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Dying to Know? DTH Online will post early results at 10 p.m. Site Daily ®ar Uteri www.daiiytarheel.com T m ( ™ 88k 9 9 Ila DTH/KIMBERLY CRAVEN Candidate Michael Songer tries to rally last-minute support in the Pit on Monday in an attempt to draw attention away from recent controversy. CAA Candidates Pnt Scandals Aside On the day before the second election for CAA president, candidates concentrated on tickets and the fate of Carolina Fever. By Paige Ammons Staff Writer Two weeks after the original election date, the fate of the office of Carolina Athletic Association president will be decided tonight. Candidates have been working to win voters back to their camps for the past two weeks with more talk of tick et distribution and the fate of Carolina Fever than of the scandals that have marred the race thus far. Candidate Reid Chaney was named the winner of the Feb. 13 election after 27 write-in votes were declared invalid, giving him a five-vote majority. Chaney’s oppo nent, Michael Songer, appealed his loss to the Board of Elections, saying that an e-mail message sent by Davin McGinnis, UNC alumnus and former Carolina Fever pres ident, was libelous and possibly could have affected the Local Schools Amend Funding Proposals By Carolyn Pearce Staff Writer Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials halved their requests for fund ing last week and submitted a less bur densome proposal for a bond to help alleviate overcrowding. The $42.8 million bond was pared down significandy by the board from its original proposal for $72 million. The initial request included plans for anew high school in addition to two new ele mentary schools. Superintendent Neil Pedersen said the request for an additional high school was eliminated because the board doubted the coun ty would approve the funds. “Our prefer ence was to build a new facility,” Pedersen said. “But it would be highly unlikely for us to receive fund ing for three new schools.” “Our preference was to build a new facility. But it would be highly unlikely for us to receive funding for three new schools. ” Neil Pedersen Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Superintendent The bond proposal is a response to the problems of overcrowding that have plagued the district recendy because of the area’s high growth. Chapel Hill- Carrboro schools spokeswoman Kim Hoke said the district’s growth rate was more than 7 percent last year, the high est rate of growth in the state. The district is especially crowded at the elementary level, with three ele mentary schools already over capacity. The passage of the bond would allow $27.8 million for two new elementary schools to be built in the district. But Hoke said instead of anew high Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct. Thomas Jefferson J five-vote margin. The Board of Elections ruled that the e-mail likely was fabricated but mandated a re-election, which resulted in extra time for the two candidates to reorganize. And although these scandals have resulted in heated debates and often nasty personal attacks, Songer and Chaney tried to take a relaxed and laid back approach on the final day before the vote. Songer and his campaign volunteers spent their day in the Pit and then went door to door in residence halls in the evening. Songer said he was trying to remain calm in the midst of the controversy and said he has tried to look beyond the scandals. “I’m trying to focus on all of the issues we brought up in our campaign,” Songer said. “I’m trying to stay away from all the negative stuff. “We are gonna be in the Pit all day, just hanging out and playing music,” Songer said. He used video games and sports footage to attract the attention of passing students. Chaney speculated that the controversy surrounding the school, the new proposal includes $7.9 million for expansion of the existing two high schools. “We have a task force working on how to accommodate additional high school capacity,” Hoke said. “Some board members supported a third high school but felt that the resources were not available to the county. Anew high school would cost $25 million.” The requests will be forwarded to the Capital Needs Advisory Task Force, which will assess the needs of both Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools and Orange County schools. The task force also will consider the needs of the Parks and Recreation Department and of the county buildings. “The group will put together what they feel is a need,” Hoke said. “The Orange County Commissioners will then decide what projects will be placed on the ballot in November.” Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs said the school’s first request of $72 million was “overly ambitious” and the $42 million was “more do-able.” “We are all citizens of a county where there is only a certain amount of dol lars,” Jacobs said. “We need to see how far we can stretch them. By decreasing their request, it shows that they are working hard and taking it seriously.” Jacobs is also on the Capital Needs Advisory Task Force, which will meet See SCHOOL FUNDING, Page 8 Elections, Part 111 Vote for CAA president online at http://studentcentral.unc.edu between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 I IvyH': ’ Jr HHP Wro r -,^ DTH/KIMBERLY CRAVEN Candidate Reid Chaney spends time in the Pit on Monday encouraging students to vote despite scandals that have clouded the race. SBP-Elect Addresses Young Democrats By Blake Rosser Staff Writer Young Democrats with a hankering for free ice cream and an interest in Student Body President-elect Justin Young were in for a treat Monday night in Bingham Hall. Young attended the hourlong Young Democrats meeting primarily to answer questions from about 30 audience mem bers. Young started by expressing his grat itude for the organization’s support. Many Young Democrats campaigned heavily for Young. “I want to thank y’all as an organization for endorsing me - I’m very excited,” Young said. “I’m also very excited about the ice cream.” The audience wasted no time in tack ling the issues. The first Young Democrat member asked Young about Animal Shelter Fire Declared Intentional Fire Marshal Caprice Mellon estimates that the Orange County Animal Shelter had about SIO,OOO in damage. By Isaac Groves Staff Writer Chapel Hill fire officials