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% Sally ®ar Mpri Department Plan Equals Fuzzy Math The Bush administration’s grasp of arithmetic is uncanny. Five months of debate, one congressional inquiry, two ousted Democratic senators, 535 congress men who hate the taste of lame duck and voila - the Department of Homeland Security is bom. Originally the brainchild of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, the notion of a consolidat- ed national secu rity department has ebbed and flowed, not with public opinion but with the suc cesses and fail ures of Washington’s power players. This summer the Homeland Security Bill was all but dead. Senate Majority f NATHAN PEREZ STATE & NATIONAL COLUMNIST Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and the boys were ready to hit the mat for the removal of the bill’s anti-labor provi sions. But a series of new developments have positioned the Republican legion, and they’re ecstatic. As possibly the most highly publi cized legislation since Bush’s tax cut, the bill effectively removed Max Cleland, D-Ga., and Jean Carnahan, D-Mo. -some of the bill’s harshest critics - from the Senate. Labeled as the most significant gov ernment reorganization in a half-cen tury, the bill, which passed the House on Wednesday, will most likely pass the Senate now that soon-to-be-former Majority Leader Daschle said he will vote to deny a filibuster. Months ago, when Democrats seemed to have a say in politics, they objected to the unbridled power the Homeland Security Bill would offer the president. Democratic legislators specifically took issue with parts of the bill affecting thousands of union work ers. A few revisions were made in the House, but ultimately the president can waive union rights for any of the 170,000 employees as long as he noti fies the union. The buck stops there. The bill also will transfer several major agencies to the new department, including the Coast Guard, the Border Patrol, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Secret Service. It fractures the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, assigning its law enforcement responsibilities to the Justice Department while leaving the Treasury Department in charge of funding. Homeland Security also arms our pilots, if they so choose. And the bill reeks of military-indus trial cronyism - allowing companies with government defense contracts to manufacture overseas to avoid taxes - all in the name of national security. But the national security argument is wearing thin. A century ago, with the passage of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which mandated the dissolution of businesses that act “in restraint of trade,” everyone and their mother shouted, “in restraint of trade.” Few knew what it meant. Even fewer understand that catch phrases can’t stand alone, even in the name of national security. Democrats made some pretty good points to that effect, but their strategy failed well before the election setbacks on Nov. 5. They should have noted that agen cies this large are always mired in end less bureaucratic blood-red tape. They should have brought to light the fact that the motivating factor for the new department, the improvement of national intelligence, is not an issue that can be rectified by adding another component The FBI and CIA held all the information about the Sept 11 attacks in their hands - analysis was where they failed. Another rival would not have helped. Why has no one realized that the new department will be reactionary by nature? It is a creation for defense, and as the new war on terrorism has proved, the best defense is a fiery offense. Object to the fine print of die bill or scoff at its personnel stipulations, but marvel at the beauty of a president who knows how to get exacdy what he wants with a minimum of contention. This guy might be more slick than “Slick Willy” himself. The best and only necessary logic to dispel the Homeland Security Bill is that even our legislators don’t under stand the full implications of what they’re doing. Just a reminder though - they are still doing it Nathan Perez can be reached at nperez@email.unc.edu. Astronaut Talks About Missions, Challenges By Alex Granados Staff Writer The inspirational words of astronaut Nancy Currie entranced the stargazers of Chapel Hill on Thursday at the Morehead Planetarium. Currie, a veteran of four space mis sions amounting to more than 1,000 hours in space, spoke about her experi ences as an astronaut The feature of the presentation was a film of Currie’s most recent mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The 12-day mission was a grueling one. It included five space walks in a row during which the telescope was ser viced. “It is quite an event to be up there for 12 days,” Currie said. “About six days into it, we were sleeping four hours a night” The program was organized by Spacetalk, a student organization started last year by Kate Harris, a sophomore \ LA mr 9 ?' h jfl|gf|| "SSSSSSS ■ ilif alJBr (HfW - jßp * DTH/JONATHAN SAAS Sophomore Josh Cooper hands a Dance Marathon flier to