WEEKLY SUMMER ISSUE
®he iatly ®ar Heel
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
By Its Cover
A lawsuit surrounds the
summer reading program.
See Page 3
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Officials
Announce
Bth Delay
Additional construction
delays have moved the
Union's projected opening
date from July 17 to Aug. 1.
Bv Jan Rybnicek
Staff Writer
UNC students will have to wait a lit
tle longer to enjoy many of the comforts
of both the old and new Union facilities.
University officials postponed the
opening of the new Student Union for
the eighth time last week when they
moved the date to Aug. 1.
The last opening date was scheduled
for July 17. The Union was originally
slated to open in June 2001.
Don Luse, director of the Student
Union, said numerous factors have led
the most recent postponement.
Construction workers are still putting
the finishing touches on the facility, and
Luse said many of the delays stem from
the miscalculation of the amount of time
needed to complete these tasks.
In addition, the new Union must pass
several inspections before it can be
opened to the public. These required
inspections are taking longer then antic
ipated.
Bruce Runberg, associate vice chan
cellor for facilities planning, said the
final state inspection will be held Friday.
Though the construction has been
plagued with uncertainty in the past,
Luse said he is optimistic this will be the
final deadline.
“The only thing that would delay the
process now would be a failed inspec
tion,” said Luse.
Though unlikely, the failure of an
inspection is possible, and Luse believes
the Aug. 1 deadline is the last possible
date to open the new Union without
affecting the University community.
Both students and administrative staff
could suffer adverse effects if the Union
is delayed again.
Several student organizations already
have reserved rooms in the new facility,
and any further postponement would
mean these rooms would be unavail
able.
In order to safeguard against such a
problem, Union officials intentionally
booked the rooms in both the new and
old facilities.
“By double-booking, we are able to
assure organizations a spot,” said Luse.
“The only question is whether the
spot will be in the old or the new
Union.”
This means that although students
will definitely have a place to meet, it
might not be in the much nicer new
Union facilities they expect.
Another problem that might arise is
that administrative staff would be
unable to move into their new offices.
This would then further delay the
commencement of Phase 11, which is
the renovation of the basement and sec
ond floor of the old Union.
The Underground, the basement
level entertainment area of the old
Union, cannot reopen until Phase II is
complete.
If the current deadline is not met, stu
dents can expect the opening of this
facility to be delayed.
Luse said that if the Union is not
ready on Aug. 1, officials have no
choice but to delay the move.
But he said he is confident that no
matter what happens, the Union will be
able serve UNC students.
Luse said, “The way in which we
planned the phases of the construction
allows us to always provide our ser
vices.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
Funding Change Won't Happen This Year
By Rohit Patel
Staff Writer
UNC-system administrators and leg
islators say that a change to how univer
sity enrollment is funded will not occur
this session but that the policy change
will remain a top priority for legislators
in the future.
Funding for enrollment growth is
allocated through the state’s expansion
budget, which serves mosdy to provide
revenue for items not funded in previous
years.
Some legislative leaders and system
officials are hoping to move enrollment
growth to the state’s continuation budget,
which carries over from year to year. The
PHOTO COURTESY OF KHALIL SENOSI
Residents of Kibera, a slum in in Kenya, work together during a community cleanup organized by UNC's service program
Carolina for Kibera. CFK works to bring healthy living conditions and a higher quality of life to the slum's inhabitants.
Primary Elections Date Set
By Alex Kaplun
Editor
RALEIGH - After a four-month
delay, state elections in North Carolina
appear to be back on track.
The N.C. General Assembly set the
state primary election this week for
Sept. 10 after the U.S. Department of
Justice ruled that the district maps did
not violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Both the House and Senate unani
mously approved legislation this week
that set the Sept. 10 primary date and
eliminated a primary runoff due to the
compressed election schedule. A runoff
is typically held if no candidate receives
more than 40 percent of the vote in the
primary election.
The primaries were originally sched
uled for May 7 but were put on hold
due to a lengthy legal battle. The gen
eral election is still scheduled for Nov. 5.
The N.C. State Board of Elections is
expected to meet this week to set a filing
period. All state legislative candidates,
including those who already filed in
March, will have to file once again. The
filing period is expected open as early
as Friday and will to last about a week.
House Minority Leader Leo
Daughtry, R-Johnston, said on the
House floor Tuesday that legislators
should approve the primary date and
put the redistricting battle behind them.
“I see no reason why we shouldn’t move
The ballot is stronger than the bullet.
Abraham Lincoln
Like Kudzu
Australian rock group the Vines
creep stateside with their debut LP.
See Page 5
difference is that in tough budget times the
N.C. General Assembly is hard-pressed to
fund expansionary items, and University
enrollment growth falls in that category.
Doubt over whether the legislature
would find the $66 million needed for
enrollment growth for next year prompt
ed the UNC-system Board of Governors
to approve an 8 percent tuition increase
for in-state students and 12 percent
increase for out-of-state students in
March to fund about half that total.
Just days before the BOG approved the
increase, Senate President Pro Tern Marc
Basnight, D-Dare, and House Speakerjim
Black, D-Mecklenburg, sent a letter to the
BOG vowing to support moving enroll
ment funding from the expansion to the
I jT'-'f
JMk t
DTH/KIMBERLY CRAVEN
House Rules Committee Chairman Bill Culpepper explains to the full
House a bill that sets the primary date for Sept. 10.
forward with elections,” Daughtry said.
