2
Wednesday, January 9, 2002
Site Supplies Professor Reviews
Pick-A-Prof provides free
grade statistics for previous
semesters and will begin
selling textbooks soon.
By Mike Callahan
Staff Writer
UNC-Chapel Hill students making
last-minute changes to their schedule
and looking for an easy “A” might not
have to rely on word-of-mouth to find
the perfect class.
Anew Web site,
http://www.pickaprof.com, breaks down
by percentage the grades certain profes
sors gave out the previous semester. The
site also allows students to post professor
reviews.
John Cunningham, Pick-A-Prof
founder, said he created the Web site so
students can find the perfect professor
and class. “(The site) allows students to
Campus Calendar
Monday
UNC Young Democrats are proud to
announce that Monday they will host
Sen. Russell D. Feingold, D-Wis., on
campus. Feingold, in a free event open
to the public, will deliver remarks enti
tled, “What We Can Do For Our
Country” at Memorial Hall.
Feingold’s address will focus both on
the ramifications of the Sept. 11 attacks
and on the policies he has pushed for dur
ing his two terms in the U.S. Senate.
During this tenure, Feingold has estab
lished himself as one of the leading pro
gressive voices in America through his
unwavering support of civil liberties,
staunch opposition to the death penalty
and racial profiling, and sponsorship of
the McCain-Feingold campaign finance
reform bill. Feingold’s comments will be
followed by a question and answer ses
sion with the audience.
For more information, please call the
UNC Young Democrats at 960-7328 or
visit their Web site at
http://www.uncyd.org.
ahr Sailif dar Hrrl
RO. Box 3257. Chapel Hill. NC 27515
Katie Hunter, Editor, 962-4086
Advertising & Business. 962-1163
News. Features, Sports. 962-0245
© 2001 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved
I almost spent all my money on \
HEW Text Books, instead of \\
savin? a bundle on USED Text Books
at
R m
Book & Supply
UNC’s Off-campus
Used Text Book Headquarters
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f f Gvmbjf’s Wicked *5
to Burritts §
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3 7 Behind Wicked Burrito
(111/ 306 W. Franklin
J Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516
Phone (919) 969-8398
Fax (919) 969-8996
make an educated decision about what
professors they choose.”
The Web site provides free grade
information from 40 universities nation
wide, including UNC-CH and N.C.
State University, North Carolina’s only
two universities on the site.
The first college to be on the Web site
was Texas A&M University,
Cunningham’s alma mater. After three
semesters online, more than 10,000
reviews have been posted about Texas
A&M professors.
Cunningham said at first professors
were afraid the posts could provide a
negative view of them and their teaching
abilities. But Cunningham said that has
not been the case and that more than 75
percent of the reviews praise professors.
“The faculty' came to find they had noth
ing to be afraid of,” Cunningham said.
He said each review is screened
before it is posted for the public to read.
Any reviews containing personal attacks
or profanity are not released. In addi
Economists Predict End of
Nation's Recession in 2002
The N.C. economy will most
likely grow at a slower rate
than the national economy,
one economist says.
By Jamie McGee
Staff Writer
Despite the current economic slump,
some local economists are optimistic
that conditions will improve sometime
later this year.
The N.C. Bankers Association
released a report Jan. 3 stating that the
nation’s recession will be “short and
shallow” because several factors, pri
marily growing consumer confidence.
Harry Davis, a NCBA economist and
professor at Appalachian State University,
said the recession will be short-lived.
“This recession should continue until
about the end of the first quarter (of
2002), making the duration about 12 to
13 months,” he said.
tion, the posts are ranked for content,
only allowing students to read the posts
considered high quality by Cunningham
or his staff.
Cunningham said Pick-A-Prof soon
will begin selling
textbooks through
the Web site. The
staff at Pick-A-Prof
will look around
the country for the
best deals on text
books and allow
students to buy
them though the
Web site.
Cunningham said
“If the information is public,
then I see no problem with
(the Web site). I think it’s
kind of funny actually. ”
Boone Turchi
UNC-CH Economics Professor
he hopes by selling books and adver
tisements on the Web site, he can keep it
up and growing.
UNC-CH economics Professor
Boone Turchi said he found the Web site
to be humorous.
“If the information is public, then I
see no problem with (the Web site),”
Davis attributed the predicted brevi
ty of the economic downturn to a rise in
consumer confidence and a strong hous
ing sector.
But he added that North Carolina will
not benefit from the improving economy
as much as other parts of the nation. “The
state economy will grow slower than the
national economy this year,” Davis said.
Mickey Levy, chief economist for
Bank of America, also issued a statement
on the optimistic economic outlook,
emphasizing that the turnaround will not
occur until the second half of the year.
Levy pointed to monetary and fiscal
stimuli, lower energy prices and effec
tive price adjustments as factors that will
boost the economy.
Last year, Congress passed a bill
authorizing S4O billion in tax relief, and
an additional S7O billion was approved
this year. In response to the events of
Sept. 11, Congress approved the allot
ment of S4O billion for national securi
ty and emergency relief.
Levy said these efforts, along with the
News
Turchi said. “I think it’s kind of funny
actually.”
