Slip Satlg ®ar Hppl
Low Down
On Local
Elections
A week from today, there will be
anew mayor in Chapel Hill for
the first time in six years.
Mayor Rosemary Waldorf will not
be seeking re-election this year, and
Chapel Hill Town Council members
Kevin Foy and Lee Pavao are battling
for the seat.
In Carrboro,
we’U know if
Mayor Mike
Nelson, who has
been in office
since 1995, will
get a chance to
frnish up “one last
term” to see sev
eral projects come
to completion.
What’s fhe
low down on
Local Elections
'.■R
JONATHAN
CHANEY
CITY
COLUMNIST
2001? First, Chapel Hill:
Style Over Substance
There are some issues where the
two Chapel Hill mayoral candidates -
Foy and Pavao - differ, but only to a
small degree.
Both men see value in the Schools
Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance,
which would control school over
crowding by linking residential devel
opment to open space in schools.
However, Foy fully endorses it, say
ing he would make its passage a priori
ty if elected.
Pavao, while working on the ordi
nance for 2 1/2 years in committee,
worries about its detrimental impact
on affordable housing and says that
getting all the governing bodies need
ed to sign on will be difficult.
Both men talk about “smart
growth."
Foy believes in a stricter develop
ment philosophy, while Pavao favors
more give-and-take with developers.
This slight schism is reflected In
Meadowmont, the mega-development
project that Foy abhors and Pavao
believes is turning out exactly as
planned - which is far from perfect, but
not a disaster. After all, the town man
aged to get a school site, park land and
land for 32 affordable housing units
from its developer (i.e. give-and-take).
In the end, I think that Chapel Hill
will be in good hands, whether they be
Foy’s or Pavao’s.
Sitting at the candidate forum
Monday night, I was struck by the lack
of strong disagreement on issues
between the two candidates. I heard a
great deal of “I agree with ...”
That’s reflected in the general con
sensus that this is a close election.
Though there isn’t any real polling for
local races, most seasoned town politi
cos believe that the race is still a toss
up.
That’s not surprising, in my opinion.
There are three keywords in Chapel
Hill politics: environment, smart
growth and transportation.
Neither candidate has given radical
ly different opinions on them that veer
from the status quo.
The two candidates differ in style,
not substance. So pick the personality
you like best - the town will progress
the same either way.
Now, on to Carrboro:
One More Term?
Mayor Mike Nelson is running for a
fourth term. He wants to have a
chance to finish up three main pro
jects: preserving the Bohn Creek
Corridor, keeping an eye on afford
able housing and renovating the
Century Center.
His challenger is Stacy Smith. She’s
held no Carrboro office previously
and admits jumping into the race
because no one else did. She didn’t
want to see the race go uncontested, as
it did two years ago.
Though a political newbie, she has
gained a great deal of knowledge and
has become quite a formidable politi
cian. Her fiscal ideas are especially
interesting. Citing the exorbitantly
high taxes in Carrboro, she promises
to closely look at the town’s spending
and see if there are any ways to lower
residents’ taxes without lowering the
quality of the town.
Hmm ... Could there actually be a
Republican living in Carrboro?
All kidding aside, her appearance in
the race has heightened the public
debate on Carrboro issues, and I
believe that though she lacks formal
experience, she would make an excel
lent mayor.
It wiU be very difficult to unseat the
incumbent, however. Nelson has a lot
of successes under his belt, as well as
six years of experience.
I hope that Smith remains an active
part of Carrboro town government if not
elected. Her viewpoint is a breath of
fresh air that could be extremely useful
as Carrboro expands into the future.
Columnist Jonathan Chaney can be
reached at jhchaney@email.unc.edu.
Assailant Robs UNC Hospitals Employee
The victim was robbed of
SSOO in cash as she walked
to the Key Food Mart to
purchase a money order.
Bv Kristen Heflin
Staff Writer
An unidentified assailant robbed a
Chapel Hill woman as she walked
through an alley on West Rosemary
Street on Monday morning.
The robbery occurred behind the
Key Food Mart, located at 325 W.
Rosemary St., at 9:23 a.m., police
. --•••' ‘ ”"" r ” /jfl
Vsl' '* ' MmS
ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF UNC FACILITIES PLANNING & CONSTRUCTION
The medical biomolecular research building, an eight-story research facility that will be built along South
Columbia Street, is a proposed addition to the medical school. Construction is set to be completed in May 2003.
Senior Class Vice President Submits Resignation
By Lizzie Breyer
University Editor
Senior Class Vice President Ursula
Dimmling resigned from her post
Tuesday night, citing an inability to con
tinue working with Senior Class
President Ben Singer.
Dimmling announced her resignation
via an e-mail, which she said she unin
tentionally sent to the senior class list
serv instead of the senior marshals.
“This is not something I intended to tell
House Republicans Release Plan
By Michael McKnight
Staff Writer
RALEIGH - Members of the N.C.