are confident a late-night fire Sunday, which killed four animals at the Orange County election probably has done litde to attract students to either candidate. He said he realizes that students are tired and frustrated with the situation and he just wants to encourage them to voice their opinions in the election. Chaney also spent the day in the Pit asking students to remember to vote today. He went door to door at residence halls from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. He also plans to have volunteers on campus today to solicit votes. “I don’t really want to bug people because it has been such a long campaign,” Chaney said. “I just want to remind people to vote.” Chaney said he felt he did not need to change his cam paign strategies the second time around. “I’m doing pretty much the same thing as I have for the whole campaign,” he said. “It worked last time - hopeful ly, it will work again.” The saga that happened after Chaney’s initial win included a Feb. 15 hearing in which members of Songer’s campaign accused Chaney’s campaign of being behind McGinnis’ mass e-mail sent out prior to the election. See CAA, Page 8 his recent subpoena by Student Congress, and Young took the chance to explain the problem. “With Congress, I was subpoenaed to explain the Student Empowerment Endowment because they felt I was overstepping my bounds,” Young said. “But we got it settled.” During his campaign, Young promised to redirect his $2,400 student body presi dent stipend to go toward the fund, which would then use the money to help under funded student groups or fledgling stu dent projects. Congress initially viewed the action as a potential abuse of power. When asked about today’s election for Carolina Athletic Association presi dent, Young threw his support behind candidate Michael Songer. Other questions posed to Young per tained to housekeepers’ rights, conges tion resulting from construction, club sports funding and a Lesbian, Gay, Animal Shelter, was set intentionally. Fire Department officials spent all of Sunday night and Monday trying to dis cover who caused the explosion in the night deposit box at the animal shelter off Airport Road. While she would not give details of the investigation, Chapel Hill Fire Marshal Caprice Mellon did say the fire was not an accident. “It was a deliberately set fire,” she said. The blaze started a little after 9 p.m. Sunday. Assistant General Manager Bart Willis, who was alone in the building at Forum Today To Mull Merits Of Court, Code Chancellor James Moeser will moderate the forum, which will be at 7p.m. in Fetzer Gym, to solicit student input on the Honor Court. By Jenny Fowler Staff Writer In response to recent demands for Honor Court reform, Chancellor James Moeser and other UNC officials will be included in a forum tonight hosted by the Student Advisory Committee to the Chancellor. The forum will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Fetzer Gym, with Moeser moderating the event. Dean Bresciani and Sue Kitchen, associate vice chancellors for student affairs, and Provost Robert Shelton are some officials expected to be in attendance. And discussion was primed Monday night when the Joint Senate of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies held a debate examining the student judicial system because of recent controversy involving several of the Honor Court’s rulings. “We chose a variety of topics at the beginning of the semes ter that we would like to debate,” said junior international studies major Michael Hoffman. “We chose the Honor Court because it is a pressing issue at the University.” The issue of Honor Court reform surfaced in October when the court convicted two students for cheating during an open hearing. Professor James Coggins turned in 22 other students from his Computer Science 120 class at the end of the 2000 spring semester with similar charges. On Feb. 9, the appellate panel dismissed the case of senior Mike Trinh, one of the two students in the open hearing, upon finding that his basic rights had been violated. Trinh was accused of unauthorized collaboration on a homework assignment Other case dismissals sparked an interest m the court’s sys tem of representation in junior William Hashemi. He created the Independent Defense Council, which comprises UNC pre law undergraduates, to offer students alternative representation. Hashemi said the current system poses a conflict of interest because both prosecutors and defense counsels are under the auspices of the Student Attorney General’s Office. Both sides of the debate were argued by DiPhi senators in Monday’s forum titled “The Student Judicial System Is See HONOR COURT, Page 8 DTH'CHRISTINE NGUYEN Student Body President-elect Justin Young fields questions about his upcoming tenure at the Young Democrats meeting Monday night. Bisexual and Transgender Center. One Young Democrat asked Young if he would adopt any of his opponents’ platforms, specifically referring to Eric Johnson’s 911 cellular phone proposal, which would give students free access to cellular phones in case of emergencies. the time of the fire, said he heard the night deposit door open and an explosion. “Right now we’re estimating the cost of the damage at SIO,OOO, but we can’t be sure it’s that high,” Mellon said. The explosion and fire destroyed the wildlife room. The shelter also lost important equipment including two refrigerators and an incubator, said Pat Sanford, director of the shelter. “(The incubator) is very valuable to us to save small mammals, large mam mals and birds,” Sanford said. Nice Thaw Today: Partly Cloudy, 60 Wednesday: Rain, 50 Thursday: Showers, 55 Tuesday, February 27, 2001 Young said he likes Johnson’s idea but does not want to stop there. “In addition to cell phones, we also need to see what we can do to make this a safer campus,” he said. “We need to See YOUNG, Page 8 The shelter takes in both domestic and wild animals in need. Among the four animals that died was a ferret going to an adoptive home and two squirrels that were about to be sent to the shelter’s 48- acre wildlife sanctuary on Nicks Road. “I can’t imagine anybody who would want to bum harmless and defenseless animals when they’re in their cages and can’t defend themselves,” Sanford said. Mellon said she could only guess at a See FIRE, Page 8
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