2
Friday, February 9, 2001
DEBATE
From Page 1
In the third portion, mediators chose
a question at random and gave the can
didates 30 seconds to answer, a test to
see how quickly candidates could think
on their feet Candidates were asked to
create a Home Shopping Network ad
for student government, a task that sev
eral candidates tackled with much gusto.
After launching into an Australian
accented tirade on the benefits of stu
dent government, Trakas concluded.
STUDENT COURT
From Page 1
of the Honor Court by having members
of the attorney general’s office visit all
English 11, and 12 and Communications
9 classes, which would allow every
freshman to be informed about Honor
Court procedures.
Among the concerns raised on the
Honor Court are that it is almost entire
ly student-run with no faculty involve
ment, a format that candidate Caleb
Ritter said puts too much power in the
hands of only a few students.
“It would be nice to have an oversee
ing judge on the Honor Court from the
UNC faculty,” he said. “If he sees that the
students have gone too far, he can offer
his input before a decision is made.”
Candidate Correy Campbell said he
would take outside influence on the
Honor Court a step further by having
professional lawyers train members of
the attorney general’s office.
“We say we want to govern ourselves,
but when you’re actually tried, you want
someone that really knows what they’re
doing - that’s been there and under
stands the process,” he said. “These ver
dicts could destroy students’ fives.”
But candidate Eric Johnson said he
would like to keep the Honor Court
strictly in the hands of the students. “We
have a long tradition of self-gover
nance,” he said. “Despite some glitches,
it has served us well.”
Johnson said he would advocate sep
arating the prosecution and defense,
which are currently drawn from mem-
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Join us at the Study Abroad Fair for
all Honors Programs Abroad and
, Burch Field Research Seminars. Meet
the Faculty Program Directors.
HONORS STUDY ABROAD
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Semester in Prague
Summer in Rome & Madrid
BURCH FIELD RESEARCH SEMINARS
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"Food and the Church in Medieval
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"Carolina Sound Country Experience"
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"The Washington Policy Experience:
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• February 16, 2001!
201 Porthole Bldg.
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“But that’s not all! Act now and you’ll
receive beer! Lots and lots of beer!”
The final portion of the evening con
sisted of a Q-and-A session by members
of the various media organizations pre
sent. A reporter from the Carolina
Review asked each candidate for ideas on
reforming the Honor Court. Candidate
Caleb Ritter said, “I’d like to see some
faculty members at least advise the Honor
Court before they make a decision which
could significandy alter a student’s life.”
7he University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
bers of the attorney general’s office.
Anew student service organization,
the Independent Defense Council, con
fronts this issue by providing alternative
representation for students being tried
before the Honor Court.
Several candidates said they strongly
support the new organization. “I’ll do
whatever it takes to get IDC off the
ground, whether that means publicity, net
working, funding or communication with
students,” said candidate Annie Peirce.
Candidate Warren Watts also said he
supports the IDC and believes they
deserve the same amount of legal educa
tion as members of the attorney general’s
office. “I would make sure that IDC mem
bers get the same training as those on the
Honor Court to level the playing field.”
Watts and Peirce both said they
endorse the creation of a faculty adviso
ry committee to assist members of the
attorney general’s office, an idea candi
date Justin Young said he would imple
ment through the revival of the Judicial
Program Officers, which offered the
attorney general’s office faculty advice.
“A faculty adviser would make the
office more efficient instead of putting
all the burden on the students,” he said.
But Young also said he was confident
that the Honor Court would uphold stu
dent justice without major reform. “I
have faith in the student judicial sys
tem,” he said. “The members of the
attorney general’s office are not acting in
any way maliciously. They’re trying to
do the best they can.” •
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
From Page One
EASLEY
From Page 1
fidence that he has maintained through
the impending crisis.
“1 want to make it clear that we have
a predictable fund to balance the state
budget,” he said. “I want North
Carolina and the nation to know that.”
On Thursday, Easley also
announced the creation of a group com
posed of deputy secretaries in his
Cabinet that will examine agency pro
cedures for possible short-term savings.
But Easley wasn’t the only one who
addressed the budget shortfall, as legis
lators from both houses of the General
Assembly gathered for a budget briefing
on Thursday morning.
Senate President Pro Tern Marc
Basnight once again urged his col
leagues to think out of the box to rem
edy the shortfall.
“All of you understand our condition
- you see it,” Basnight said. “I would
encourage all of you to dream a little bit
to find solutions to this problem.”
