She Saily ®ar Heel
GOP Gains
Could Lead
To Gridlock
The myth that midterm elections
matter very little was dispelled
Tuesday.
More sitzkrieg than blitzkrieg, the
GOP machine maneuvered to gain
senatorships, governorships, judge
ships and the like, surprisingly with a
minimum of pre
tense.
The final tally:
The elephants
gave the jackass
es one fierce
noogie.
Most have
heard of the con
sequences and
repercussions of
the Republican
coup de grace in
the U.S. Senate,
but that donkey
* /
NATHAN PEREZ
STATE &
NATIONAL
COLUMNIST
has been beaten to death. If a true to
form “power shift” is either what you
desired or feared, look no farther than
Raleigh.
Monday evening, the Democrats
held a 35-15 majority in the N.C.
Senate and a 62-58 advantage in the
House. As of Thursday, the Senate was
split 26-22, although final tallies are
not in and— sound the trumpets of
Jericho - the House is barreling
toward a 60-60 split.
Recounts are sure to come in the
three still-unofficial races. Each side is
dying for the coveted 61, but there is
another, possibly even more pressing
concern with the 60-60 House: No one
knows how anything will work.
The N.C. Constitution offers no
advice, let alone a course of action, for
next year’s House. And next year’s
chamber will spearhead some mighty
weighty discussions and litigation, the
greatest of which are the revenue crisis
and the never-say-never state lottery
hoopla.
But who is going to run the show?
OK, forget running the show, who will
determine which representatives fall
into the power positions, like speaker
of the house or minority leader?
Without 61, who gets to appoint com
mittee chairmen or decide who gets
first dibs on the microphone?
Immediately after the elections, cur
rent Speaker of the House Jim Black,
D-Mecklenburg, established that he
would like to keep his job. Real sur
prise.
House Minority Leader Leo
Daughtry, R-Johnston, maintains, “It’s
all speculation at this point. Sure, we’d
like to have 61, but it doesn’t look like
we’re going to get it.”
Seemingly frustrated with the inces
sant carousel of questions regarding
the impending 60-60 split, Daughtry
pointed back to the lone truth - that
no one knows anything.
“We’d like to think that we can put
aside our differences and govern
North Carolina,” Daughtry said. “But
we don’t know. It’s sort of like kissing
your sister.”
Translation: The 60-60 split isn’t
necessarily a bad thing, it’s just some
thing both parties would rather avoid.
If the Republicans are kissing their
sisters then, one has to assume, the
Democrats are kissing their labradors.
About 46 percent of voters turned
out for Tuesday’s elections, an above
average turnout for a midterm elec
tion. Those voters decreed that there
shall be one Republican U.S. senator,
that there shall be Republican domina
tion of the appellate courts and that
there shall be increased parity in the
General Assembly.
Pundits claim that low voter turnout
is a detriment to the Democratic Party,
but research shows that Republicans
gain the most when voters flock to
their voting cubicles. Since it’s not the
fault of the voters, whose fault is it?
The exaggerated 35-15 majority in
the N.C. Senate was bound to be
hacked up, the House only teetered
from 62-58 to 60-60, and North
Carolina now has one Democratic sen
ator and one Republican senator.
I also have tried to blame the North
Carolina Democratic Party, but no dice.
In hindsight, it’s crystal-clear - the
voters, furious with the drawn-out ses
sion and angered with the General
Assembly’s impotency, decided they
wouldn’t oblige by voting either party
to a majority.
Moreover, the voters systematically
removed every single last appropriations
chairman. Those in charge of next year’s
money will not have touched this year’s.
So after months of clandestine com
mittee meetings, the voters Tuesday
instituted their diabolical plan to frus
trate the General Assembly. They
chose one Democrat for every one
Republican.
The tide of the wily scheme, “The
People’s Guide to Parity and Payback:
How to Make North Carolina
Legislators Kiss Their Sisters.”
Nathan Perez can be reached at
nperez@email.unc.edu.
111. Governor Condemns Capital Punishment
Ryan put a stop to
executions in 2000
By John Lipps
Staff Writer
Illinois Gov. George Ryan spoke pas
sionately Thursday to a large and
diverse audience about his personal
experiences and his disillusionment with
capital punishment.
The speech, which took place in Van
Hecke-Wettach Hall, was hosted by the
School of Law.
Ryan, a Republican who received
national media attention in January
2000 when he issued a moratorium on
the death penalty in Illinois, was
received warmly by students and facul
ty from several N.C. universities and by
leaders from across the state, including
N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice I.
Beverly Lake.
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DTH/JONATHAN SAAS
Melody Ko, a second-year graduate student in journalism, gets a kiss from her dog, Omo, on Thursday. Omo,
who Ko believes is a border collie and retriever mix, is between 12 weeks and 14 weeks old and came from
the Wake County Animal Shelter. A WRAL TV program about pet adoption featured Omo's sister.
