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CAA Legislation Awaits Matthews' Decision
By Kim Minugh
University Editor
The fate of a bill giving Student
Congress power to oversee the Carolina
Athletic Association is now in the hands of
Student Body President Brad Matthews.
The bill, passed Tuesday night during
the last meeting of the 82nd Congress,
must be approved by Matthews before
the CAA Constitution is amended.
With Matthews’ stamp of approval,
the bill most notably will require a more
No Injuries
In Greek
House Fire
Officials are investigating
the cause of a morning fire
at the Kappa Sigma house
on West Cameron Avenue.
By Rachel Clarke
Staff Writer
An early morning fire set the vacant
Kappa Sigma fraternity house ablaze
Wednesday, marring the structure with
blackened walls, charred insulation and
the acrid smell of smoke.
More than 20 Chapel Hill firefighters
and several fire trucks were dispatched
to the fire at 204 W. Cameron St at 7:14
a.m., said Chapel Hill Fire Marshal
Caprice Mellon.
Mellon said it took about two hours
for the firefighters to extinguish the fire,
the cause of which has yet to be deter
mined pending further investigation.
No one was injured because the
house was closed in preparation for a
new sprinkler installation.
“They are bringing the building up to
code, but they haven’t even started with
the renovations,” said Jay Anhom,
director of Greek affairs.
A town ordinance requiring all
Greek houses to have sprinkler systems
by August 2001 prompted the renova
tions.
The Chapel Hill Town Council passed
the ordinance after a 1996 fire at the Phi
Gamma Delta Fraternity house - which is
located just feet from the Kappa Sigma
House - killed five people.
Mellon said Wednesday’s fire started
in the basement of the house, which is
located in Little Fraternity Court. She
said some flames traveled up the stair
well to the first floor, but most of the
damage was confined to the basement.
The walls of the basement stairwell
were black Wednesday afternoon, and
there was a pile of charred wood at the
top of the stairs.
“There was pretty heavy smoke com
ing out of the upper floors,” Mellon
said.
“I didn’t see a lot of flames outside
the building.”
Officials at Hutchins Construction,
Inc. had been planning to begin the ren
ovation work next week.
Jerry Branch, project manager at
Hutchins, said the company is sending
a crew to the site today to assess the
damage.
In die meantime, there are signs out
side the Kappa Sigma house warning
that the building is condemned as a
result of the fire.
Branch said the signs were put up to
keep people out of what might be an
unsafe building.
“It will probably require structural
analysis,” Branch said. “First, we will
make it secure.”
The renovations originally were
going to include adding sprinklers and
improving the handicapped accessibili
ty, staircases and Internet connections
in the house.
See FIRE, Page 2
The service you do for others is the rent you pay for the time you spend on earth.
Mohammed Ali
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transparent ticket distribution policy.
A good idea, says CAA President Tee
Pruitt, but one that should not be forced
upon the group by Congress. “We feel
they’ve kind of overstepped some bound
aries in relation to our basketball tickets
since that’s not student property,” he said.
Specifically, the bill mandates that the
starting numbers for ticket distributions
be chosen in public and that bracelet
number ranges be published.
The bill also requires CAA officials to
keep a public record of every ticket given
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J 1
DTH/ARIEL SHUMAKER
Junior Sara Bolen sings to students during the Take Back the Night rally Wednesday in Polk Place. Bolen, who sang some of her own songs,
was part of the march through the Pit to raise awareness over gender violence issues.
UNC Women 'Take Back the Night'
By Paige Ammons
Staff Writer
A clamor arose Wednesday night throughout UNC’s
campus that had students peering out of the windows of
residence halls and classrooms.
The commotion was caused by the Take Back the
Night March that followed a rally against domestic and
sexual violence. The event, part of Women’s Week, was
sponsored by Advocates for Sexual Assault Prevention,
Feminist Students United!, Carolina Women’s Center
Anti-Hate Crimes Vigil
Aims to Boost Awareness
By Joanna Housiadas
Staff Writer
Huddling in groups on the stairs of the Pit, more
than 100 students listened to speeches and lit can
dles Wednesday evening in a solemn moment of
reflection on the issue of hate crimes.
The Anti-Hate Crimes Vigil, part of Campus Y’s
Human Rights Week, featured three guest speakers
and facilitated discussion among students about why
hate crimes occur, as well as ways to combat them.
“I hope we can raise some awareness about the
prevalence of hate crimes on a local, regional and
national level,” said Zach Comer, chairman of stu
dent government’s Human Relations Committee,
which organized the event.
Speakers included Reginald Hildebrand, associ
ate professor in the African and Afro-American
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
to CAA Cabinet
members, Carolina
Fever members or
any other student
officials or organi
zations. “We hear
(Congress’) con
cerns about
accountability and
some of them have
merit,” Pruitt said.
