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Congress Could Limit CAA Power
By Brook Corwin
Staff Writer
Two Student Congress committees,
citing persistent student concerns about
the Carolina Athletic Association, paved
the way Tuesday for the full Congress to
examine the organization’s current cred
ibility and decide its future accountabil
ity to the student body.
Student Congress’ Rules and Judiciary
Committee passed a bill to amend the
CAA’s constitution, while the Student
Affairs Committee passed two resolu
tions to censure the organization’s top
officials and CAA President Tee Pruitt.
A censure would publicly air con
cerns and could prompt further investi
gations but would not adversely affect
Council
Wants Vote
After Study
Some council members are
worried that the trustees'
vote on the Master Plan will
strain town-gown relations.
By Amanda Wilson
Staff Writer
The UNC Board of Trustees will vote
to accept or reject the Master Plan on
Thursday despite the Chapel Hill Town
Council’s request for it to wait for results
from the Major Investment Study.
The findings of the Major Investment
Study, a collaborative research project
conducted by the
N.C. Department
of Transportation,
Duke University,
UNC, the
Triangle Transit
Authority and
Durham and
Orange counties,
are due in May.
In February,
the council asked
that the University
delay voting on
the Master Plan, a
blueprint for cam
pus growth over
the next 50 years,
•-
-s
Council member
Kevin Foy
said he wants the
BOT to wait for the
Major Investment
Study results.
until results from the study had been
released because those findings might
or might not render the University’s
transportation plans obsolete.
Council member Kevin Foy said he
would like for the Board of Trustees to
wait. “There are a lot of concerns about
(the Master Plan),” Foy said. “It would
certainly be preferable to defer the vote.”
Foy said he still has questions about
the use of impervious surfaces for roads,
storm water drainage, the transit corridor,
the widening of Columbia Street and the
impact that 6 million square feet of new
development will have on area traffic.
Foy said he thinks the BOT should
wait in case the Major Investment Study
would require adjustments in the
Master Plan.
Council member Flicka Bateman said
she believes that future relationships
between the town and the University
might be tainted by the BOT’s noncom
pliance with the town’s request.
“When we’ve said ‘please wait,’ and
they move forward, I think it makes it
more difficult to have a collaborative
relationship,” Bateman said. “I think
that compromise is called for in a situ
ation like this, and so far I haven’t seen
that they’re compromising."
She said the exchange of information
between the University and the council
is an important part of reaching joint
planning for the community.
“I think joint planning, which occurs
See COUNCIL, Page 4
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students’ personal records.
The three pieces of legislation will go
before the entire Congress next Tuesday
and could become part of the Student
Code with a majority vote.
Congress Speaker Alexandra Bell said
the bill and the resolutions are not intend
ed to attack the CAA but are designed to
reduce the amount of power held within
the hands of the organization’s leader
ship. “CAA is run like a dictatorship right
now,” she said. “(The legislation) is not
hurting the CAA in any way. This is mak
ing it more accountable to students.”
Support for the suggested examination
of the CAA was given by Board of
Elections Vice Chairman Fred Hill, who
claims the board discovered tangible evi
dence of corruption within the CAA and
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By Michael Handy
Staff Writer
Every day, hogs in North Carolina
produce more than 50,000 tons of
waste - more than is produced by all of
the people in California combined -
without an effective system of disposal.
The hog waste adds up to almost 19
million tons a year, leading to a series
of ecological problems that have
sparked a heated debate between the
pork industry and environmentalists.
At the center of the controversy is the
pollution caused by the current meth
ods of feeding hogs and disposing of the
waste, which environmentalists believe
is destroying the state’s air and water.
But industry officials say hog farm
ing is one of the most heavily regulat
ed segments in agriculture and oper
ates under the strictest guidelines.
Most of the state’s hog farms are
located between the coast and
THE NEWS & OBSERVER
An aerial shot of a hog lagoon along with several pork-producing facilities nearby. These lagoons are
k just a few of the more than 4,000 that cover the eastern half of North Carolina.