Safe Escort Funding in Jeopardy
By Vanessa Capobianco
Staff Writer
Students wait up to 30 minutes for a ride.
Unpaid bills sit in the student government office.
And an unapproved golf cart sits in the middle of the con
troversy.
SAFE Escort, an organization that gives students rides
across campus at night, has been under scrutiny for several
months because of corruption in former leaders and ineffi
cient bookkeeping.
SAFE Escort has removed those leaders, but their effects
have put SAFE Escort’s funding and future in jeopardy.
Of the problems SAFE Escort faced last semester, the most
controversial involved leaders who used the organization’s
funding to fill their personal vehicles with gas.
Assistant Student Body Treasurer Alexa Kleysteuber said
SAFE Escort has several outstanding bills that have yet to be
paid. Also, anew golf cart was purchased without approval,
and funding will not be given to pay for it, she said.
That cart sits unused while another doesn’t run, leaving
SAFE Escort with one usable cart.
But now, backed by new officers, SAFE Escort has been
pleading its case to the Student Safety and Security Committee
of student government, which will ultimately decide its fate.
“With the new officers of our organization, we have estab
lished a far more stable group, withstanding obstacles and
promoting safety on this campus,” said Emily Crespo, a stu
dent driver for SAFE Escort.
But recent misunderstandings between SAFE Escort and
student government about future funding have led to sever
al heated exchanges during committee meetings.
SAFE Escort officers say they have been under the impres
Raising a Department at UNC
Crowe in at birth of
policy department
By Lauren Rippey
Senior Writer
Despite all of her hard work and her
successes, Asta Crowe would be quick
to argue with anyone who praised her.
“I do what I do because I enjoy it,”
she said.
“I have plenty to keep me busy.”
As the student services and
administrative manager for
the Department of Public
Policy, Crowe manages the
daily operations of the
department.
Colleagues consider
Crowe, who has been with the depart
ment from the beginning, invaluable
for her dedication and her expertise.
Crowe said her responsibilities,
among other duties, include maintain
ing student records, managing gradu-
Ryan briefly mentioned his three
year review of capital punishment in
Illinois, which is aimed at reviewing the
cases of 140 out of the 160 prisoners on
death row who have chosen to appear
before the review board.
Ryan ordered the review after finding
that 13 times since 1977, death row
inmates have been exonerated and only
12 inmates have been executed. “It’s like
flipping a coin - heads or tails; life or
death,” he said.
One prisoner, Ryan said, came with
in two days of his execution before
being released. In April, the review
board issued a report to the Illinois leg
islature recommending more than 80
changes to the state’s capital punishment
system.
Ryan revealed that his dealing with
the death penalty is personal and com
plicated. “I never planned on being
involved in the debate on capital pun
ishment,” he said. “Not in my wildest
dreams.”
PUPPY LOVE
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\—
DTH/KRISTIN GOODE
SAFE Escort driver Mark Postlethwaite (left) drives
sophomore Emily Hooper home Wednesday.
sion that their funding could be eliminated, but student gov
ernment officers say they want to reallocate funding the pro
gram receives from the safety and security fee and to clarify
accounting discrepancies.
SAFE Escort has been receiving funding this semester, but
the committee is looking into freezing allocations or reworking
the allotment of money it receives for the spring semester.
Funding for SAFE Escort comes from the safety and secu
rity fee that all University students pay. The fee is complete
ly separate from the Student Activities Funds Office.
Seventy-six percent of the fee, which equals about $30,000,
goes to SAFE Escort. The money is used to fill up the carts
with gas, pay officers and drivers and maintain the carts.
See SAFE ESCORT, Page 5
ate applications to doctoral programs,
supervising the administration of facul
ty searches, advising undergraduates
and helping with the Public Policy
Majors Union.
After graduating from a business
college in Oxford, Crowe came to visit
UNC - where she met her future hus
band -and has been involved in the
campus community ever since.
While she was raising her children,
Crowe said, she worked part-time as a
research assistant in Chapel Hill.
She then spent five years working
with students as the assistant coordi-
A :
nator for the Hubert H. Humphrey
Fellowship Program.
“I was able to help interna
tional students learn the cam
pus, deal with housing and
even show them how to gro-
(Sn
eery shop,” Crowe said.
“When you try to take a male
from Bangladesh - who has never
even been in a kitchen - to an
American grocery store, it’s an interest
ing experience.”
News
He said that at one time he believed
firmly in capital punishment, including
the use of the electric chair. He added
that as an Illinois legislator, he voted to
reinstate the death penalty.
Ryan recalled the first time as gover
nor of Illinois that he had to decide
whether to execute a man sentenced to
lethal injection. “His life was in my
hands,” Ryan said. “It was an awesome
responsibility. This was a misery that
nobody should have to go through.”
