Slacker Chic
Weezer Returns.
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She Satlu (Ear Heel
www.dailytarheel.com
UNC, Microsoft Examine License Agreement
By Geoff Wessel
University Editor
A clause in the University’s licensing
agreement with software giant Microsoft
Corp. could leave existing Microsoft
software disabled if UNC chooses not to
renew the agreement after it expires
later this year.
The agreement must be renewed by
the end of2ool, or all software obtained
through the agreement must be deleted
from computers belonging to the
University or its employees, according
to a page on the Web site of UNC’s
RAM shop.
Under the agreement, Microsoft
U.S. Appeal
Challenges
NRC Case
Orange County officials are
seeking Sen. John Edwards'
help as they appeal the
NRC's Shearon Harris ruling.
By Matt Viser
City, State & National Editor
Orange County recently' filed an
appeal in the D.C. circuit of the U.S.
Court of Appeals, declaring that a fed
eral agency’s review failed die public.
In May, the National Regulatory
Commission rejected Orange County’s
arguments challenging their decision to
allow Carolina Power & Light to expand
the Shearon
Harris Nuclear
Power Plant. On
June 1, Orange
County appealed
that decision.
“We don’t feel
the licensing
board was justified
in rejecting
Orange County’s
request for a hear
ing,” said Diane
Curran, a
Washington, D.C.,
attorney who has
been hired by the
county.
U.S. Sen.
John Edwards,
D-N.C.,
could help Orange
County officials fight
an NRC ruling.
“For something this dangerous,
there’s no excuse for not looking close
ly at the dangers,” Curran said.
But Keith Poston, spokesman for
CP&L, said they have done nothing
wrong. “We followed all established reg
ulations,” he said. “It’s an industry-stan
dard process.”
Shearon Harris has four waste stor
age pools, but has only been able to use
two. In December 1998, they asked the
NRC for permission to use all four of
their storage pools, which would make
it the single largest depository of spent
fuel rods in the United States.
The primary request of Orange
County is that the NRC examine the like
lihood of a fire in one of the storage pools.
“The effects could be catastrophic,”
Curran said, comparing a potential dis
aster to the 1986 Chernobyl accident in
the Soviet Union.
In addition to filing the federal appeal,
Orange County officials have called for
an urgent meeting with U.S. Sen. John
Edwards, D-N.C., as a follow-up to an
April 30 conference call with him. They
hope Edwards will use his influence to
arrange a Senate field hearing on CP&L’s
expansion plan. "It’s now or never:
Central North Carolina needs your
help!" the letter pleaded.
A spokeswoman for Edwards con
firmed that the senator had received the
letter, but she said he hasn’t come to any
conclusions. He is considering different
options outlined in the letter, she said.
See NRC, Page 2
...
L
reserves the right to include on any copy
of its software “proactive technical dis
abling mechanisms” that would enable
the RAM shop to disable the software
when the agreement ends.
The Web page warns users that they
“would likely suffer data loss or other sys
tem errors or malfunctions if (they) con
tinue to run the software after the termi
nation or expiration of this agreement”
Bentley Midkiff, a research technician
in the Department of Biochemistry and
Biophysics, said he was concerned when
he learned of the licensing policy for the
first time.
“If, for example, UNC decides not to
renew the license, the software contains
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DTH/KARA ARNDT
Silent spectators squeeze in to look on as Venerable Tenzin Deshek pinches sand from specific points in the mandala to begin the
dismantling process. The pinched sand is then placed in the urn held by tne Venerable Tenzin Thutop.
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The Venerable Tenzin Deshek rinses the remaining sand of the
mandala from the urn, completing the ceremony as the sand
returns to the sea (above). Tne Venerable Tenzin Thutop tosses
rose petals in the air after removing the mandala (right).
And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually.
Jimi Hendrix
WEEKLY
SUMMER ISSUE
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
disabling devices,” Midkiff said. “If that
were actually to happen, it seems like in
my mind that could be potentially prob
lematic.”
UNC employee Joe Waddell, a com
puter-systems administrator, raised
another concern when he learned many
corporate licensees of Microsoft are
being forced to upgrade to the new
Microsoft Office XP now or face higher
prices later.
“I was concerned that if we do not
upgrade now to the latest and greatest
Microsoft product, it might cost more if
we choose to wait to upgrade,” Waddell
said. “With Windows XP coming out
soon, I’m wondering if we’re going to
have to move to that.”
But he said he did not expect there to be
problems. “I’m sure they’re going to take
care of it They’ve done very well so far
with this license as far as I’m concerned.”
UNC Software Acquisition Manager
Sunde McCann said she is confident
Microsoft and the University will work
out an acceptable new agreement.
“It’s not really a big deal yet,” she
said. “In a couple of months when we
have answers, we’ll let people know.
We’re not going to get stuck.”
Bill Henningsgaard, Microsoft’s vice
president of worldwide licensing and
pricing, said in a May 1 statement that
the changes to the company’s licensing
By Russ Lane
Managing Editor
It was like watching the end of the
world.