The legislature’s actions bring to an
end a political battle over state district
lines that has lasted for much of the year.
The original district maps, which
were approved by the Democratically
controlled legislature last November,
were contested in court by Republicans
who claimed that the maps violated the
state constitution.
A court battle ensued that included
The Dotted Line
David Thornton signs with
the Indianapolis Colts.
See Page 7
Volume 110, Issue 52
continuation bud
get
But Jeff Davies,
UNC-system vice
president for
finance, said this
move will proba
bly not be made
until next year.
Davies said he is
not concerned that
the move will not
be made this ses
sion. “The parties
involved in this
process realize that
the first real oppor
tunity we have to move enrollment
the state Supreme Court rejecting the
district maps and the legislature being
called back into session in May to draw
new maps. But Superior Court Judge
Knox Jenkins struck down the redrawn
maps and made slight changes to the
House plan and drastic changes to the
Senate plan. The new maps are expect
ed to be more friendly to Republican
See ELECTIONS, Page 2
growth to the continuation budget won’t
be until next year,” he said. “The timing is
such that it is just not possible right now.”
Brad Wilson, newly elected chairman
of the BOG, said that if enrollment
growth is not shifted to the continuation
budget, the BOG will be forced to con
sider other tuition increases in the future
to fund enrollment growth.
Amy Fulk, Basnight’s press secretary,
said there is a positive consensus in the
Senate regarding the switch from the
expansion to continuation budget.
“A lot of senators agree on switching
enrollment growth to the continuation
budget, and so far there has been no
strong opposition to this plan,” she said.
The Senate’s proposed budget for the
1
Bml
Senate President
Marc Basnight
supports moving
growth funding to
the continuation
budget.
Water Restrictions Go Into
Effect for Orange County
By Jessica Guice
Staff Writer
With just about 130 days of water
usage left, Orange County, Chapel Hill
and Carrboro instituted mandatory water
restrictions at the request of the Orange
Water and Sewer Authority on Friday.
“The water supply is a serious matter
that requires attention and the commu
nity’s cooperation,” said Eld Kerwin,
executive director of OWASA. “It has
never been this low this early.”
The restrictions have been put in place
to reduce the consumption rate of the
diminishing water supply, which has
reached its lowest point ever for this time
of year. Area water usage has increased
dramatically in recent months compared
to the last four years. Rainfall levels are rel
atively low during the summer months,
making chances for replenishment slim.
“We need more than a little bit of rain
- this isn’t something that can be fixed
right away,” said Greg Feller, OWASA
public affairs administrator. “But while
we can’t control what Mother Nature
does, people in the community can con
trol their own water usage."
Nature, however, might help the situ
ation with the most active part of the
hurricane season approaching.
“The moisture from a hurricane
would be a really good thing,” said
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“Reign of Fire” Extinguished by B-Movie
Plot, Mediocre Acting
Thursday, July 18, 2002
next fiscal year does include $66 million
for enrollment growth. The House has
yet to unveil its version of the budget.
Danny Lineberry, Black’s press secre
tary, said that the move has not been dis
cussed formally in the House and that it
is doubtful that it will occur this session.
Sen. Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford,
chairman of the Senate Education
Appropriations Committee, said he is
also eager to see a change occur.
“It is important to switch enrollment
growth to the continuation budget in
order to continue the access of our
schools to prospective students.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Service Program
Works to Better
Lives of Kenyans
Carolina for Kibera gives UNC students an
opportunity to assist native residents with
efforts to improve their living standards.
By Elliot Dube, Jennifer Davis and Sarah Kucharski
Staff Writers
A few UNC students are giving up the luxuries of
American life to help some of Kenya’s residents who do not
have the luxury to expect that they will live through the day.
These students are volunteers working on behalf of
Carolina for Kibera Inc., a service program developed by for
mer UNC student Rye Barcott during his senior year and now
based in the University’s Center for International Studies.
A privately funded program, CFK relies on grants from
such organizations as the Ford Foundation and the World
Bank to help pay its operation costs. But on a more human
level, CFK depends on the altruistic hearts and minds of UNC
students looking to make a difference outside their own world.
Britt Lake, a senior journalism and international studies
major, is currendy working in Kibera. Lake learned about
CFK through her work with Students for Students
International, a campus organization that boasts as its prima
ry project a scholarship for Zimbabwean students’ secondary
school education.
“Because (Students for Students International) and CFK
See KIBERA, Page 2
WTVD meteorologist Gary McGrady.
“The widespread rain it would bring
would not break the drought entirely,
but it would help a lot. However, with a
hurricane you take the good with the
bad. Something easier to deal with, like
a tropical storm, would be ideal.”
Under the restrictions, OWASA cus
tomers must limit their outdoor water
usage to three days a week, using only
an inch per week and only after dusk or
before dawn. Properties with odd-num
bered street addresses should water
Monday, Wednesday and Friday and
even-numbered addresses on Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday. However, these
restrictions do not apply to the use of
hand-held hoses or watering cans.
Additionally, restaurants cannot
serve OWASA water except on request,
and using water to clean “impervious
surfaces” - such as tables, countertops
and floors - is prohibited.
Although the University does not fall
under the town restrictions, it has
devised an equivalent plan to accom
modate the water shortage.
Police officers and OWASA staff will
enforce the restrictions soon after
OWASA has had time to inform the pub
lic of the changes. Violators can face up to
SIOO in fines and service disconnection.
See WATER, Page 2