Although Ryan said he believes that
the death penalty is justified in some
cases, he added that he does not believe
in the current system. “With each pass
ing day, I have more nagging doubt
about our entire criminal justice sys
tem,” he said. “If we can’t repair it, we
should repeal it.”
Tyson Baber, a first-year law student
and a participant in the school’s
Innocence Program, said he admired
See RYAN, Page 5
In 1991, Crowe began her job with
the public policy department, and she
has been an integral part of its devel
opment and growth.
“It’s been very exciting to see us
grow,” she said.
“We started with 32 students in the
undergraduate program, and now we
have approximately 120 undergradu
ates and 20 graduate students.”
Crowe humbly credits the depart
ment’s success to all of her co-workers.
“We have a wonderful staff who are
tremendously supportive,” she said. “I
would have to give them kudos.”
But Crowe’s co-workers are quick to
compliment her.
Krista Perreira, professor of public
policy, said Crowe is particularly help
ful in aiding new faculty.
“I’ve only been in the department
for one year, but Asta has been
tremendous,” Perreira said.
“She helped make this program
accessible to faculty by showing us
See CROWE, Page 5
... , —v
—
DTH/KATE BLACKMAN
Illinois Gov. George Ryan addresses a UNC School of Law audience
Thursday afternoon about capital punishment and fairness.
Special Election
Slated to Fill Seats
By Brian Hudson
Staff Writer
With five empty seats remaining in
Student Congress, some students on
campus still are left without a legislative
voice.
A special election will be held Nov.
19 to fill District 5, a graduate student
seat, and districts 17, 18, 20 and 21,
which are all off-campus seats.
Student Body President Jen Daum
said the districts became empty for dif
ferent reasons.
“People move out of the districts,
resign due to personal reasons, or they
decide not to take the seat (after being
elected),” she said.
The last special election, held Sept.
24, left two seats vacant. Last month,
Matt O’Brien, the former speaker pro
tern, resigned after moving out of his
district.
Student government officials said
they have been working hard to adver
tise the open positions to attract poten
Broadway Great to Perform
For Memorial Hall Campaign
Composer, alumnus
to return for benefit
By Caroline Lindsey
Staff Writer
When Richard Adler graduated from
UNC in 1943, the campus lost a gifted
writer who generously donated his time
and talent to the arts.
Now, with decades of Broadway suc
cess under his belt, Adler has found a
way to give back to the University he
still loves.
He will present “An Evening With
Richard Adler” at 8 p.m. Saturday in the
Morehead Building banquet hall. The
show is a fund-raiser for the Memorial
Hall Transformation Campaign.
Adler, 81, said he will perform popu
lar songs from his musicals and talk
about the composing processes through
storytelling, audio and video.
He is famous for co-writing the 1954
Broadway musical “Pajama Game” with
the late Jerry Ross. Well-known songs
Adler wrote include “Rags to Riches,”
“Hey There” and “Whatever Lola
Wants.”
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DTH/MICHAF.LJERCH
Asta Crowe, who joined the University's Department of Public Policy
in 1991, has been an integral part of its development and growth.
Friday, November 8, 2002
tial leaders.
Speaker Tony Larson e-mailed more
than 100 student leaders to inform them
of the open seats.
“We’ve done what we can,” Daum
said. “I believe all seats will be filled in
the next special election.”
Larson said Congress still is doing a
good job of representing the student
body, even with the empty seats. “Right
now, we’re not having trouble function
ing with just five districts open,” he said.
Daum said she is looking forward to
the empty seats being filled.
“A full Congress is representative of
the student body as a. whole, so hope
fully we’ll fill the seats,” she said.
Daum said that although Congress
has been working hard, she thinks that a
full legislature carries more weight.
“Our decisions don’t have as much
voice as they would if we had a full
Congress.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
During the 19605, Adler was an arts
consultant to the White House - he
arranged Marilyn Monroe’s iconic per
formance of “Happy Birthday” for
President Kennedy in 1962.
This year, Adler received the
American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers’ Richard Ilodgers
Award for lifetime achievement.
Though his work on Broadway has
led him far and wide, Adler said return
ing to his alma mater is always exciting.
“I love coming back to Chapel Hill, and
I come as often as I can,” he said.
His interest in attending UNC was
first sparked when he read Thomas
Wolfe’s “Look Homeward, Angel” as a
teenager.
Adler said that as a student, he par
ticipated in theater and wrote a column
for The Daily Tar Heel. He also wrote a
letter to then-U.S. poet laureate Robert
Frost and single-handedly recruited him
to visit the University to recite his
poems.
Today, Adler still is trying to make
the University a better place. Adler, who
is the honorary co-chairman of the
transformation campaign, said he was
See ADLER, Page 5
3