©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<i ■ Health Sciences Library
■ The N.C. CollectionTSallery at ■ Phillips Hail
Wilson Library ■ Institute of Government
Audubon prints, portraits of Inglis ■ Hanes Art Center
Fletcher (N.C. novelist) and Joseph
Caldwell (first president of UNC),
landscape by Zelda Fitzgerald
tions that showcase artwork. The walk
began at the Ackiand Art Museum, and
other stops included Morehead
Planetarium and Wilson Library.
But many went unvisited because of
the vast number of galleries and exhibits
at UNC. “We’re talking about doing this
again in the spring because there are so
many places we can’t get to in one day,”
Wald said.
the dialogue was a way to open up com
munication between students and advis
ers. “We hope that students and advising
will find ways for students to communi
cate better with us,” Cannon said.
Cannon said the theme of partner
ship in planning was the reason for
Tuesday’s forum, which Kleysteuber
said he hopes will send administrators
the message that students do have strong
feelings about advising.
“(Academic advising) has a large
potential right now for being helpful, but
for many people right now it’s not,”
Kleysteuber said. “We want everyone’s
(advising) experience to be positive.”
Erin-Ashley Ross, a junior communi
cations major, said she came to the
forum because she feels she has not had
adequate advising. “Before I declared a
major, I had a lot of problems with my
adviser,” Ross said. “I’m interested in
the revision of advising here at UNC.”
News
Moeser, who has been an advocate of
free speech despite criticism for the teach
ins, to support him in the same manner.
After The Daily Tar Heel published
an op-ed piece by Horowitz denouncing
slave reparations last spring, Moeser
openly criticized Horowitz’s views but
defended his right to free speech. “This
is an open invitation to Chancellor
Moeser to come and introduce me in a
civil manner," Horowitz said.
He added that he thinks UNC does not
have an atmosphere that is accepting of
more than one view. “This is the worst
American universities have ever been, and
The tour shuffled across North and
Middle campuses and found a portrait
from Rembrandt’s studio in the
Planetarium’s rotunda.
Another stop on the tour was the
Center for International Studies Gallery,
which hosts IntemationArt, an ongoing
rotating exhibit. Local artist Laura
See HIDDEN ART, Page 5
Sophomore Kim Sexton, a member of
the new advising board, moderated the
forum. “I hear things from students all
the time about advisers," she said. “Deans
honestly cannot wait to hear suggestions
and comments because they want to
make advising good at Carolina.”
Officials from the Offices of the
University Registrar also attended the
forum, addressing students’ concerns
about the registration process. Freshman
political science major David Barbour
voiced his concerns about registering, say
ing he was forced to sign up for classes dif
ferent than those he discussed with his
advisers because classes became full.
Students also asked questions regarding
the different advising systems in the
General College and die College of Arts
and Sciences and brought attention to
problems they say stem from Honors
See ADVISING, Page 5
UNC is one of the worst,” he said.
Stephen Brooks, director of operations
for the Center for the Study of Popular
Culture, of which Horowitz is president,
said he thinks the speech will be an
opportunity for naysayers and supporters
alike to hear Horowitz’s full argument.
“No matter where you stand, it will be
good to hear it straight from him,” he said.
Rheta Burton, president of the
College Republicans, said she expects
Horowitz’s speech to address anti-war
movements on U.S. campuses.
She said he most likely will draw par
allels between UNC and University of
11 Positions to Be Cut
Due to Tight Budget
By Brook Corwin
Staff Writer
After budget cuts forced the elimina
tion of 11 staff positions late last week,
some concerned faculty members have
offered to sacrifice their pay increases.
But officials say the reallocation of
faculty salaries is not a feasible option
and staff layoffs might continue.
John Heuer,
chairman of the
UNC-Chapel Hill
Employee Forum,
said 11 staff mem
bers have been
notified that their
positions will be
eliminated at the
end of the year
because of a 2.7
percent cut the
“Every department had their
budget targeted. They each had
to make hard decisions about
how to deal with that cut. ”
Laurie Charest
Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
N.C. General Assembly has made to the
University system’s operating budget.