House Republican Caucus, calling for
immediate debate on the U.S. House
redistricting plan, unveiled their district
map Tuesday.
The proposed map contains a 13th
U.S. House district containing portions
of Chatham, Lee, Harnett, Wake and
Cumberland counties.
North Carolina received a 13th dis
trict as a result of the state’s population
growth during the last decade.
Rep. Ed McMahan, R-Mecklenburg,
said the new district was placed in the
Triangle area because it was the fastest
growing area in the state. McMahan, co
chairman of the N.C. House’s
Congressional Redistricting Committee,
said 53 percent of registered voters in the
proposed district are registered
Democrats and 41 percent Republican.
The N.C. Congressional Delegation con
sists of 7 Republicans and 5 Democrats.
Rep. Thomas Wright, D-New
Hanover, the other co-chairman of the
Congressional Redistricting Committee,
said the issue of congressional redis
tricting was unlikely to move forward
reports state.
The victim, an employee of UNC
Hospitals, reportedly had SSOO in cash
stolen from her as she neared the store.
Lt. Jeri Cole of the Chapel Hill Police
Department said the woman was on her
way to purchase a money order from the
Key Food Mart at the time of the inci
dent.
Reports state that the suspect
approached the victim in the alley near
the Gotham nightclub and placed a
sharp object against her back to obtain
the victim’s money.
Khalid Mahmoud, manager of the
Key Food Mart, said the victim then
entered the store and asked him to call
anyone publicly, but I basically was
forced into resignation by Ben and was
tired of trying to fight him,” she said.
Dimmling said that although the e
mail appeared to have been written by
Singer because of a technicality with the
listserv administration, she is the author.
Dimmling said the conflict with
Singer arose because he wanted to make
all decisions for the senior class on his
own without incorporating her input.
“I guess he considered me too big of
a barrier into making decisions by him
Drawing
Republican leaders unveiled their ‘ —-— >3” Y~\ l /
redistricting plan for the U.S. Congress,
which closely resembles the existing plan and \ p \ 7
’ 3r Ng."|t SOURCE N.C GENERAL ASSEMBLY
places the state's 13th Congressional district in the Triangle. ' dth/cobi edeison
until the chamber completes discussion
of the N.C. House redistricting plan.
Democrats, with a narrow four-seat
majority, have been unable to build a con
sensus on redistricting for the N.C. House.
McMahan said House Republicans
do not understand why Democrats have
delayed redrawing the congressional
districts. “We are deeply disturbed by
the direction the congressional redis
tricting process is taking," he said. “We
would like to move on and get the job
done, and we really feel it should have
been done months ago.”’
But Wright - in an interview follow
ing the Republican press conference -
said House leaders agreed at the begin
ning of the legislative session to finish
News
the police.
Cole said this
kind of crime is
unusual for the
area around the
Key Food Mart
and that most calls
to police pertain to
loitering or minor
disturbances.
“We usually
don’t have robberies in that area,” Cole
said.
Mahmoud said the majority of prob
lems spring from complaints about pan
handling in the parking lot, adding,
“there is not much crime.”
self,” Dimmling said.
But Singer said a rift between himself
and Dimmling occurred when senior
marshals expressed displeasure about
Dimmling’s decision to not include the
marshals in meetings with the adminis
tration. “We had a lot of discussion
about it because we were divided on
that issue,” he said. “The marshals want
ed to be in the meeting to hold her
accountable, and I felt the same way.”
Singer said the allegations Dimmling
made in her letter about his leadership
state legislative redistricting before start
ing congressional redistricting.
McMahan also said Republicans were
concerned that because congressional
redistricting has not appeared on the leg
islative agenda during this session it is
being discussed by the Democrats behind
closed doors. “We have been hearing tjiat
the Democrats from Washington are here
in Raleigh drawing the congressional dis
tricts for North Carolina,” McMahan said.
“Their sole interest of course is to gain
new (Democratic) seats in the Congress.”
Wright said he thinks House leaders
have not consulted with Democratic
Party officials about the redistricting
See CONGRESSIONAL, Page 5
“Chapel Hill is
very peaceful. The
police are in
and out. ”
Khalid Mahmoud
Manager of Key Food Mart
around the holidays.
The case is under further investigation
with police looking for a male suspect.
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
Plan to Construct
41 New Buildings
By Jenny Huang
Staff Writer
Eight years from now, the face of
UNC’s campus might be unrecognizable.
New building additions proposed as
part of the recently approved
Development Plan aim to expand aca
demic, research and residential facilities
on campus.
On Oct. 3, the Chapel Hill Town
Council approved UNC’s
eight-year Development Plan
that allows the University to
initiate campus expansion.
The Development Plan is the
first phase of the Master Plan,
a 50-year blueprint for cam
pus growth.