Michael McKnight contributed
to this story.
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
CAA
From Page 1
want to s* down (to address problems),
not in an open forum in Cabinet where
people accuse each other of different
things. I don’t think that’s constructive.”
CAA president candidate Reid
Chaney said he has tried to distance
himself from the issue. “I’m an outsider
looking in,” he said. “I hope that that
can be something separate from me.”
Kerry Slatkoff, director of ticket dis
tribution, said she fears that no matter
who wins, the race’s politics could keep
a valuable member - Songer or Hart -
out of next year’s Cabinet. “For the
future of the organization, I’m worried
about what this is going to cause.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
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Applications for the 2001-2002 academic year are being
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part of them. From building your foreign language skills
to increasing your multicultural awareness, there is
something special for everyone. To learn more about
these programs go to the Housing & Residential
Education web page at: http://housing.unc.edu. Follow
the link for undergraduate students to Theme Housing.
The application is right there for you! Just download it
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For more information see your Area Director or call 962-5406
NOTE: A $200.00 housing deposit (due March 2nd)
is required to be selected for a Theme House. If you are
not selected for a program, you can apply the S2OO to
the regular room renewal process later this spring.
You can pay the deposit at the Cashier's Office.
HONOR COURT
From Page 1
before his hearing. Defendants are sup
posed to know their charges at least 96
hours before the hearing.
But Student Attorney General Taylor
Lea defends the October proceedings.
“Our office handled the cases in the
most appropriate manner that was pos
sible, and nobody’s rights were violated
without that person’s consent,” she said.
Because of the large number of defen
dants in the case, Lea said the 50 Honor
Court members could only handle them
one of three ways: to try some defendants
with Honor Court members who already
had heard one of their classmate’s cases,
try the defendants in groups or wait for
new Honor Court members to be chosen
and trained this spring.
“This is the way our system can han
dle these cases, and most students chose
to go in pairs,” Lea said.
Some other students who received
guilty verdicts last semester are now
seeking appeals. Lea could not say how
many cases were up for appeal, but she
did say she expected all appeals to be
finished by the end of this semester.
Junior Brianne Roth, who was tried
with Trinh, completed her appeal Feb. 1.
She said her case also was dismissed on
one of the charges she appealed but
declined to say which one. “I felt the
appeals process went very well.”
Coggins said he has only been noti
fied of one case dismissal and was dis
appointed by the results. “The students
I am concerned about are those who
worked hard and earned their grade
fairly,” Coggins said. “Every instance of
cheating is a slap in the face to those stu
dents. The system has let them down.”
Another defendant, who wishes to
remain anonymous, said her appeal
resulted in a dismissal because her basic
rights had been violated.
She was represented at her appeal by
junior Bill Hashemi, founder of the
Independent Defense Council, a student
group that offers an alternative to repre
sentation by the student attorney general’s
office. Lea said that while any undergrad
uate student can act as defense counsel in
an Honor Court case, her office usually
recommends its own representatives.
“In most cases, the average Joe Blow
individual isn’t adequately trained,” Lea
said. “We usually recommend taking
someone from our office because of
their training.”
But the defendant said she chose
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Hashemi because she found the defense
counsel appointed by the Honor Court
to be unacceptable. “I don’t think my
defense counsel put the time in, and I
think she did a very poor job,” she said.
“Anyone could have done the job my
other counsel did.”
She also thought it was inappropriate
that her defense counsel was an investiga
tor in another Computer Science 120 case,
putting her on both sides of the issue. “Of
course we didn’t know this,” the defendant
said. “It was all behind the scene.”
Lea said this is not conflict of interest.
“We have a nonadversial system,” Lea
said. “The purpose is to uncover the
truth. The defense isn’t there to get the
defendant off but to uncover the truth
and act in the defendant’s best interest.”
But in the past eight months, that sys
tem has been under scrutiny, becoming
one of the major issues in the platforms
of student body president candidates.
Trinh said the Honor Court needs to
select students at random to serve as
jurors and separate the prosecution from
the defense. “If it’s good enough for the
U.S. justice system, it’s good enough for
us,” he said.
Hashemi said his formation of the
IDC was spurred by the complaints he
had heard about the Computer Science
120 cases.
“The attorney general’s office is an
organization on campus dedicated to
convicting students,” Hashemi said.