Sierra Club Speaks Out in Support of Odum Village
By Mandy Melton
Staff Writer
The local branch of the Sierra Club
held a press conference Tuesday after
noon to voice concern that Odum
Village might become a victim of
UNC’s Master Plan.
But Master Plan Director Jonathan
Howes said demolition of UNC’s family
housing community currendy is not
being considered as an option. “It is
important to note that an approval of the
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
also cited personal experience with mis
conduct in ticket distribution practices.
Debate on the bill to codify the consti
tution focused on whether to make the
CAA more accountable by requiring its
appointments and procedures to be subject
to the approval of Student Congress.
Rules and Judiciary Committee
Chairwoman Sarah Marks, who intro
duced the bill, said the suggested changes
to the CAA constitution were derived
from the constitution of the executive
branch of student government, which the
CAA and Student Congress fall under as
members of the legislative branch. “We
have taken nothing away from CAA,” she
said. “We have given them a framework
to work within that we use ourselves.”
But Student Body Treasurer Patrick
Interstate 95.
They use a system of waste lagoons
and sprayfields to dispose of hog
waste. And environmentalists believe
this pollutes the state’s air and water.
Waste lagoons are open-air pits
where hog waste is stored for up to six
months before it is pumped to spray
fields, which are nearby lands where
the waste is dispersed onto crops and
grasses to be absorbed.
According to information from
Hog Watch, an environmental advo
cacy group, the problems associated
with hog farm pollution start with the
production of grain to feed the hogs.
This grain contains nitrogen and
phosphorous, which the hogs are
unable to break down. The hogs excrete
a large amount of this nitrogen and
phosphorous into the soil, air and water.
A Sampson County research study
that started in 1978 has shown increas
ing amounts of nitrogen ammonia in
Master Plan does not constitute a decision
to demolish these units,” he said. .
Dan Coleman, a member of the
Orange-Chatham chapter of the Sierra
Club, opened the conference by reading a
prepared statement, in which he defended
the current status of the student family
housing community off of Manning Drive.
Coleman said the Sierra Club’s concern
for Odum Village originated out of the 13
principles for UNC planning, which the
club presented to the environmental con
sultant for the Master Plan last month.
Frye said Congress does not have juris
diction under die Student Code to influ
ence Cabinet appointments. “Tee Pruitt
is an officer of the student body, but no
one else in CAA is,” he said. “You can’t
approve Tee’s Cabinet any more than
you can approve the executive’s
Cabinet. It’s on equal footing with you."
A fourth piece of legislation -a resolu
tion calling for a congressional investiga
tion of the CAA - was rejected because
the new session of Congress convenes in
two weeks.
Although Bell said the bill to amend the
constitution focuses on reforming the prac
tices of future CAA administrations, cur
rent CAA officials came under fire when
See SAC, Page 4
the rainfall of Sampson County.
Environmentalists point to these
rising ammonia levels as proof that
hog farms pollute the state.
But environmentalists say waste
lagoons and spray fields pose a bigger
threat than hog feed.
North Carolina has more than
4,600 lagoons. If these lagoons are not
monitored carefully, they can overflow
or develop leaks, allowing waste to
seep into the ground and contaminate
both drinking water and groundwater.
As the lagoons fill up, the waste is
sprayed onto fields. These sprayfields
contain plants to absorb the waste, but
many times the amount sprayed is too
large for the crops to absorb.
The excess waste then can wash off
into nearby streams and rivers.
But sometimes the waste never
makes it to the sprayfield.
In 1995, an Onslow County lagoon
burst, spilling 22 million gallons of
One potential location for anew fami
ly housing community would be the
Horace Williams tract of land off Airport
Road. If this location is chosen, it will con
flict with the Sierra Club’s principles,
which include promoting walkable, afford
able living communities and reducing
automobile dependency. Coleman wants
officials to consider the environmental
effects of eliminating Odum Village before
decisions are made about its fate.