senior Jared Clark on Thursday. Dance Marathon organizers spent the week recruiting dancers for the February event. Today is the last day to sign up. Deadline Today to Participate In 24-Hour Dance Marathon By Jennifer Johnson Staff Writer The UNC Dance Marathon is a few months away, but chances are you’re hearing about it already. The marathon kicks off Feb. 21 and goes straight through Feb. 22, but meet ings began last March, and the deadline for dancer applications is here. The first UNC Dance Marathon took place in 1999 and raised $40,000 for the Cuban Missile Crisis Professor's Passion HKI, DTH/RFTH FLOYD Political science Professor Timothy McKeown is an expert on the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. biology major, as a way to promote the space sciences and bring diem to stu dents interested in the field. “We are just a bunch of kids who are really passionate about space explo ration,” Harris said. Last year’s speaker was Robert Zubrin, an advocate of Mars explo- ration. Harris said she hopes to bring at least one speaker to the University each year. After a technical discussion of the Hubble mission, Currie answered some of the audi ence’s more down- “It’s quite an event to be up there for 12 days. About six days into it, we were sleeping four hours a night. ” Nancy Currie Astronaut to-earth questions about space travel. The audience asked everything from “What do you do in your spare time?” to questions about why the Russians allow people to pay to fly into space. N.C. Children’s Hospital after founder Michael Bucy recruited 13 people to be part of the committee. Last year tbe marathon raised 5122J209 with the help of 400 student volunteers and 577 dancers. Each year, the 24-hour event is host to guest speakers, UNC performing groups and the children from the hospi tal to give the dancers a break. The money goes directly to the families and patients of the hospital to cover costs not associated with Medicaid or medical By Tina Chang Staff Writer Timothy McKeown, a UNC political science professor, said he believes history can be the best teacher. McKeown is an expert on the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. His extensive research on the conflict has produced scholarly papers and published books. His background helps him assess foreign policies, espe cially dealing with the United States’ relations with the Middle East after Sept 11. [m editorial in The (Raleigh) News & Observer about the plan ning failures that occurred. “That was my main way of reaching a broader audience.” Widely considered an expert on the Cuban Missile Crisis, McKeown said that he did not plan to study the tense time in history but that his interest piqued after he stumbled upon the Hubert Humphrey papers, which out lined details about the missile crisis. “What I found was fascinating - what we thought was the genesis of the missile crisis was wrong, and we had missed important pieces of information," he said. McKeown wanted to research more about how the U.S. got involved in die missile crisis. “The government planned appropriate responses, but the planning went nowhere,” he said. See McKEOWN, Page 5 News Currie said astronauts’ spare time is mostly spent staring down at the earth, but her answer regarding the Russian space program was more complicated. “The reality is the Russians are very, very strapped,” she said. She said that for the Russians to meet their budget, it is necessary for them to accept paying customers. But it is not like ly that the U.S. space program will be doing anything like diat in the future. “You will never see the U.S. have paid positions on the shuttle,” she said. This might have disappointed some of the audience, which was made up of children, parents and students, but they were too interested in the rest of the pro gram to care. insurance. In the past, the money has been used to pay a family’s electrical bill, buy clothing and buy holiday dinners. Junior Dana Gottheim who is in charge of raising funds on campus, said there is no specific goal for the marathon. “We don’t have an actual number goal, we just always try to do better than the last year.” Today at 5 p.m. is the deadline for dancer applications, which can be filled See MARATHON Page 5 “My interest in the Cuban Missile Crisis came mostly from living through it,” _ McKeown said. “I remember as a child B thinking there would be a war between the Soviet Union and the U.S., and all ■Up the adults were really worried." b\ To commemorate the 40th anniver sary of the Cuban Missile Crisis on Oct 16 through Oct 28, McKeown wrote an Freshman Harry Chizhikov was alert ed to the program by the Academic Enhancement Program, but he said he has always had an interest in space-relat ed topics. “In high school, I have done many projects in that field,” he said. “I just think it is interesting.” Graduate student Adam Hall said he was happy with Currie. “The talk itself was fantastic,” he said. But Hall said that his reason for attending was not frivolous and that the speech relates to his studies. “I came here because I want to be an astronaut.” But