Well, "I'll Be!" McCain Improves. See Page 4 ®lje lailg ®ar Heel www.dailytarheel.com Student Assaulted Near Coker Arboretum By Geoff Wessel University Editor An assault earlier this week prompted UNC offi cials to remind the University community of the importance of taking safety precautions on campus. According to police reports, an unidentified assailant a grabbed female UNC student on Raleigh Street near Coker Arboretum early Tuesday morning and carried her across the road before she escaped with minor injuries. Maj. Jeff McCraken of UNC department of pub lic safety said the suspect then fled, but an investi gation is underway. The assailant is described as a Hispanic man of heavy build and medium height with black hair and no facial hair, and is believed to be in his mid or late 20s. According to police reports, the victim was walk ing home down Franklin Street early Tuesday morning when the suspect pulled up in a small four-door gray or tan car, blew the horn and knocked on the passenger window. Subsequently, the victim was accosted by the same man near her destination, Alderman Residence Hall. The suspect came up to the victim on foot, grabbed her and dragged her toward Coker Arboretum, where he tried to lift her over Waldrop Appointed By BOG A UNC Board of Governors committee has approved Tony Waldrop as the new vice chancellor for research. By Geoff Wessel University Editor Former Morehead Scholar and UNC track star Tony Waldrop has been tapped as UNC’s new vice chancellor for research, university officials announced June 28. “I am very excited about coming back to UNC,” Waldrop said. “First of all, it is a great institution. And second ly, it’s a place I have a lot of great mem- ories of.” Waldrop, who holds three UNC degrees, is now vice chancellor for research at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. He said his experience at Illinois would serve him well at UNC. “I’ve dealt with some of the same issues, look ing at technology transformation, UNC alumnus Tony Waldrop says he is excited about becoming the University's new research head. research park activities and new research into genomics and protonomics.” Provost Robert Shelton said he is pleased by Board of Governors Personnel and Tenure Committee’s approval last week of Waldrop’s appoint ment, which will begin in mid-August. “We had a number of excellent final ists for the position, and (Waldrop) was an overwhelming first choice,” Shelton said. “We’re just thrilled that we can bring him here. I think he’ll be terrific.” Shelton said UNC will have a wide variety of research opportunities in the years ahead, with studies of the human genome among the most highly visible research projects. “There are just so many things going on on the campus,” he said. “The new positions associated with the genomics initiative are a good example. They’re not only in the biological sciences: there are positions in the physical sciences, computer science, the law school and the business school. What that initiative shows is that we need to draw on all of See WALDROP) Page 2 the wall. The student bumped her head and injured her arm in the assault. She was treated and released from UNC Hospitals this morning. McCraken said the University is taking steps to educate the community and heighten awareness of safety issues in response to this week’s assault. He said the UNC campus is generally relative ly safe. “I wouldn’t say (UNC is unsafe),” McCraken said. “This is the first such attack we’ve had in a long time, certainly the first this calendar year.” But McCraken said it is still important to remember to be safe. “People should always be careful,” he said. “Use good judgment, trust your instincts and make use of the things that are provided by the University for safety, such as public transportation and lighting. Most importantly, don’t walk alone at night” Meanwhile, University officials are committed to keeping the campus as safe as possible. “(This assault) is appalling,” said Provost Robert Shelton. “We have to do everything we can to assure that we have the highest level of security on campus.” Geoff Wessel can be reached at vrooom@email.unc.edu. ■ jl it ' -■&&& HHBMHHIpI hwhk, **-v # DTH/BRENT CLARK 13 year-old Ricky Macki jumps a ramp last Tuesday afternoon at Ryan's World Skate Park in Chapel Hill, where Orange County skateboarders pay $5 for membership and then $5 a day to use the park's ramps. Those outside of Orange County pay a little more to use the park. Ricky says he skate boards there almost every day after school. The park, which is located within Homestead Park, also has batting cages. House ; Senate to Compromise on Budget Legislators must reconcile differences in revenue and tax proposals in order to pass the N.C. state budget. By Matt Viser City, State & National Editor Legislators continue to chip away at a budget that pits the N.C. House of Representatives against the N.C. Senate, a battle that shows stark differences in opinion. The House passed its version June 28 by a 91-27 margin. But senators have spoken harshly against the House-pro posed budget and pointed out many areas of strong contention. I was so much older then / Vm younger than that now. Robert Zimmerman WEEKLY SUMMER ISSUE Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Walk in the Light Although UNC remains relatively safe, Tuesday morning's assault near Coker Arboretum has police reminding stu dents and faculty to be aware of their surroundings, and not to work or walk alone at night. |~ Mclver j The UNC Department of Public Safety' released this composite sketch of the attacker. Anyone with information should call 911 or 962-8100. DTH/EVANN STRATHERN AND KAREN WILLIAMS SUMMER 'BOARD'OM A negotiating