“The University,.we were assured, is
committed to the principles of sustainabil
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DTH/MARGO KNIGHT
Board of Elections Vice Chairman Fred Hill speaks at an SAC meeting
Tuesday regarding the Carolina Athletic Association controversy.
waste into the New River.
And in 1999, Hurricane Floyd
struck eastern North Carolina, dump
ing record rainfall and causing
lagoons to overflow.
Tripp Pittman, Clean Water
Campaign coordinator for the N.C.
Sierra Club, said hog farms pose sever
al problems to North Carolina, includ
ing pollution of air and groundwater.
“There are a number of environmental,
public health and socioeconomic risks
posed by the current method of dispos
ing of waste from hogs.”
He also said many of the affected
areas are rural communities with large
black populations.
A press release
issued by North
Carolina-based
Smithfield Foods, the
world’s largest pork
producer, stated that
the hog industry pro
vides nearly 45,000
full-time jobs in the
state and provides mil
lions of people with
safe, nutritious and eco
nomical pork products.
The press release
...From.
Manteo,
to nurphy
A four-part series on some
of the major environmental
issues facing North Carolina.
Today: Hog Lagoons
Thursday: Smog
Friday: Expansion
also states that every one of its hog
farms uses state-of-the-art waste dis
posal technologies and has a legal per
mit from an appropriate government
agency.
But Pittman said he still believes
the hog industry is polluting North
Carolina and that sustainable solu
tions need to be found.
There are a number of potential
solutions currently being tested.
Mike Williams, N.C. State
University director of the Animal and
Poultry Waste Management Center, is
leading the search to find alternative
methods of waste disposal.
His research is being funded by the
Smithfield Agreement, an agreement
between Smithfield Foods and the
state attorney general’s office. Under
this agreement, Smithfield Foods is to
provide $65 million to research new
ity in its long-range planning,” he said.
“Yet somehow, these not attractive and
very useful buildings that make up Odum
Village are heading for the scrap heap. We
are here today to ask: Where is the prin
ciple of sustainability in that decision?”
Questions about the long-term func
tion of Odum Village were specifically
addressed by Associate Vice Chancellor
for Student Affairs Dean Bresciani in a
March 11 letter to the Chapel Hill
Herald. “While Odum’s notable years of
service have been possible through con
Again
Today: Rainy, 48
Thursday: Sunny, 63
Friday: Sunny, 63
Wednesday, March 21, 2001
ways to dispose of hog waste, and sls
million of this money will directly
fund Williams’ research.
One of the technologies being
examined is called “constructed wet
lands.” This method of disposal pumps
liquid manure through cattails and
reeds, which can absorb and dispose of
the waste better than most other plants.
Williams said he recognizes the
concerns raised about hog waste. “As
a citizen, I feel that we do need to con
tinue to determine what the environ
mental impacts are and what the new
technology can do,” he said.
And adding to the concerns sur
rounding the environmental problems
is the approaching
expiration of a mora
torium on hog farms.
The moratorium,
which prevents the
construction of any
new hog operation
and prevents existing
operations from
expanding, was origi
nally passed in 1997
and has been extend
ed twice since then.
It will expire again
on July 1, 2001, and N.C. legislators
are in the process of determining what
action to take.
The question of whether to extend
the moratorium has sparked concerns
among both environmentalists and
hog farmers.
Rep. Pryor Gibson, D-Anson, who
heads the state’s Environment and
Natural Resources Committee, said
there is discussion right now on whether
the moratorium will be put back in
place, revised or completely taken away.
Some people think the moratorium
should not be extended, and others
think it needs to be tougher on hog
farms, Gibson said.
Pittman said he thinks the morato
rium needs to be tougher because the
swine industry is not being punished.
See HOG LAGOONS, Page 4
sistent and careful upkeep by UNC, the
dated size and design of its apartments
don’t meet contemporary family needs,”
Bresciani wrote. “Additionally, although
renovations continue, the facility’s age
means that costs now exceed what pur
posefully modest rental rates support.”
But Coleman said, “It doesn’t make
sense to tear down this very usable and
efficient community.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.