“Defending students is secondary. I cre
ated IDC so there’d be an organization
for the sole purpose of defending stu
dent rights.”
The IDC is not currently defending
students because its members have not
yet undergone training.
Lea said the court was open to
reform, especially in the area of
resources. She said the court is still seek
ing a full-time judicial programs officer,
who would act as an adviser. She also
said the court acts as an arm of the
administration and that its members put
in long hours with no pay.
But Lea said she did not see the need
for separate counsels.
“I’m not opposed to it, but I don’t
think it’s necessary,” Lea said. “I’ve
never seen it to be a problem. No one’s
ever screwed over a defendant.”
“People within my staff are very
responsible and take this very seriously.
I think it would just be incredible
amounts of work for everyone.”
For the students whose guilty verdicts
have been overturned, the only remain
ing issue is their grade in Computer
For the Record
The Daily Tar Heel reported
Thursday in “Large Deficit May Force
Easley to Divert State Allocations” that
Jim Hunt invoked emergency privilege
to reduce North Carolina’s state deficit
in 1991.
The story should have stated that Jim
Martin invoked emergency privilege in
1991.
The Daily Tar Heel regrets the error.
The Daily Tar Heel reported Thursday
in “SBP to Play Key Role in Revising
UNC Curriculum” that Dustyn Baker
and Annie Peirce are currently affiliated
with Student Body President Brad
Matthews’ Cabinet.
Baker and Peirce resigned their stu
dent government posts in November to
run for student body president.
The Daily Tar Heel regrets the error.
The Daily Tar Heel named the woman
pictured in Thursdays photograph titled
“But I Can’t Draw With Those” as the
grandmother of Liam Ludington.
The woman, Debbie Simmons-Cahan,
is not actually related to Ludington.
The Daily Tar Heel regrets the error.
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Science 120.
Hashemi’s client, whose appeal was
completed three weeks ago, has yet to
receive her grade.
“I would have loved if it was over,”
Hashemi’s client said. “Thank God
everything was dropped. (Coggins)
wants to give us more headaches. I guess
he feels since the Honor Court didn’t do
something he’s got to take it into his own
hands.”
Roth, who also has yet to receive her
grade, said she thinks Coggins could
either hold the grade or give her a lower
grade than the one she would have first
received.
“None of us wants to upset Coggins
right now,” Roth said. “We could go
through grade appeal, but no one wants
to do that.”
Lea said that grades are generally
received two weeks after the hearing,
and that any delays are probably due to'
the Registrar’s Office.
Junior Kevin Berry has been waiting
months for his Computer Science 120
grade. His Honor Court hearing was,
completed in early October, when hes
was found not guilty. Berry said the
Registrar’s Office has informed him that
it is the responsibility of the teacher to
turn in the grade.
“Maybe he’s just waiting for all the.
trials to be over,” Berry said. “Or he’s!
just not happy about the outcomes and
doesn’t want to give them out.”
Coggins said he will determine the
grades based on instructions from the
dean of students and the students’ per
formances in the class.
“I will turn them in when I’m
required to turn them in,” Coggins said. -
“I have always done my duty to these
students, and I will continue to do my
duty, but not until I’m required to.”
Coggins said he is uncertain of what
he will be doing at the end of the semes
ter, adding that leaving is always a pos
sibility because computer science pro
fessionals are in high demand.
“The fact that UNC students would
cheat this way so blatantly has shaken
my confidence in UNC undergrade 1
ates,” he said.
But Coggins said the eight months of
hearings and appeals would not alone
give him reason to leave.
“It’s not my fault they cheated,” he
said. “It is a disappointment that they
did, but it doesn’t affect my willingness
to be employed at this University.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu. :
Campus Calendar
Today
7 p.m. -The Medieval Studies
Committee presents joPExcalibur,”
directed by John Boorman, as the sec
ond feature of the Spring 2001
Medieval Film Festival. The film will
be shown in the Commons Room of
Graham Memorial Hall.
Saturday
8 p.m. - The Tar Heel Voices,
UNC’s oldest coed a cappella group,
will hold its annual Request Concert
in 111 Carroll Hall. Get your tickets in
the Pit or call 962-THVI. Tickets are $3
in advance, $4 at the door. Come out
and hear your favorites!
JTlip Daily Jar Hud
Friday, February 9,2001
Volume 108, Issue 156
RO. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Matt Dees. Editor, 962-4086
Advertising & Business, 962-1163
News, Features, Sports, 962-0245