According to www.pick-a-prof.com,
Turchi, who is an advocate of reducing
grade inflation, gave “B”s to more than
50 percent of his
Economics 10 class
last semester.
Jonah Turner, a
senior from
Raleigh, said he
has regretted tak
ing several classes
in his four years at
UNC-CH and
wishes he could
have had a
resource such as www.pickaprof.com.
“It is a good idea because it gives you
a better way to select a class,” Turner
said. “You know what you are getting
into."
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to
decrease interest rates, will result in an
economic rebound.
“Consumer spending will rise, hous
ing activity will remain firm,” he said.
“Over the next four to six quarters, busi
nesses will increase production and
resume a moderate inventory building.
This will add 1 percent to (gross domes
tic product) growth.”
While Levy said he expects an eco
nomic comeback, he said he does not
think that unemployment rates will see
a similar change.
“Employment is expected to contin
ue to decline modestly through (the first
quarter of) 2002 even as the economy
recovers,” Levy said. “The unemploy
ment rate is expected to drift sideways as
businesses increase production without
adding significantly to their payrolls.”
UNC economics Professor James
Wilde also said the economy likely will
improve.
“My expectation is that the economy
will turn around during the year and
start to expand again,” he said. “When
this will happen is not easy to predict. I
would expect that by the second half of
the year, the economy will have
improved.”
Wilde credited government efforts -
such as spending for wartime and recov
ery expenditures in New York -as sig
nificant help to the economy. He also
said that tax cuts will contribute to a
turnaround. Wilde said, “Tax relief will
be forthcoming and turn the economy
in a positive direction.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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Developments in the War on Terrorism
Al-Qaida Fighter Commits Suicide
■ A wounded al-Qaida fighter blew him- IKmerica
self up during an escape attempt Tuesday , .
after leaping from the second story of a LtdCKS
hospital where he has been held for a
month. See Online. FOR MORE UPDATES, SEE
WWW.DAILYTARHEEL.COM
Misery Abounds for Afghan Refugees
■ Shelter is scarce and temperatures dip below freezing at night.
But residents of refugee camps in western Afghanistan say the conditions
they left behind were even worse. See Online.
Pakistan OKs Pursuit of Terrorists
■ Pakistan has agreed to allow U.S. troops in Afghanistan to cross
the border in pursuit of fugitive al-Qaida or Taliban leaders. An undisclosed
number of U.S. special forces soldiers are in Pakistan. See Online.
U.S. Troops Seize 2 Senior
Al-Qaida Group Members
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - U.S. troops cap
tured two senior al-Qaida fighters and
confiscated their computers and cell
phones near a huge underground cave
complex used by Osama bin Laden’s
terrorist network, the nation’s top gen
eral said Tuesday.
The discoveries in eastern Afghanistan
came as U.S. forces were wrapping up
operations in Tora Bora and focusing on
Zawar Kili, the complex used as a train
ing camp and point for possible move
ment from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
The two men, found late Monday in
a group of 14 suspected members of al-
Qaida, were deemed sufficiently impor
tant to be removed immediately to the
U.S.-run detention center in Kandahar,
Panera Bread Finds
Home at Old Hardee's
By Scott Warfield
Staff Writer
The dilapidated Hardee’s building
that once served fast food will soon
house a nationally popular bakery and
cafe.
Prestige Associates, a local group of
investors, bought the property, which
has sat vacant on the corner of West
Franklin and Mallette streets, last sum
mer.
The group, which built 23-Michael
Jordan’s Restaurant, located at 200 W.
Franklin St. in 1999, plans to tear down
the abandoned Hardee’s building and
construct an office complex sometime
soon.
But in the meantime, Prestige
Associates will lease the property to
Panera Bread.
Robert Humphreys, executive direc
tor of the Downtown Commission, said
the commission is excited about this
new investment.
“We are real happy about this new
(Ebe Daily (Tar Hppl
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard
Myers said at a Pentagon briefing.
Army Gen. Tommy Franks, the war’s
commander, said clues to the pair’s impor
tance included “the way that they carried
themselves, their language skill and that
sort of thing.” Franks, head of U.S. Central
Command, spoke on Public Broadcasting
Service’s “News Hour.”
Besides the computers and phones,
“some small arms and training docu
ments were also found,” Myers said.
“We’re exploiting those as we speak.”
American warplanes have struck
repeatedly at the cave complex and at
other areas around Khowst in eastern
Afghanistan’s Paktia province. U.S. spe
cial forces teams are on the ground in
that area, where a Green Beret soldier
was killed in an ambush Friday.
opportunity,” Humphreys said.
This property has been a problem
since the closing of the Hardee’s
Restaurant in March 1999, Humphreys
said.
“We have fretted over this building
for some time now,” he said. “The build
ing has sat empty for so very long.”
According to the Panera Bread Web
site, the chain started when Ken
Rosenthal opened the St. Louis Bread
Cafe in 1987. The company then formed
the St. Louis Bread Company and, in
1995, introduced a brand new identity,
Panera Bread, the Web site states.
Panera Bread reached more than
$350 million in systemwide sales in
2000.
Humphreys said Panera Bread has
several stores in the Raleigh and Cary
areas. This will be the first in Chapel Hill.
He said, “This looks like a real good
addition to downtown Chapel Hill.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.