gays.
"On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, andlWlMWiy Straight
- The Boy Scouts of Amei ica Oath
"It is the desire of the Board of Education
that community, groups that wish to use
school facilities not discriminate ... on the basis
of race, color, national.origin, sex, pregnancy,
religion,age,Sexual OneßtatlOnor disability."
- Chapel Hill-Carrboroßoard of Education Use of Facilities Policy
SOURCE; BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO CITY SCHOOLS
Weekend
Today: Cloudy, 47
Saturday: Cloudy, 52
Sunday: Sunny, 58
Friday, January 12, 2001
Edwards
Had Held
3 UNC Jobs
A former UNC employee
had access to student
records and information
despite his previous arrests.
By Tyler Maland
Staff Writer
A former UNC employee with a pre
vious criminal history managed to escape
background checks before his employ
ment in various University departments.
Dwayne Russell Edwards, who has
held positions at three different University
facilities since August, was charged with
seven felonies in Chapel Hill this week in
connection with Tuesday’s Chapel Hill
rape. The Canboro police have charged
him with 33 felonies in relation to one
rape and one sexual assault in Carrboro in
late December.
Edwards served jail time in Illinois
for more than five months in 1997 and
1998 for counts of burglary and forgery,
The Herald-Sun reported Thursday.
Edwards also had previous arrests last
year in Cumberland County for break
ing and entering and felony larceny.
But because a University employment
policy only requires background checks
for jobs considered positions of trust, the
University was unaware of the prison time
Edwards served and his numerous arrests.
Judy Sladen, director of Tar Heel
Temps, part of UNC’s human resources
department, said positions of trust are con
sidered occupations, such as housekeep
ing, where the employee has access to
other people’s personal property.
Edwards was employed at the University
through Tar Heel Temps, which provides
temporary employees for the University.
“University policy is that if a worker is
going into a position of trust, a criminal
background check is ran," Sladen said.
“(Edwards) did not go into a position of
trust, so there was no background check.”
But Edwards filled several positions at
the University, one of which gave him
access to students’ personal information.
Edwards worked in a clerical position
at Student Health Service last semester
for a duration of four months. Such a
position gave Edwards access to stu
dents’ telephone numbers and address
es on the SHS database after students
provided a PID number as part of
appointment scheduling procedures.
“His assignment was to help students
schedule appointments to see our
providers,” said Bob Wirag, director of
SHS.
Edwards then worked at the
Registrar’s Office from Dec. 28 to Jan.
3. He also underwent training to work
in Davis Library until his employment
with Tar Heel Temps was terminated
Jan. 8. Sladen said Edwards was fired
because he did not show up for work
and did not call about his absence.
Joe Hewitt, associate provost for
University libraries, said he has no say
over which temporary employees are
hired at the libraries. “We basically take
whoever is sent over (from Tar Heel
See LIBRARY, Page 4