Stye imhj (Ear Heel
GAO Report
Humbling for
Justice Dept.
Ben Sargent is always germane.
He draws “Sargent,” a cartoon
distributed through the
Universal Press Syndicate, and he
always manages to hit the point - not
always most appropriately, but the
point is hit nonetheless.
A cartoon by Sargent published this
week - which ran in The Washington
Post - depicts a
bucktoothed,
larger-than-life
John Ashcroft
clad in Santa
Claus gear. Our
attorney general
is fiddling at a
personal com
puter in the
dark. The scene
is certainly clan
destine.
A scroll is
unraveled next
NATHAN PEREZ
STATE &
NATIONAL
COLUMNIST
to the figure. It reads, “You’d better
watch out, you’d better not cry, You’d
better not pout, I’m telling you why:
He taps your phone and reads your e
mail too ...
“He’s making a list, checking it
twice, Gonna find out who’s naughty
or nice: He’s got a file on everything
you do.”
Though the rhyme is not particular
ly adept, it is an attempt to clue the
nation into the new developments
involving the Justice Department and
the top law enforcement official in the
land.
On Monday in Washington, a feder
al appeals court greatly expanded the
authority of the Justice Department to
set up wiretaps and other devices to
fight terrorism.
John Ashcroft chimed in immedi
ately, “(The decision) is a victory for
liberty, safety and the security of the
American people."
He continued, “(The ruling) revolu
tionized our ability to investigate ter
rorists and prosecute terrorist acts.”
Ashcroft is now giddy that he can
pursue a more efficient system to
process wiretap and surveillance appli
cations.
The review court commended the
Justice Department for attempting to
bridge the gap between prosecutors
and intelligence agents.
The following day, The Washington
Post ran a “tech-news” story titled
“Agencies Fail Cyber Test.”
Tucked away on page 23 of the A
section, the story reports that the
General Accounting Office - the fed
eral government’s officious watchdog
- found that many of the federal gov
ernment’s largest agencies, including
the Justice Department, had disgust
ingly low levels of computer security.
Subsequently, the House
Government Reform committee on
government efficiency gave a fading
grade of “P to 14 of 24 federal agen
cies.
The highest grade given to one of
the major agencies was bestowed upon
the Social Security Administration, a
“B-.” The GAO discovered that pre
cious information and data had been
left vulnerable and access controls
were all out of whack.
Accordingly, this poor security level
leaves most of the federal government’s
major agencies susceptible to attack by
terrorists, crooks, even teenagers.
But the chunky nougat within this
journalistic candy bar is that four of the
agencies with the worst evaluations -
failing in grand measure - were the
State Department, the Department of
Transportation, the Defense Department
(gulp) and the Justice Department (eek).
Ironically, GAO investigators noted
the importance of the solidarity of our
national computer systems with the
continued threat of a terrorist attack.
So our Justice Department has been
granted extended authority for surveil
lance purposes when its own systems
and data are an open book to nefari
ous types and hooligans?
Washington is a mad, mad world.
The juxtaposition of Ashcroft’s tri
umph with the humbling GAO report
prove much more than the fact that
national security is an inexact science.
It is doubtful that Sargent’s cartoon
intended to offer any shred of compli
ment to John Ashcroft. But he is
dressed as Santa, and we all know that
Santa is a good guy.
So maybe, just maybe, Ashcroft is
too. Possibly maniacal, certainly over
weening, he is still acting during a time
of war.
Let’s not forget that he’s forging new
ground in an arena of unique combat
with an incomprehensible enemy.
But, let’s also remember that the
United States can be made safer from
within.
If the Justice Department cannot
fight an “enemy” as ruthless as the
GAO, what good will more power do?
Nathan Perez can be reached at
nperez@email.unc.edu.
Orange County Home Prices Reach New High
Average home prices are highest in Triangle area
By Billy Ball
Staff Writer
Buyers in search of new homes in Orange
County are facing the highest prices in the
county’s history.
According to Market Opportunity Research
Enterprises, a Rocky Mount firm that analyzes
land transfer records, the average price of new
homes in Orange County swelled well beyond
the $300,000 mark in the past year.
The price of new homes jumped 13 percent,
from $289,740 last year to $327,360 this year.
The numbers coincide with a drop in new
homes sold from 643 to 596 over the past year.
4 Carl Van Horn, spokesman for the Rocky
Mount firm, said Chapel Hill’s tendency to
restrict growth played a part in the surging
prices. He also said Orange County is one of
the most expensive counties for new homes in
the state.
