Pitching Duel
Heels, Gophers go
twice. See Page 5
% Daily (Ear Heel
www.dailytarheel.com
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DTH/EMILY SCHNURE
Michael Songer (right) and representative Chris Brook
listen to Reid Chaney's representatives speak in a hearing Thursday.
NRC Votes
To Suspend
Decision
A federal commission ruled
that CP&L could not yet
begin storing nuclear waste
at the Shearon Harris plant.
Bv Ginny Sciabbarrasi
City Editor
Lingering questions surrounding the
expansion of a local nuclear power
plant have caused the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to suspend a
December ruling made by a division
within the federal agency.
The full five-member commission
ordered Wednesday that Carolina
Power & Light Cos. could not begin stor
ing nuclear waste at its Shearon Harris
Nuclear Power Plant until the commis
sion’s staff answers a list of undisclosed
questions.
The ruling temporarily suspends a
decision made Dec. 21 by the NRC’s
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
that gave CP&L the green light to begin
expanding existing nuclear waste cool
ing pools.
Jim Warren, director of N.C. Waste
Awareness and Reduction Network,
said CP&L could continue to work on
making the pools operational, but that
they would be doing so at the expense
of ratepayers.
“There is no certainty at all they will
get final approval for this,” Warren said.
But CP&L spokesman Mike Hughes
said the company had no plans to start
storing waste in the newly expanded
pool until the middle of the year, when
See NRC RULING, Page 4
Doherty Sorry for 'Ugly' Comment
Coach Matt Doherty said he
made the lighthearted gibe
about Duke's cheerleaders in
a huddle to help ease tension.
By Jennifer Hagin
Staff Writer
A comment made by UNC men’s basketball
coach Matt Doherty during the Carolina-Duke
game Feb. 1 about die Duke cheerleading squad
led him to send an apology letter Tuesday.
Doherty wrote the letter after “ESPN: The
Magazine” published a column revealing that
Doherty told his players that Duke “still has the
ugliest cheerleaders in the ACC.”
The comment was made in a team huddle
late in the second half of the hody contested
game.
But UNC sports officials and Duke student
leaders both say the comment has not caused
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
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' OTH/ MIKE MESSIF.R
Justin Young's campaign manager, senior Matt Jones, talks with his
candidate on election night. Jones served in Nic Heinke's Cabinet.
Orchestrating a Campaign
By Jermaine Caldwell • Features Editor
While candidates Eric Johnson and Justin
Young stand hoping to become student body
president, moving behind the scenes are two
students giving them any lift they need.
Campaign managers Matt Jones
and Tim Nelson —of the Young and
Johnson teams, respectively - have
spent the past few weeks on the cam
paign trial that spans across the walk
ways of UNC and has been filled
with everything from fliers and Pit
sits to forums and platforms.
And even though when all is said
and done, it will be Johnson or
Young with the spot in student gov
ernment, both Jones and Nelson said
they loved the ride on which student
government elections has taken
an uproar.
“I said it as a joke to lighten the obvious tension
my players were feeling during the game against
Duke,” Doherty wrote in the letter. “However, I
apologize for the insensitive reference and hope
you did not take it seriously or personally.”
Steve Kirschner, UNC director of athletic
communications, said the comment became
public after a team member told a friend what
Doherty had said.
Kirschner said the comment made it to the
Internet and ended up in the magazine article.
Another possibility is that Curry Kirkpatrick,
the ESPN writer who quoted Doherty, over
heard the comment while sitting behind the
UNC bench at the Duke game.
“It was for the 12 or so players in the hud
dle,” Kirschner said. “Does (Doherty) think
that? No. Does he care? No.”
He said Doherty also contacted Duke’s
cheerleading coach Teresa Ward to discuss the
situation. “He talked to the (Duke) coach, and
they laughed about it,” Kirschner said. “She
Still Undecided?
See SBP candidates face off at
7 p.m. Sunday in 08 Peabody Hall.
For more information, see page 2.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
CAA Race Hinges on Board's Decision
By Kim Minugh
University Editor
The outcome of the race for Carolina
Athletic Association president still weighs
in the balance today, as Board of Elections
members investi
gate alleged cam
paign violations
by recently
[student 2001
id§o®(gfis©ODg
declared winner Reid Chaney.
After a three-hour hearing Thursday
night, Board of Elections members
delayed making a decision on charges that
Chaney and his campaign staff slandered
opponent Michael Songer and violated
student government elections laws.
Charges were brought to the Board of
Elections on Thursday night after
Chairman Jeremy Tuchmayer declared
them, and both give their jobs ring
ing endorsements.
Matt Jones
This summer senior Matt Jones
has plans to say “I do.”
And standing by will be an usher
whom he spent months supporting
during a race for student body presi
dent.
It’s this support, Jones says, that’s
the key to any good campaign. “It
has to be a strong personal partner
ship for it to work,” he said.
knows he didn’t mean it.”
Two Duke cheerleaders refused to comment
on the incident Thursday.
And Duke student leaders said the comment
had not generated an uproar on campus.
Jordan Bazinsky, Duke student body presi
dent, said he has not heard much discussion on
campus regarding the cheerleaders.
“It’s an unfortunate comment; I’m sure it
was just a mistake,” Bazinsky said.
Whether Doherty meant the comment or
not, Brad Morris, a UNC sophomore philoso
phy and psychology major, said the comment
does not taint his view of Doherty.
“I don’t care. He can say what he wants,”
Morris said. “He’s God, isn’t he?”
Kirschner said there are no hard feelings
between Duke and Doherty. “As far as Duke is
concerned it’s over, and as far as we’re con
cerned it’s over.”
The State & National Editor can be reached
atstntdesk@unc.edu.