“We’re going to
look into some
Student Body
President
Brad Matthews
and the University Sexual Harassment Office.
The rally and march were designed to increase
awareness of violence against women and to make
women on UNC’s campus feel more secure.
“The purpose is to reclaim campus as a safe envi
ronment and to talk about the risk of sexual violence,"
said ASAP volunteer Katherine Yancey.
The rally began at South Building with a musician
and speaker, junior Sarah Bolen, who sang to the 100-
person crowd about women’s independence.
Junior Erica Smiley then set the tone for the march
studies program, and Matt Ezell of the Orange
County Rape Crisis Center.
“At the very same moment that we allow a hate
crime to occur, we also begin to compromise our own
humanity,” Hildebrand said. He said that to keep the
diversity of the nation, we cannot tolerate hate crimes.
“We must, with our laws and our lives, say no.”
Pointing out that sexual violence is associated
with many hate crimes, Ezell said one in every four
women is raped in their lifetime. “Survivors of sex
ual violence are overwhelmingly women,” he said.
He added that men should do something about
these statistics. “We have to understand that we are
privileged (in that we are not targeted) and must do
something about it.”
Jesse Davidson, co-chairman of the Queer
See VIGIL, Page 2
changes into how to address those con
cerns internally.”
Pruitt said the measures included in the
bill are healthy suggestions for Congress
to make to the CAA -but should not be
enforced by Congress. “(Congress is) not
a check on the athletic director and the
athletics department, and there’s no way
they can serve as a check to athletics
department property,” he said.
Pruitt also contested the bill’s other
notable requirement that future
Congresses approve the CAA presi
with a speech that encouraged members of the movement
to continue the fight against oppression. “We, as women,
are under attack,” she said. “We have to fight back.”
She also emphasized the need for activists to remem
ber the victims of sexual violence. “We cannot ignore
the dynamics within our own movement,” Smiley said.
The rally was followed by a march from South
Building that wove through campus and ended in the
Pit The participants held posters and candles while
See RALLY, Page 2
• .... V , 7,
rmt/MIKF. MESSIER
Students hold a candlelight ceremony Wednesday night in the Pit during
the 2nd annual Anti-Hate Crimes Vigil, a part of the Campus Y's Human Rights Week,
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dent’s Cabinet appointments, claiming
the measure allows Congress too much
power over personnel issues.
Pruitt also expressed disappointment
about a resolution to censure the CAA
that Congress also passed Tuesday. “We
really are upset with it,” he said.
“Nothing proves any of these (allega
tions). No one has any hard evidence
that those things are true. They are
based on hearsay and rumors.”
See CAA, Page 2
Gettin' Wet
Today: Rain, 54
Friday: Showers, 72
Saturday: Sunny, 72
Thursday, March 29, 2001
Volunteers
Set for Day
Of Service
Project UNC participants
will be treated to free
entertainment and food
after this weekend's event.
By Tyler Maland
Staff Writer
High hopes for a large turnout
abound as a group of students gear up
for this weekend’s second annual
Project UNC.
Project UNC, the student-led service
event designed to increase campus
involvement in community outreach
projects, will kick off festivities at 9 a.m.
Saturday in Polk Place, or in Gerrard
Hall if weather does not permit
Sophomore Elizabeth Gottschalk,
assistant coordina
tor for the project
said this year’s
event will give stu
dents the chance
to help others in
the community.
Project UNC
is a one-day
event during
which organizers
assign students a
four-hour service
project in Chapel
Hill.
The service
opportunities
include helping
Want
to Get
Involved?
Register
online at
www.uiK.edu/
students/
orgs/punc
or in the Pit
this week.
build houses for Habitat for Humanity,
cleaning up at Jordan Lake and doing
grounds work at the Botanical Gardens.
Junior Justin Young, coordinator of
Project UNC and student body presi
dent-elect, said the schedule for Saturday
will be both fun and rewarding.
“Saturday morning, we will have
hundreds of volunteers come by Polk
Place about 9 a.m. for a nice little break
fast and then listen to some speakers
before getting shipped off to their differ
ent locations to volunteer,” Young said.
“About 2 p.m. everyone will return to
have a little lunch and enjoy the enter
tainment we are providing.”
Sophomore Nell Brewer, head of cer
emonies for the event, said Anson
Dorrance, UNC women’s soccer coach;
Charles Wydell, UNC alumnus and
professional football player; and Young
will speak from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Brewer also said several groups will
be on tap to entertain the volunteers
after a morning of service.
“Our entertainment will be
Kamikazi, an Asian dance group;
Mezmerhythm, another dance group;
... Hip Hop Nation; and Bad Luck Star,
a band from Birmingham, Alabama.”
See PROJECT UNC, Page 2