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Read the full text of Chancellor
J ames Moeser's State of the
■ University Address.
Volume 110, Issue 66
Summer
Reading
Author
To Speak
Focus to be religion
and peace, not book
By John Frank
Assistant University Editor
After nearly four months of national
debate surrounding UNC’s summer
reading program, it would seem there is
little else to talk about.
But the book’s author, Michael Sells,
thinks differendy.
He said his speech at 7:30 p.m. today
in Hill Hall Auditorium will surprise
many people.
“It’s not (going to be) what they
expect from my position or my book’s
position on the issue,” Sells said
Wednesday. “The genuine issue of Islam
as a religion has not been talked about”
Sells said his speech, titled “The
Quran, Islam and Religious Violence,”
will touch on those three main themes,
including a discussion of Islam as a reli
gion of peace.
Sells’ book, “Approaching the
Qur’an: The Early Revelations,” was
widely scrutinized by The Family Policy
Network, the Christian values group that
sued the University over the assignment,
and other critics for what they called an
overly favorable representation of Islam.
But Sells said he will clear up the mis
conceptions that were perpetuated in
the national media coverage.
“People will be quite surprised if they
expect me to claim Islam as a religion of
peace,” he said.
Sells, a religion professor at
Haverford College in Pennsylvania,
said he also will address the assignment
and the criticism the University
received by exploring the root of those
feelings in U.S. culture.
As part of the summer reading pro
gram, the University invites the author
or subjects of chosen books to speak on
campus.
Sells is the second author in four
See SELLS, Page 11
Bill to Limit
Legislative
Sessions Fails
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Assistant State & National Editor
The N.C. House voted down
Wednesday a bill calling for a constitu
tional amendment limiting session
lengths for the N.C. General Assembly.
The session-limits legislation, which
required a three-fifths majority to pass,
failed 54-59. Although session limits
have passed several times in the N.C.
Senate, Wednesday marked the first
time they had been debated on the
House floor.
According to the N.C. Constitution,
during odd-numbered years, legislators
are supposed to meet for 135 days.
Sessions during even-numbered years
are slated to last 60 days. But legislators
are free to extend those times.
Last year, House members met for a
about 170 legislative days, a state record.
Legislators have been in session this
year since late May.
Legislation introduced by Sen. David
Hoyle, D-Cleveland, would have limit
ed sessions to 180 calendar days in odd
numbered years and 90 calendar days
in even-numbered years, allowing only
for one 10-day extension. Since 1995,
See ASSEMBLY, Page 11
Chancellor Outlines Vision
Of Moral, Academic Leadership
Through terrorist attacks, budget crises and summer reading controversy, the University stood strong
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Chancellor James Moeser gives his second State of the University Address on Wednesday afternoon in the Great Hall.
Officials Accept Moeser's Challenge
Many agree UNC must
refocus on ties with state
By Meredith Nicholson
Assistant University Editor
Campus leaders said they were inspired by
Chancellor James Moeser’s challenge - to make
UNC the leading public university in the nation
while re-establishing a connection with North
Carolinians - during Wednesday’s State of the
University Address.
But both student and faculty leaders said that
goal cannot be accomplished without taking into
account factors that are not easily measured.
Provost Robert Shelton said national rankings
cannot be the only measure of the University’s
leadership because factors like tuition and acces
sibility are not taken into account.
UNC Hospitals Celebrates 50th Birthday
By John Frank
Assistant University Editor
Medical Professor Emeritus John
Sessions remembers when the halls of
the old Memorial Hospital were empty.
“It was the summer before the first
students and patients arrived, and we
were still moving around furniture,”
Sessions said.
Sessions’ description of the vacant hall-
ways of the single medical school building in 1952 contrasted
gready with Wednesday’s packed Brinkhous-Bullitt Cafeteria,
one of nearly two dozen medical buildings now on campus.
“I must confess that I didn’t consider it (would ever get
this big),” Sessions said. “It’s been growing.”
Hundreds of health care employees gathered at the cafe
teria to celebrate the 50th birthday of UNC Memorial
Hospital and the School of Medicine on Wednesday.
Dressed in costumes from the past 50 years ranging
from poodle skirts and scarves to beaded headbands and
Afro wigs - health care workers ate ice cream and cake to
The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision.
Theodore Hesburgh
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Deadline
DTH staff applications can still be picked up
in Suite 104 of the Student Union and are due
by noon Sept. 9.
He said officials are working to quantify intan
gible variables that signify what makes a univer
sity the leading public university.
Sue Estroff, Faculty Council chairwoman, said
she would have liked Moeser to discuss the future
of intellectual life on campus.
“We bring in a lot of money and do well in the
rankings, but we’re more than that,” she said.