committee of represen tatives from both legislative bodies will begin meeting this week to begin ham mering out a compromise between the two proposals. A major issue is how much money the state should generate. “The first item will be to define what level of revenue we’ll be dealing with,” said Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, a co-chair of the committee. The Senate budget calls for $l9O mil lion in tax-loophole closings, or areas of special interest where tax revenues can be increased. But House budget writers refrained from including any tax-revenue increases in their plan, instead relying on techniques like accelerating the payments of employee income-tax withholdings. “We’re concerned with the revenue,” said Sen. Tony Rand, D-Fayetteville. “We don’t see how we can do these things with the revenue picture they have.” But after the revenue issue is settled, legislators still must to determine how to appropriate the money, with cuts to Education and Health and Human Services likely see the most debate. Last week, the House passed an amendment that would change a 9 per cent tuition increase for UNC-system students. Under the House plan, the increase would only apply only to out of-state students. But senators are con cerned about what this might say about North Carolina’s priorities. “I think that’s a mistake,” Rand said. “We don’t want other states to pick on our students, so we shouldn’t pick on our out-of-state students.” The House budget also calls for a $2 Free as a Bird Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf will not run for re-elec tion. See Page 3 million cut to UNC Hospitals. “This hos pital, in my opinion, should not receive the cuts the House has proposed,” Lee said. “I plan to fight hard against this.” Another major area of debate involves closing the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital. The Senate plan would close the hospital by January 2003, while the House budget keeps it open. “The Senate took a bad rap on that,” Lee said. “It was never our plan to just throw people out into the streets.” Rand said the hospital might still close, but not without providing an alternative. “I don’t think it was anyone’s intent to close Dorothea Dix until the adequate facilities are available,” he said. “We have to make sure these people are cared for.” See BUDGET CUTS, Page 2 Thursday, July 5, 2001 Council Approves Rezoning The Town Council approved UNC's rezoning proposal after the University dropped five tracts from its reuqest. By Matt Viser City, State & National Editor The Town Council approved a University rezoning proposal Monday, placing UNC one step closer to the implementation of its Master Plan. In an 8-1 vote, the council adopted a new Office/Institutional-4 zoning dis trict. In a separate 8-1 vote, the council moved to rezone UNC, placing it in the newly created district. Councilwoman Joyce Brown cast the lone dissenting vote in both measures. “The new ordinance has the poten tial to be much better,” she said. “I think there are some gaps.” The 01-4 zoning frees the University from the 14 million-square-foot floor area limit that restricts UNC in its pre sent 01-3 zoning. The University already occupies 13.6 million square feet, but seeks to add an additional 5.8 million under its Master Plan. Most of the growth is planned for a large housing expansion to accommo date a projected increase in enrollment The expansion focuses on the southern part of campus, where the University plans to build additional undergraduate and student family housing. These units will eventually replace the Odum Village apartments and enable for more undergraduate housing to be built University officials made several compromises from their original pro posal by eliminating some of the tracts they had initially submitted for rezoning. Originally, the University requested all of the property on the main campus be rezoned. The town then divided the area into nine separate tracts. After several town-gown meetings and a heated public hearing, the University’s nine-tract proposal was scaled back to four. “The University has tried very hard to be responsive to community concerns,” said Nancy Suttenfield, vice chancellor for finance and administration. “We urgendy need to move ahead with the next step of our partnership.” The next step comes with the sub mission of the University’s develop ment plan. The plan was supposed to be submitted Tuesday, but due to problems with the electronic map files, the half inch-thick document is now expected to be filed today. The development plan addresses issues such as the general location and size of planned development and allows the town to examine issues they haven’t been able to look at in the past “We have a greater opportunity than we’ve ever had before to look into a broader plan and look into these various elements," said council member Jim Ward. The development plan must include anticipated effects on traffic and a noise, lighting and stormwater runoff analysis. This will offer the town an opportunity to further monitor the University’s growth and its impact on the community. “The development plan is a signifi cant opportunity for the council to - on a finer scale - address the concerns brought up by town citizens,” Ward said. Although the rezoning passed over whelmingly with an 8-1 vote, several council members expressed sorrow as they cast their affirmative votes. “My vote comes without any joy and without any enthusiasm," said Flicka Bateman as she cast her vote in favor of the rezoning. Ward said he had similar sentiments. “I sympathize with the people who five along Mason Farm Road,” he said See REZONING, Page 2

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view