Heuer said the eliminated positions
are in the Division of Facilities Services
and Academic Technology & Networks.
He added that because University
administrators are placing an increased
focus on protecting faculty salaries, the
elimination of positions among the
10,000-member UNC-CH staff is
unavoidable and could continue.
“One of our concerns is that our
state’s budget cuts aren’t over,” Heuer
said. “We’re worried that more cuts will
be coming in the spring.”
Sue Esttoff, chairwoman of the Faculty
Council, said there is widespread support
among faculty members to give up a $625
Congress Denies Funding
For 2nd LGBT Position
By Joe Monaco
Staff Writer
Student Congress rejected an appro
priations request Tuesday night that
would have allowed the hiring of a sec
ond UNC lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender coordinator.
The first LGBT coordinator position,
which is new this semester, is allocated
a $1,500 stipend. Members of several
LGBT groups asked for a second $1,500
stipend to create a second position.
The students whose request was denied
said they were upset by the decision.
“(Congress is) an extraordinarily irre
sponsible group,” said Fred Hashagen, the
current LGBT coordinator.
“They didn’t let us respond to the
concerns we could have responded to
very easily.”
Glenn Grossman, Carolina
Alternative Meetings of Professional
and Graduate Students chairman, said
that a second coordinator is desperate
ly needed because Hashagen has been
overworked all semester.
“Five to 10 hours a week is what
Student Congress gave us money for
(last semester), and there are some
jyijlp v
DTH REBECCA O’DOHERTY
Sophomore Kim Sexton, junior Brad Overcash and senior David
McGibbon discuss advising with UNC officials at a forum Tuesday.
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Califomia-Berkeley, where he protested
in the 19605. Horowitz is a former left
wing activist who participated in anti-war
demonstrations in college. She said that
although she expects some protesters, she
encourages faculty members and students
to attend the speech. The speech will be
held at 7 p.m. Nov. 28 in Memorial Hall.
Burton said, “I’m hoping it will be
more of an intellectual discussion that
brings up the anti-war movements on col
lege campuses, not his past arguments.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
across-the-board pay raise to save endan
gered staff positions. Nearly all state
employees received the raise this year.
“The quality of the work we do as
teachers and researchers is hugely
dependent on the work of our staff
members,” Estroff said. “We respect
them and don’t want to see them take a
disproportionate share of the cuts.”
But Provost Robert Shelton said
because the salary
increases come
from state budget
appropriations, the
money would be
returned to the
state if it was for
feited and would
not go directly to
staff pay.
Shelton said
representatives
from the UNC-system Office of the
President discussed the issue with the
state budget committee and decided that
forfeiting faculty pay increases was not a
feasible option to retain staff positions.
Laurie Charest, associate vice chan
cellor for human resources, said
employees who have their positions cut
can utilize job counseling services in her
department and might also be eligible
for severance packages depending on
their positions and length of service.
Charest said a number of positions at
UNC-CH and other universities are
vacant and can be filled by laid-off
employees with skills suited to the posi-
See POSITIONS, Page 5
weeks when (Fred’s) working 30 hours
or more,” said Grossman.
“So he’s already maxed out, and we
really need more support”
Grossman and Hashagen said a sec
ond coordinator is needed to address
the safety concerns of the LGBT com
munity because of two recent murders
in Durham that involved allegedly gay
victims.
“Basically what we’re looking for is
someone else to devote their time specif
ically to a response to the murders in
Durham,” Hashagen said.
No Congress members were avail
able for comment Tuesday night
In addition, a lengthy debate by
Congress members over whether to
place a referendum on the spring elec
tion ballot was still unresolved at press
time Tuesday night.
The referendum urges N.C. lawmak
ers “to pass meaningful campaign
finance reform this coming legislative
session.”
If put on the ballot by Congress and
passed by the student body, an official
copy of the referendum would be sent to
See CONGRESS, Page 5
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