While many discussions
concerning the Development
Plan have addressed its impact
on transportation and housing,
the most fundamental issue of
the plan is the construction of
new on-campus buildings.
Proposed building projects
will add approximately 5.9 mil
lion square feet of new devel
opment to the campus land
scape. In the end, a total of 41
new buildings will be constructed for aca
demic, research and student life programs.
Academic
The Development Plan proposes sev
eral additions that will improve academic
facilities and expand student resources.
A key academic addition is the sci
ence complex, the most expensive pro
ject of the Development Plan.
The three-phase project is projected
to begin in March 2003 and end in
September 2008. The projected budget
for all phases of the science complex is
approximately $lB7 million.
During Phase I of the project, two new
sciences buildings will be erected on the
style and unwillingness to incorporate
other viewpoints are false.
“Basically, she took all the allegations
that the marshals and myself had con
fronted her with and turned them
against me,” he said. “A lot of times she
misinterpreted what I wanted and what
the marshals wanted.”
Anew vice president will be elected
Sunday from among the 32 senior mar
shals, and Singer said several already have
expressed interest in taking the position.
The post of chief marshal - which was
Group Sponsors Talk
On Money, Politics
By Elizabeth Michalka
Staff Writer
The recently created UNC
Campaign Finance Reform Coalition
held a forum Tuesday night to discuss
“fat cats” and big money in politics.
Three speakers informed an audience
of about 20 people about issues dealing
with the campaign finance system and
its reform.
Speakers included Cynthia Brown, a
self-described “grassroots candidate”
running for the U.S. Senate seat being
vacated by Jesse Helms, and environ
mentalist Dan Coleman, an author and
member of the Sierra Club.
Frances Ferris, a UNC sophomore
and the third speaker on the panel, con
veyed a student perspective on the issue.
“I feel that we’re just students in the
eyes of lawmakers,” Ferris said. “There’s
a lack of access to lawmakers, and I don’t
feel that they respond to me because
they cater to the interests of big money.”
Ferris said she joined student govem-
Wednesday, October 31, 2001
t\ \
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JL URCE CHAPEL HILL POUCE DEPARTMENT
“Chapel Hill is
very peaceful," he
said. “The police
are in and out.”
Mahmoud also
said major prob
lems rarely occur
in the area but
added that drug
related crimes usu
ally increase
existing site between Kenan Laboratories
and Wilson Library.
The science buildings will provide
updated facilities and additional space for
basic science departments including
physics, astronomy, chemistry and math
ematics. The new buildings will offer
undergraduate classrooms, teaching and
research laboratories and a science theater.
During Phases II and 111 of the project,
Venable Hall and the ROTC building will
be demolished, and a 500-space
parking deck will be construct
ed to replace the space elimi
nated by other construction pro
jects.
A third sciences building,
which will offer a combined sci
ence library and provide
expanded teaching, office and
research space, will be built dur
ing Phase 111 to replace the
demolished Venable Hall. “I
think what’s envisioned is a
tremendous positive transfor
mation of the (site),” said Peter
Krawchyk, design manager of
the science complex.
Another Development Plan
project, the digital multimedia
instructional center music
m
Building for
the Future
A four-part series
examining UNC's
Development Plan
■ Oct 10: Analysis
■ Oct 17: Transit
■ Oct 24: Housing
■ Today: Additions
library, is another academic addition that
will be built as part of the Development
Plan. Construction on the $23 million
multimedia center is projected to occur
between March 2005 and August 2007.
The multimedia center will provide
new buildings to accommodate existing
space deficiencies for the UNC Music
library located in Hill Hall and will pro
vide new space for expanding programs
within the College of Arts and Sciences.
The center will include educational
classrooms, faculty offices, multimedia
teaching laboratories, studios and
library spaces.
See ADDITIONS, Page 5
vacated by Annie Peirce last week - also
will be filled at that time.
Singer said he thinks it was unfortunate
that Dimmling’s resignation was aired so
publicly and with such bitterness. “I apol
ogize for the situation -1 think it’s a gross
charade,” he said. “The seniors need to
realize we’re working our tails off for
them, and this should allow us to move
forward and get rid of internal strife."
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
ment last year and acts as a liaison
between student government and other
government agencies. She also has been
working against tuition increases.
Coleman spoke after Ferris, describ
ing several instances in which the gov
ernment has avoided legislation to
improve the environment because of
corporations’ contributions of millions
of dollars to the government
“There is a very large number of
Americans who believe that the envi
ronment is important," Coleman said.
“But last year the government passed 53
anti-environment laws.”
Asa candidate running for the U.S.
Senate, Brown, who spoke next, said her
views regarding finance reform are seen
as progressive. “This issue is at the heart
of my campaign,” Brown said.
“As long as we have so much money
involved in the political and economic
process ... basic needs won’t be
addressed.”
See FAT CATS, Page 5
3