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6 Monday, November 4, 2002 6 Battle for 3 Commissioner Seats Candidates focus on schools, local taxes By David Allen Staff Writer Orange County voters will have sev eral options to fill the available seats on the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. Six candidates, three incumbents and three challengers, are running for the three open seats. The board members seeking re-elec tion are Democrats Alice Gordon, Stephen Halkiotis and Barryjacobs. Gordon lives just south of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and has been serving on the board for 12 years. She said the most important issues facing the board are schools, environ mental protection and good govern ment. We need a caring, financially respon sible and inclusive county government,” OWASA May Lift Water Restrictions By Alyssa Fine Staff Writer At a special Orange Water and Sewer Authority board of directors meeting scheduled for Thursday, board mem bers are likely to relax water use restric tions, if not lift them entirely. OWASA Executive Director Ed Kerwin said the meeting is being held specifically to discuss the area’s water supply. Restrictions could be either lessened from Stage 2 to Stage 1 restrictions, or all restrictions could be eliminated com pletely, he said. According to the OWASA Web site, Even with upcoming breaks, you’ll save BIG with the Unlimited Plan \i# JL&idet 933-2117 Unlimited package extended by number or days away on break M-Thur 10:30-8:30 Fri 10:30-7 Sat 11-5 1 J J \Jig.3 ONCE YOU GET IT RIGHT, IT JUST SEEMS SO OBVIOUS. r n It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that an apartment should offer you convenience, privacy, and responsive management. And that's good. Because brain surgeons shouldn't really think about apartments when they're cutting into people's brains. LEASING CENTER: NOW PRE-LEASING FOR SUMMER & FALL 2003 HfTP 128 EAST FRANKLIN STREET, CHAPEL HILL 18 AND OLDER CAN LEASE lAXI C P 919-928-0063 WWW.EXCHANGEAPTS.COM BRAND NEW APARTMENTS MANAGED BY UHG/ABBEY she said. “I want people to notice my solid record of acceleration in the areas of improving schools and protecting the environment, and I will continue to con tribute in those areas,” she said. Halkiotis lives in Hillsborough and has been serving on the board for 16 years. He thinks Orange County’s future is “extremely bright” and the most impor tant issues are the county’s two school systems, the environment and human services. “I care about people, and I believe in a government that cares about people,” Halkiotis said. The final incumbent, Jacobs, has served on the board for the past four years and also resides in Hillsborough. Jacobs aims to achieve social justice, smart growth, preservation of the quali ty of life and equal opportunity for a quality education. He sees “continued exceptional edu cation” in the county’s future and added, “We should continue to strive for a het erogeneous community.” Stage 1 restrictions would allow individ uals to use water for irrigation or in sprinklers three times a week instead of once a week and would limit irrigation to 1 inch rather than a half-inch. Residents also will be allowed to use OWASA water in fountains, ponds and pools. Officials said an unusually wet October helped fill reservoirs to levels considered normal for this time of year. As of Thursday, University Lake was full and Cane Creek was about 6 1/2 feet below full. Orange County experienced almost three times the average October rainfall this year, which “makes it the fourth wettest October in our rainfall records,” Kerwin said. He said total rainfall for the month of October was 10.12 inches at the Jones WALK-IN WEEKDAYS fOTFIfI IJj* iL£y curs WAXING The three challengers for these seats are Republicansjamie Daniel and Robin Staudt and Libertarian Seth Fehrs. Daniel is a self-employed business owner and also lives in Hillsborough. His main interest is to help the northern, more rural part of Orange County, he said. Daniel thinks the most important issue facing the entire county is taxes and criti cized the board’s recent vote to raise the sales tax a half-cent. “The old board should have stood up against the sales tax increase,” he said. “Are all taxes bad? No. But can they go overboard? Yeah.” Daniel thinks the main reason he should be elected is because the old board’s vision has become too narrow. “It’s time for the old dogs to go on off and let some new blood take over,” he said. Staudt lives in Efland and said she wants to aid those outside the Chapel Hill area of the district as well. “These people have none of the services or ben efits of the rest of the county,” she said. Staudt said she wants to bring eco Ferry Road Water Treatment Plant. Cane Creek experienced 8.36 inches of rain, 4.64 inches more than the average October rainfall. These rains aided in refilling the reservoirs to normal levels, said OWASA Lake Warden Eric Bamhardt. “It brought the river up quite a bit,” Barnhardt said. “It made quite an impact.” He said if winter rains are normal, Cane Creek could be full by next spring. Robert Glosson, the resident warden at University Lake, said people normal ly wash their cars, fill up swimming pools and water their yards less fre quently as the weather becomes cooler. “When we went into this it was warmer out,” he said. “The colder it gets, the less water we use.” But officials said they still will pro News nomic development to help broaden the economic base of the county, which would add revenue, and in turn lessen property taxes. Staudt said she also was upset the board did not stand up against Gov. Mike Easley on the sales tax increase. “It boggles the mind that our board won’t stand up and demand the money that is ours." Fehrs is a programmer from Hillsborough and has served as a mem ber of the N.C. Executive Committee. Fehrs said he would look over the board’s old programs as much as imple menting new ones. “I’d like to see that schools are funded as opposed to build ing a senior citizens center in Chapel Hill,” he said. Fehrs thinks he would add to the diversity of the board if elected. “With them all being liberal Democrats, it would be hard not to add to the diversi ty’” The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu. mote water conversation even if restric tions are lifted. “Given the size of the community and amount of water we use in a year’s time, conservation is always a continu ing desire,” Glosson said. He said it is impossible to know what the winter will bring, even if the reser voirs are at normal levels now. “You can never count on what Mother Nature is going to throw at you.” Kerwin said a positive aspect of the drought is that it has succeeded in bring ing a greater awareness of water conser vation to the community. “Even if mandatory water restrictions are lifted, it is a sustainable practice to use water wisely year round.” The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu. Candidates Differ on Education; Vouchers By Rachel E. Leonard Staff Writer State Republican