it would be good for the future astronaut to remember that space explo ration is not all fun and games. Currie said going back to earth can be difficult. “The transition back to real life is one of the most trying parts of being an astronaut” The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu. OWASA Votes Not to Raise Water Rates Lifting of area water restrictions could make up for lost funds By Aishia LaDean Crayton Staff Writer The board of directors of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority voted Thursday not to raise rates for the 2002-03 fis cal year. A temporary increase in rates, fees and charges was con sidered to counteract the budget deficit that could potentially occur as a result of the drought the area suffered, “We had anticipated continuing water restrictions,” said Judith Weseman, secretary-treasurer of the board. “We have to maintain a certain ratio of revenue to debt or potentially risk having bond rates worsened and costs being raised. “Because we have plenty of water to sell, we’ll have plen ty of revenue to make or exceed our expected ratio to debt” The utility saw a 20 percent decrease in water use as a result of the strict water restrictions that were in place since early summer. This drop, while the desired effect of the restrictions, cost OWASA a projected $1.2 million. OWASA’s staff also is concerned about funding potential water purchases in the coming fiscal year should the area relapse into a severe drought OWASA also must repay a certain amount of money it has credited to it The utility’s staff was concerned that the avail able funds would fall short of what was required. Peter Gordon, vice chairman of the board, said given the sudden rain, it is not necessary to adopt a rate change at this time. “Heavy rains have made it unlikely that we will need to purchase water,” he said. “That has saved our budget, so we won’t need to raise rates.” Not only did the rain impact the board’s decision, but OWASA’s Budget and Financial Planning Committee said the board should abandon the proposed temporary rate adjust ment The committee members plan to reduce operational spend ing by 2 percent to 4 percent to offset the potential deficit This percentage will come from a reduction in spending and being more frugal with OWASA operations. Fpllowing the public hearing on rate adjustment, OWASA Utilities Engineer Mary Darr presented a plan for the selection of a qualified consulting firm that will begin designs for the renovation of the OWASA administration building. See OWASA, Page 5 UNC, State Benefit When Schools Work Together Collaboration ups grants, opportunities By Jessica Bonnem Staff Writer UNC-Chapel Hill has been following a national trend by increasing participa tion in joint research programs, which officials say has enhanced the University’s positive impact on North Carolina’s eco nomic and social problems. “The days of a single faculty member receiving funding and holing himself up in an office with a computer are long gone,” said Tim Carey, director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-CH, which often works joindv with other institutions. It is difficult to estimate how much of UNC-CH’s research is gathered in con junction with other universities, but Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research, said he thinks it is a considerable amount UNC has worked with most research universities in the country, Waldrop said. Some of the University’s most common partners are located in North Carolina, including Duke University, N.C. State University, N.C. Central University and Winston-Salem State University, he said. When UNC-CH partners with other N.C. institutions, the research yields Friday, November 15, 2002 ■ Bp* 1 'jl SriLtfwjj DTH/JON KIRBY Astronaut Nancy Currie signs autographs at Morehead Planetarium on Thursday night. large amounts of money that flow through the state’s economy, said Michael Luger, director of the Office of Economic Development “The important thing about the research budget is most external funding comes from outside die state,” he said. “The most valuable dollars are those brought into the state and multiplied by the state.” The money cycles through the state’s economy as programs spend money on salaries, supplies and technolog)’, Luger said. “There is more money in (con sumers’) pockets to spend on food, hous ing and transportation,” he said. “And a lot of that, most of that, is spent in North Carolina.” The amount of money available to be dispersed through the state’s economy increases when UNC-CH collaborates with other in-state universities, Luger said. “(Combined) reputation and a com bination of resources lets us collective ly compete for grants that we otherwise would not have gotten,” he said. “(Collaboration) makes it much more attractive to funders.” Despite the far-reaching financial ben efits that joint research programs offer to North Carolina, the state has been forced to cut funding to the University because of persistent budget shortfalls. See JOINT PROGRAMS, Page 5 3
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