Student Body President Jen Daum said many
students already believe UNC is the leading uni
versity in the nation, but those at peer institutions
might not recognize this because “so much of what
is so amazing about Carolina is intangible.”
In his speech, Moeser challenged students, fac
ulty and staff to reassert the University’s connec
tion to North Carolina.
Shelton said the University community is con
nected to the state already but that the public is not
always aware of the connection.
“I don’t think we’re so far disconnected as some
people would have us believe,” he said.
“How did we get so good so
quickly? The faculty. ... We
fielded not just any team hut
an all-star team. ”
Jeffrey Houpt
School of Medicine Dean
Second Home
Teenagers find family and
friends at Street Scene.
See Page 5
Thursday, September 5, 2002
celebrate the anniversary.
At the ceremony, Eric Munson,
president and CEO of UNC Hospitals,
spoke on the hospital’s brisk progress
over the years.
“UNC Hospitals was once the best
kept secret,” he said. “But now that
secret’s out.”
Munson pointed to UNC Health
Care’s numerous awards for quality
service but said its greatest role has
been in the training of future North Carolina doctors.
Officials said that about 40 percent of UNC medical grad
uates remain in the state, as do a large percentage of physi
cians who complete their residencies here.
School of Medicine Dean Jeffrey Houpt said the faculty is
the reason UNC has developed a superior program so quick
¥
“How did we get so good so quickly? The faculty.... We
fielded not just any team but an all-star team,” said Houpt,
See HOSPITALS, Page 11
K3
Shelton said many of UNC’s contributions to
the state go unnoticed by the public because mem
bers of the University community are too modest
to point them out.
“We need to demonstrate more overtly our
commitment and the things we are doing,” he said.
Shelton said the University must find a way to
compete at the highest national level and still serve
all of North Carolina.
“We have to find the highest balance of respon
siveness to national rankings and responsiveness
to North Carolina,” he said.
Student Body Vice President Aaron Hiller said
the University’s obligation to the state is not dis
cussed often enough and that he was glad Moeser
addressed the topic in his speech.
Hiller said it is important to articulate the ways
the University is connected to the, state. “The first
step in reconnecting with the public is to talk more
See REACTION, Page 11
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DTH/BRIAN CASSELLA
Medical Professor Emeritus John Sessions (left) visits with other original
staff members of Memorial Hospital. The group celebrated the 50th
anniversary of UNC Health Care on Wednesday.
Weather
Today: Sunny; H 85, L 58
Friday: Sunny; H 84, L 56
Saturday: Sunny; H 83, L 59
www.dailytarheel.com
By Daniel Thigpen
University Editor
The atmosphere was all too famil
iar, the message echoing senti
ments articulated from behind the
same podium one year ago.
Addressing a standing-room-only crowd
in the Great Hall on Tuesday, Chancellor
James Moeser made clear that UNC’s ulti
mate mission -and his vision - remain the
same despite changing circumstances and
evolving issues.
During his nearly hourlong State of the
University Address, Moeser framed his vision in
the context of events that have unfolded since his
first address -and a lot has happened in that time.
The chancellor recapped the moments that have
defined UNC in the past year - from the Sept. 11
attacks to the state’s budget
crisis to the controversial
summer reading program.
It is how the University
has handled those issues
that sets the tone for the
coming year, Moeser said.
“In the past 12 months,
UNC has shown the world
what it is to be a great, free,
American public universi
ty,” he said. “Last year, I
had no idea when I said we
should be a university with
the courage of our convic
tions that we would be test
ed within the year.”
Moeser didn’t hesitate to
cite the University’s sum
mer reading selection as an
example of what he said
makes UNC a leading public university.
“I am proud of Carolina for the courage to
choose a book for the purpose of helping our stu
dents understand the complex and often contra
dictory forces that shape our world,” he said. “We
should extend our understanding to those who dis
agree with us.”
Although the University has emerged success
fully from its recent trials, other challenges still
linger into the new year, Moeser said. He specifi
cally noted the state’s ongoing budget shortfall and
the fact that, as UNC waits for legislators to adopt
a spending plan, the University’s budget stagnates.
In the meantime, cuts already have been made
to the University’s operations, Moeser added.
“Those losses meant we had to eliminate posi
tions and people, delay other hiring, defer mainte
nance, reduce teaching and cut programs,” he said.
Moeser stressed that officials are developing
ways to cope in the long term. A five-year finan
cial planning committee is working to formulate
an efficient strategy for the University, he noted.
See SPEECH, Page 11
Q
“Our biggest
challenge today
is not to become
so totally
absorbed in our
immediate
problems that
we lose sight of
our long-term
vision. ”
James Moeser
UNC Chancellor