©hr iaily ®ar Heel Factors May Clear Path For Railway For years, regional rail has held the promise of alleviating the crushing amounts of traffic on the roadways between Chapel Hill, Durham, Research Triangle Park and Raleigh. Unfortunately, there always seemed to be obstacles in the way: financ ing, questions about whether or not the public would use it and reluctant politi cians. After last week, however, the likelihood of a regional rail system within the next decade has improved markedly. JONATHAN CHANEY CITY COLUMNIST First, there’s financing. Last week, the N.C. General Assembly siphoned off $630 million from the 12-year-old Highway Trust Fund for new trans portation projects. The state has not been able to keep transportation projects up with the booming growth within the state - especially in the Triangle. Updating our roadways and mass transit system is long overdue. Now, the state Department of Transportation has some extra cash to spend. It has allocated $l2O million to mass transit, of which SB6 million will go toward building commuter rail lines by the Triangle Transit Authority and Charlotte Area Transit System. Along with locally raised revenue, the TTA regional project still needs SIOO million from the state. But this start-up money should help the state qualify for federal funds to begin con struction by 2004. But if they build it, will the people come? Evidence seems to point toward rail travel’s increasing popularity. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Amtrack ridership rose 15 percent. Granted, people do not jump on a jet to get from Chapel Hill to RTP. But the South notoriously lacks mass tran sit enthusiasm, and the more rail travel becomes mainstream nationwide, the easier it will for regional rail to catch on. And anyone who has stared at the pavement of Interstate 40 for 45 min utes while trying to get home from work would gladly jump on a high speed train if it got him from Point A to Point B fast and conveniently. The desire for a better transporta tion plan in the Triangle is there. It’s up to politicians to oversee the plans and make sure that regional rail does n’t turn into an expensive regional flop. As for the politicians, the political climate in the Triangle underwent a dramatic change after Nov. 6. Charles Meeker ousted incumbent Paul Coble for the position of Raleigh mayor. In stark contrast to Meeker, Coble was not known as a regional thinker, and he did not support the TTA plan for a high-speed regional rail system. In Durham, Bill Bell was narrowly elected mayor over incumbent Nick Tennyson. Like Meeker, Bell supports regional rail, as does Cary Mayor Glen Lang. And of course, Kevin Foy was elect ed as mayor of Chapel Hill, replacing a pioneer of regional thinkers in the Triangle: Rosemary Waldorf. Foy voices support for regional rail, but I think that he remains the largest obstacle for a high-speed rail system left in the Triangle. In his platform, Foy did not even give lip service to a regional rail sys tem, but instead focused on environ mental protection and controlling growth. On the surface of things, regional rail seems like a politically safe thing to say, “yeah, I’m in favor of it.” But the devil is in the details. Where will the rail lines breach our town limits? Will we try to keep it out of Chapel Hill proper, perhaps trying to run the line in a more rural area so as not to soil the beauty of the town? But if that is done, will people be will ing to travel out there to hop on the train? A lot more questions than answers, and these are questions Mayor-elect Foy needs to begin thinking about and addressing soon, especially because he campaigned as “the environmental, smart growth candidate.” In a town where road expansion is greeted with vociferous opposition, plunking down a high speed rail line will be a monumental (read: hellish) task. But it must be done -and will require dedicated leadership on behalf of all our our area’s mayors. Columnist Jonathan Chaney can be reached at jhchaney@email.unc.edu. David Horowitz to Deliver Speech at UNC By Amanda Lee Staff Writer Outspoken conservative David Horowitz will discuss UNC’s response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Nov. 28 in an everit sponsored by UNC’s College Republicans. His speech will focus on the effect teach-ins and anti-war protests have had on student perception of the attacks. National conservatives such as Horowitz criticized UNC’s reaction to the terrorist attacks as being anti- American and demoralizing to the wm ' •> jEs DTH/ANNE MEADOWS Kinsey Christiansen, a junior Spanish and psychology major, takes a closer look at the art on display in Wilson Library, one of the stops along Tuesday's Hidden Art tour of campus. Tour Combs Campus for Covert Art Points of interest included the Center for International Studies, Wilson Library and the Morehead Planetarium. By Brooks Firth Staff Writer They number in the thousands, lurk ing in the comers, hanging in the shad ows, just waiting for anyone to walk by - “hidden art” pieces are all around campus, ready to be discovered. To showcase these various forms of art across campus the Carolina Union Activities Board held a tour of hidden art on Tuesday afternoon. The tour included oil paintings, charcoal works and etchings owned by the University, the artists or private donors. “We decided to do this because there’s so much art that goes unappre ciated on campus because people just don’t know about it,” said Jenny Blankenship, CUAB committee mem ber and art history major. Blankenship and senior psychology major Lisa Wald organized the two-hour tour, which visited various campus loca- Students Give, Take Feedback in Advising Forum By Ruthie Warshfabrot Staff Writer A forum Tuesday night offered stu dents a chance to voice opinions and concerns about academic advising at UNC to department officials. The event was planned by the Student Academic Advising Board, a stu dent government committee started last year to increase communication between students and the advising office. Student Body Vice President Rudy Kleysteuber said the event - which took a little more than a month to plan - is something student government has want ed to do for a while. “Up to this year, there’s never been any formal structure for student input and feedback on advising." Carolyn Cannon, associate dean of academic advising, was present at the forum with more than 10 academic advis ers to answer students’ questions. She said nation’s war effort. Horowitz, the editor of FrontPageMagazine.com, a conservative online magazine, first sparked a nation wide debate on college campuses last spring after he solicited college newspa pers to run his advertisement denounc ing slave reparations. He said he wants the opportunity to speak to further clarify his opinions, which have generated criticism across the coun try. “I’m going to UNC so people can see the person who has been smeared and character assassinated,” Horowitz said. He also challenged Chancellor James Art All Around A Tuesday afternoon tour of several different locations on campus featured various pieces of art that often go unnoticed. The event was organized the Carolina Union Activities Board. ■ Ackiand Art Museum ■ Other locations on campus not Masters of the Medium Exhibit included on the tour with ■ University Center for JL j noteworthy art: International Studies i * School of Law “India: A Journey into the Heart ■ Graham Memorial Devotion" by Laura Farrow ■ Kenan Center ■ Morehead Planetarium ■ George Watts Hill Alumni Center "Portrait of Rembrandt's Sister" by ■ School of Pharmacy Rembrandt van Rij