The new home prices for Orange County
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Freshman N.C. Hillel member Daniel Miller, a Russian language and literature major, dresses as a giant dreidel Thursday
in the Pit. Hillel members dressed as giant dreidels and made edible dreidels to let students know Hanukkah is coming up
in two weeks. Miller also danced to "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)."
Legislature's Special Session to Close
Staff & Wire Reports
RALEIGH - Legislative leaders have
agreed to end next Tuesday a special session to
redraw state House and Senate districts that
began back in the spring.
The session has been kept alive since the
N.C. General Assembly adjourned its regular
session in October. Both the House and the
Senate have held skeleton floor sessions every
three days, with only a few lawmakers attend
ing to meet a constitutional requirement.
Senate leaders have placed a joint resolution
on the floor calendar to adjourn the session
Tuesday. “I’m happy we’re adjourning,” said
Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-
Dare, on Thursday.
House leaders also have agreed to adjourn.
“I really never knew why it was being held
open,” said House Majority Leader Phil
Baddour, D-Wayne, about the special session.
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Ellen Perry, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of 2, was
recently appointed to the N.C. Council on Developmental Disabilities.
are significantly higher than in the rest of the
six-county Triangle region, a trend that is con
sistent with the past.
Orange County Planning Director Craig
Benedict said the upward trend in prices has
been continuous over the last decade.
In the Triangle, Chatham and Wake coun
ties’ housing prices have been closest to Orange
County’s since last year, at $246,400 and
$229,170 respectively. Johnston County was the
least expensive of the six counties at only
$151,721.
Durham County’s average price was
$183,577 while Franklin County’s was
$165,168.
Van Horn said Chapel Hill is the largest fac
tor in Orange County’s ballooning prices.
Orange County Commissioner Moses Carey
said the higher prices in the area might not
have anything to do with the economic climate
but more to do with the high demand for hous
ing.
DREIDEL, DREIDEL, DREIDEL
“I think it’s great it’s being
closed.”
Republicans have
charged that Democrats
were keeping the special
session alive until after the
elections to allow a lame
duck legislature controlled
by Democrats to redraw
legislative districts or to
take other steps in
response to court rulings in
a lawsuit over redistricting.
“Keeping (the session)
open demonstrated to
what great ends the
Democrats will go to keep
power,” said Rep. Sam Ellis, R-Wake, who had
repeatedly motioned to have the session closed.
Ellis said the Democrats’ closing the session
is insignificant now because they decided to
News
Benedict added that new developments in
Hillsborough might have had an impact on the
gradual price hikes as well.
Benedict said the rising costs have both pos
itive and negative aspects for residents.
He said that the surging costs can be used by
homeowners to better their equity but that the
rise also could push Orange County homes out
of some people’s price ranges. “It’s a mixed
bag,” he said.
Benedict said the county has taken steps to
provide for affordable housing in the past,
including the passage of a $4 million bond in
November 2001.
Chapel Hill planning director Roger Waldon
said the town historically has the highest costs
in the county. “This has always been a very
attractive town,” he said.
Carey agreed the high prices reflect the great
demand for homes in the county.
“People want to live here,” he said. “They’ll
pay anything to do so.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
close the session only after they determined the
party alignment in the courts would not shift in
their favor.
“They’ve adjourned it because they know
they don’t have a chance in court,” he said.
But Basnight and other Democratic leaders
said the session was kept open only because of
pending litigation. Basnight previously has said
that he has wanted to end the session for weeks.
Though the special redistricting session is
slated to end Tuesday, lawmakers still will be
faced with the task of drawing district lines
when they head back to Raleigh in January.
The fines under which this year’s election was
held were drawn by a Superior Court judge and
could stand only for the 2002 election cycle.
Regardless of partisan differences over redis
tricting, Ellis said, he would like to see
Democrats and Republicans in both chambers
work together to get the job done efficiently
during the 2003 session.
Senate President
Pro Tem
Marc Basnight
said he is happy to
finally adjourn the
special session.
By Kelly Ochs
Staff Writer
Ellen Perry has had to learn how to
walk at least five times in her life.
At age 2, she was diagnosed with
cerebral palsy after her parents
brought her to the doctor with con
cerns that she still was not walking or
talking.
With the help of leg
braces, Perry has mas
_ tered walking. And
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her disability has
not held her back
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involvement,
' even though surg
eries to help her
walk with more ease have forced her
to relearn to use her legs several times.
She holds spots on several commit
tees, but Perry also leads a busy
lifestyle elsewhere in the community.
She is a Girl Scout leader and also
works one day a week at the Granville
Towers cafeteria in addition to work
ing two days to four days a week at the
Century Center in Carrboro.