And on a symbolic level, it was. A
crowd of 300 gathered at the Ackland
Art Museum Friday to witness the dis
mantling of the Medicine Buddha sand
mandala, which took four months to
create.
Sand mandalas represent the uni
verse in a microcosm, effectively blue
printing Tibetan Buddhism's ideas on a
two-dimensional surface. In this
instance, the mandala sought to exem
plify the “impermanence" - or fleeting
nature -of life and material well-being,
making the dismanding ceremony as
important as the four months it was
constructed, said Barbara Matilsky,
curator of exhibitions at the museum.
The Venerable Tenzin Thutop and
the Venerable Tenzin Deshek, monks
from the Namgyal Monastery in New
York, spent about two hours disman
tling the mandala. The ceremony con
sisted of a series of chants, followed by
an organized dismantling of the man
dala. The pair then walked to Bolin
Creek off Airport Road to pour the
remains back into the water, completing
a process they began in March.
The mandala was part of the Five
Faiths exhibit, a continuing exhibit
focusing on the world’s major religions.
Ackland Director Jerry Bolas said plac
ing sacred artifacts like the mandala
into anew environment was one of the
goals of the mandala construction.
“Like many of the objects in the exhi
bition, the mandala is a sacred object to
Double Dose f,
Brian and Daniele are back this
week to discuss shopping.
See Page 7
agreements, which allow corporate and
educational groups to purchase copies of
Microsoft software for multiple comput
ers, were the result of customers’ wishes.
“We are responding to requests from
our enterprise customers to better meet
their licensing needs by offering simpler
licensing programs with more choices,”
Henningsgaard said.
Midkiff said he doubts UNC would
choose not to renew the license. “In
some capacity, they will probably have
to do it, because so many people are
dependent on Microsoft applications.”
Geoff Wessel can be reached
at vrooom@email.unc.edu.
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DTH/BRENT CLARK
convey lessons,” he said, before the cere
mony began. “As an exhibit, we brought
it as a sacred object to convey pleasure.”
But Matilsky added that while the
mandala was taken out of its natural con
text -a monastery - the exhibition room
was designed in a manner that would
respect the exhibition’s sacredness.
And it worked - the exhibition room
was like a shrine. While waiting for the
ceremony to begin, many members of the
audience reverendy stared at the mandala
with wide eyes, as if transfixed.
Before its dismantling, mandala
looked misleadingly like a painted mural.
As Thutop and Deshek systematically
dismantied their work, walking around
See MANDALA, Page 2
Thursday, June 14, 2001
BOG Quota
Policy May
Be Revised
The BOG may change their
quota system, removing one
of two statutes that direct
how to fill their 32 seats.
By Demetrius Grigolaya
Staff Writer
The UNC Board of Governors decid
ed Friday that they will not fight a law
suit challenging a diversity quota system.
They also called on die General
Assembly to eliminate a current statute
governing the election of BOG mem
bers.
The lawsuit, served May 30, claims
that it is uncon
stitutional to set
aside seats at
the Board of
Governors for
specified
John Sanders
ends 50 years of
service to UNC
See Page 3
groups of people.
The quota system has allegedly pre
vented some of the plaintiffs from
becoming members of the BOG.
As of now, there are two statutes reg
ulating diversity in the BOG: The first
states generally
that different
races, sexes and
political parties
should be repre
sented; the second
stipulates that four
seats on the 32-
member BOG
should be
reserved for a
racial minority,
four for members
of the largest
minority party in
the General
Assembly and
four for women.
BOG Chairman
Benjamin Ruffin
says the board
thought it would be
difficult to fight the
lawsuit
The lawsuit challenges the second
statute, but not the first
“I would say it is almost impossible
(for the BOG) to win this lawsuit under
existing case law," said Eugene Boyce,
one of the three attorneys who filed the
suit
The board also thought it would be
difficult to fight the lawsuit, BOG
Chairman Benjamin Ruffin said in a
statement released Friday.
The BOG requested that its attorneys
ask the General Assembly to amend the
statute under consideration and drop
entirely the portion that specifies quo
tas, according to the statement
The lawsuit was filed by five plain
tiffs, including Walter Davis, a long-time
contributor to the Democratic Party and
Barbara Howe, former Libertarian can
didate for governor.
The plaintiffs argue that a quota sys
tem may actually limit the number of
minorities and women representatives,
Boyce said. “We might have had an
only-women Board of Governors," he
said. “With a quota system we cannot"
The plaintiffs will not drop the lawsuit
after the BOG’s decision not to fight it
because it is still unclear what the General
Assembly will do about it, Boyce said.
The BOG also adopted anew con
flict-of-interests policy, which prohibits
the UNC-system schools from entering
into business with a company when a
university trustee, a board of governors
member or a high-level official has “a
significant material interest,” in the
company, unless it is through a com
petitive bid.
“The previous policy was not nearly
as comprehensive," BOG spokes
woman Joni Worthington said. “It was
much shorter and provided only gener
al guidance about sorts of activities that
should be avoided."
Also at Friday’s meeting, five new
members of the BOG were inducted.
Their four-year terms are to begin July 1.
Demetrius Grigolaya can be reached
at demetrius@unc.edu.