Chaney the winner of the race when 27
write-in votes were invalidated, giving
Chaney the majority by five votes.
Before Tuchmayer, Board of
Elections Vice Chairman Fred Hill and
four board members, Songer and his
campaign staff charged that an e-mail
sent by the Chaney campaign caused
irreparable damage to Songer’s cam
paign, costing him the five or more
votes that won Chaney the election.
The e-mail, received by students
Monday, allegedly was sent by former
UNC student and Carolina Fever
President Davin McGinnis to a Songer
camp estimate of 15,000 UNC students.
The e-mail portrayed Songer as dis
honest and untrustworthy and said
Songer unfairly claimed responsibility
for the student risers in the Smith Center
DTH/CHRISHNE NGUYEN
Junior Tim Nelson strategies with student body president candidate
Eric Johnson before election results are announced Tuesday night.
Jones and Young both served in
the Cabinet of Nic Heinke, former
student body president - Jones as
vice chairman of external relations
and Young as an executive assistant.
But the two wanted to see
more out of Suite C. “We I
Mg| Ca
left there kind of disenchant- .
ed at what student govern
ment could do,” the politi- '
cal science major said.
So the roommates took a
year off, and before Winter Break,
jones recalls Young saying, “Matt, I
think I’m going to do it, and I want
you to be my campaign manager.”
The choice was easy. The answer
was “yes.” And it was off to the races.
“I really believe in him, his integri
ty and the change that he’ll bring to
the office,” said Jones, who has also
been active in Young Democrats. “I
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DTH/SEFTONIPOCK
At the Duke-UNC game, Matt Doherty told his team
the Duke cheerleaders were the "ugliest in the ACC."
when meeting minutes show that he
never went to a meeting.
But Songer and his campaign mem
bers say Chaney and his staff violated
elections laws by not following guide
fines about the e-mail’s composition,
slandering Songer and reporting incor
rect information. “I urge you to read this
again and again. It is vicious and unsup
portive in the accusations it puts out
there,” said Chris Brook, Songer’s rep
resentative in the hearing.
But Chaney said he never saw the e
mail nor approved its contents. “We’re
very disappointed, very appalled. We
don’t know where these allegations came
from and hate that it looks so bad for the
CAA and our campaign,” Chaney said.
“We pretty much know nothing about this
e-mail. I had no prior knowledge of it...
didn’t hesitate to get involved.”
First, it was to round up some
troops by gathering volunteers, which
Jones said ranged from 150 to 200
people, and finding out what students
wanted from their government.
Campaigning officially began
Jan. 23, when hopefuls
their candidacy. And
i the three-week rush leading
pup to election day was non-
stop, Jones said.
Zoom in on these weeks, and
one will find each day for a cam
paign manager contains a lot of activ
ity. Jones would begin the day by
reading elections news, then tend to
e-mails and return messages.
Afternoons meant hitting campus
for campaigning. Whether it was the
See MANAGERS, Page 4
Moist
Today: Stormy, 69
Saturday: Showers, 52
Sunday: Cloudy, 50
Friday, February 16, 2001
We don’t know where it came from.”
McGinnis, the supposed author of the
e-mail, did not attend the hearing and
could not be reached for comment
But Brook said he questions whether
McGinnis was used as a cover by anoth
er of Chaney’s staff members.
The e-mail was signed by McGinnis
and the reply address, vote_reid_tom
morrow@email.unc.edu - was a nonex
istent account. “Michael Songer was
drug through the mud with this,” Brook
told the Board of Elections. “In the inter
est of making sure all the bases are cov
ered, I encourage you to get in touch
with (Academic Technology &
Networks) and find out who did this.”
Brook also cited an e-mail - printed
See CAA, Page 4
Peppers,
Forte Say
No Thanks
Julius Peppers was voted
into four seats in Student
Congress, and Joseph Forte
won the District 18 seat.
By T. Nolan Hayes
Senior Writer
Julius Peppers andjoseph Forte have
a simple message for voters who elected
them to Student Congress on Tuesday.
Thanks, but no thanks.
The two North Carolina men’s bas
ketball players cited other commitments
Thursday afternoon as reasons why
they would be unable to participate in
student government
“I would want
to do it,” said
Forte, who
found out
Bucfent 2001
Thursday morning while surfing the
Internet that he had earned a seat in
District 18. “But with basketball and my
limited schedule, I’m afraid I can’t”
The same goes double for Peppers,
who was elected to congressional seats
in four districts and tied for a seat in
another. Peppers stars at defensive end
on the UNC football team when he’s
not banging in the paint as a power for
ward during basketball season.
“I don’t think I have enough time for
that,” he said.
That Peppers earned votes in so many
districts is unusual, especially considering
that Congress members can serve only in
the district in which they reside.
“That’s probably unprecedented,”
said Jeremy Tuchmayer, chairman of
the Board of Flections.
Peppers made an even bigger impact
on the election for student body presi
dent. He was not on the ballot but still
rang up 222 votes - 214 was his unoffi
cial total -as a write-in candidate to fin
ish in fifth place.
He finished with more votes than
three candidates whose names were on
the ballot
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to
say about that” he said.
Support for Peppers built after a let
ter ran Monday in The Daily'Tar Heel
pushing him for the post. Teammate
Brian Bersticker received a similar boost
last year after a DTH columnist started
a campaign for him.
Bersticker finished third in the 2000
race with 585 votes, but he received a
large amount of publicity because his
supporters posted hundreds of fliers
posted around campus.
Peppers had no such backing, but he
might have won if he did. In addition to
the votes he gained for Student
Congress and student body president,
Peppers also got votes in races for
Carolina Athletic Association president,
See PLAYERS, Page 4