“She has cerebral palsy, but that
hasn’t slowed her down,” said Sen.
Elbe Kinnaird, D-Orange, who has
appointed Perry to local committees
See PERRY, Page 4
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2 Congress Seats
Still Open After
O'Brien Re-elected
Former speaker pro tem secures
5 of 7 votes cast Thursday
By John Lipps
Staff Writer
Senior Matt O’Brien was re-elected to Student Congress
with five votes Thursday during a special election held after
technical problems hindered Tuesday’s election.
Upon being re-elected, O’Brien said he might have aspira
tions of filling a soon-to-be vacant speaker position.
The election, which took place from 7 a.m to 10 p.m on
Student Central, was only for districts 16, 19 and 21, which
were affected by the glitch Tuesday. O’Brien will represent
District 19. No votes were cast for candidates in districts 16
and 21.
Brian Fauver, Board of Elections chairman, said that 71
total ballots were cast in District 19 but that because comput
er problems only seven of them were from students in the cor
rect district.
Kristin Taylor from District 16 and Ben Davidson of District
19 resigned after the Nov. 14 Congress meeting.
Rob Godfrey was elected to District 21 on Sept. 24 but was
expelled on Oct. 15 for attending only one Congress meeting.
Few votes also were cast for the winners of Tuesday’s spe
cial election. Sophomore Sarah Marske was elected to District
12 with six votes; Nathaniel Cadle, a graduate student, was
elected to District 5 with five votes; and junior Bill Teeter was
elected to District 20 with three votes.
Officials said that 105 students were counted as voting in
Tuesday’s election but that most of those votes were not actu
ally cast. Fauver said that the software glitch counted all those
students who entered the voting section of Student Central as
having cast votes.
Fauver said that because of Thursday’s computer error on
Student Central, students did not know whether they were eli
gible to vote in their district. He added that officials will be
working to correct the problem.
O’Brien said he quickly accepted his election to his
Congress seat. O’Brien, who earlier in the year had to resign
from Student Congress for moving out of his original district,
said he was excited about being re-elected. “I was anxious for
the election,” he said. “I’ve been very excited about the
prospect of being back on Student Congress.”
O’Brien also said he is seriously considering running for
Congress’ speaker position for next semester. Tony Larson, the
current speaker, is graduating at the end of the semester.
“I’m going to look into the idea and see if I’m ready,” he
said. “I’ve only had a short absence (from Congress), so I
haven’t lost my place.”
See ELECTION, Page 4
Florida Universities' BOG
Modeled on UNC System
By Matt Crook
Staff Writer
Florida state universities will be gov
erned by a single entity under an amend
ment approved Nov. 5-a plan that is
modeled on the UNC system but that
will not require legislative oversight on
decisions made by the governing body.
Under the new system, a 17-member
board of governors will make decisions
concerning the state’s higher education
system. Fourteen members will be
appointed by the state legislature. The
board also will have student and facul
ty representation.
Each school will maintain an inde
pendent board of trustees, but their
memberships will be reduced and com
positions changed.
The new system will be similar in struc
ture to the UNC system, said Brad Bartel,
provost of Florida Gulf Coast University.
The 16-campus UNC system is gov
erned by a 34-member board, including a
nonvoting student and a former N.C. gov
ernor, who holds a lifetime membership.
Each school has an independent board of
trustees. System budget requests must be
approved by the N.C. General Assembly.
Though the system being established
in Florida is similar to North Carolina’s,
some officials say the UNC-system
Friday, November 22, 2002
model is not ideal. The UNC-system
BOG has been criticized by some legis
lators, who think it is too large to be effec
tive. The complaints led to a legislative
study commission charged with review
ing die board’s structure and function.
Commission Chairman Tony Rand,
D-Cumberland, said he thinks the BOG
should be much smaller and more decen
tralized, giving individual boards of
trustees increased power. Rand, N.C.
Senate majority leader, added that the
smaller Florida BOG is a potential model
for a revision of the UNC-system board.
Former UNC-system President Bill
Friday said size is not the only important
difference between the systems. The
Florida system is a constitutional body,
eliminating the need for the state legisla
ture to approve policy such as university
funding, he said. “It’s a constitutional
body; it eliminates gubernatorial control.”
Friday, who was in charge of the
UNC system when it was formed more
than 30 years ago, is acting as a consul
tant for Florida as it crafts its new system.
Friday said he thinks the UNC sys
tem is a good model because it has pre
vented duplication of degree programs,
led to wise use of money arid increased
colleges’ rankings.
See FLORIDA, Page 4
3