and Democratic leaders say college students should not ignore K-12 education issues now that they’ve graduated from high school. But the two parties disagree on the best approach to addressing educational needs. U.S. Senate candidates Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Elizabeth Dole each say they want numerous education reforms, such as changes in school funding and teacher training, but debate over private school vouchers has taken center stage. Bowles says he’s staunchly opposed to vouchers, which use public funds to pay private school tuition. Dole has backed away from her previous support of vouchers and is pushing something she calls education tax credits instead. According to Dole, the tax credits would help alleviate costs for parents with children in private or public schools without taking public school funds. “She does not support diverting money from our public schools,” said Dole spokes woman Mary Brown Brewer. But others find Dole’s position on vouchers unclear at best “We haven’t heard her specifically say she is not in favor of vouchers,” said Eddie Davis, vice president of the N.C. Association of Educators. Even if the tax credits didn’t take money away from public schools directly, he added, the money would come from somewhere. Bowles has stated clearly his opposi tion to vouchers throughout his cam paign and accused Dole of supporting them. But according to Davis, Bowles’ record on vouchers isn’t so cut and dried. Bowles formerly served on the board of advisers for the Children’s Scholarship Fund, which uses private money to send inner-city children to private school. “Some people did see that organization as the one that was designed to get the voucher movement going,” Davis said. But Barbara Allen, chairwoman of the N.C. Democratic Party, said Bowles Campus Calendar Today 4 p.m. - Carolina For Kibera is searching for three creative, indepen dent and ambitious undergrads to trav el to Nairobi, Kenya, next summer. The CFK Volunteer Class Summer 2003 General Interest Meeting will be held in Union 212. Questions? E-mail Emily at ep@unc.edu. tTlfe Italy ®ar Heel P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 Kim Minugh, Editor, 962-4086 Advertising & Business, 962-1163 News, Features, Sports, 962-0245 One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased at The Daily Tar Heel for $.25 each. © 2002 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved Public Notice The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations conducted an accreditation survey of The Student Health Service program on the UNC-CH campus October 29- 30, 2002. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate the organizations compliance with nationally established Joint Commission stan dards. The survey results will be used to determine whether, and the conditions under which, accreditation should be awarded the organization. Joint Commission standards deal with organizational quality-of care issues and the safety of the environment in which care is provided. Anyone believing that he or she has pertinent and valid information about such matters may request a public infor mation interview with the Joint Commissions field representa tives. Information presented at the interview will be carefully evaluated for relevance to the accreditation process. Requests for a public information interview must be made in writing and should be sent to the Joint Commission prior to November 30, 2002. The request must also indicate the nature of the informa tion to be provided at the interview. Such requests should be addressed to: Division of Accreditation Operations Account Representative Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations One Renaissance Boulevard Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 The Joint Commission will acknowledge such requests in writ ing or by telephone and will inform the organization of the request for any interview. The organization will, in turn, notify the interviewee of the date, time, and place of the meeting. This notice is posted in accordance with the Joint Commission’s requirements. lathi (Tar Hppl * in no way supports using public money for private schools. “We should build up our public schools,” she said. Dole’s education tax credits reflect her broader goal of increasing parental con trol of schools. Aside from vouchers, Dole also champions more local control over school funds, Brewer said. “Washington, D.C., does not need to be trying to run our schools by remote control.” Dole has criticized the amount of time teachers spend completing federal paper work but has thrown her support behind last year’s No Child Left Behind Act, which implements standardized testing and accountability standards nationwide. Dole’s other goals include ending the teacher shortage, restoring discipline in the classroom, expanding student loan forgiveness for teachers and providing incentives for qualified teachers to relo cate to failing schools. “She has a plan, and (Bowles) doesn’t,” Brewer said. But Allen said Bowles has plenty of plans for education. In addition to oppos ing vouchers, Bowles also is calling for increased education spending, smaller class sizes, school construction to replace mobile classrooms and the expansion of early childhood education and after school programs. Higher teacher pay, teacher recruitment and teacher retain ment top off his education agenda. Allen said Bowles also will make sure that the No Child Left Behind legislation, which he supports, is implemented fairly. “I think Erskine Bowles will be the politi cian who will get out there and see that it is done the way it should be done.” Regardless of which candidate college students pick on the Nov. 5 ballot, state representatives from both the two major parties say they should keep education; reform in mind. “College students are our future, and they’re going to have kids (in schools) and friends there,” Allen said. Jonathan Jordan, spokesman for the ■ N.C. Republican Party, said education al methods affect every facet of society - not just K-12 students. He said, “We want educated citizens out there making decisions that affect all of us.” The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu. 7:30 p.m. - The Carolina V-Day Initiative is hosting “Until the Violence. Stops,” a silent walk to honor women affected by violence. The walk will start - in Polk Place and end at the Old Well. * - 7:30 p.m. - Come out to Union 1505- for an amazing Fellowship of Christian" Athletes meeting. We’ll hear from some student speakers, worship, fellowship and eat free pizza. Everyone is welcome! For the Record The Daily Tar Heel reported in the Oct. 31 article “Drive, Faith Propel Dole • to High Positions” that Elizabeth Dole’s campaign manager, Mark Stevens, is a Salisbury native and long-time family friend. Stevens is in fact a Cary resident and is not a long-time family friend. The Daily Tar Heel regrets the error.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 4, 2002, edition 1
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