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Volume 111, Issue 8
Officials Prepare for 5 to 10 Percent Cut
University's budget won't be set for months
By Caroline Kornegay
Staff Writer
As UNC-Chapel Hill officials wait
today for word from Raleigh on Gov.
Mike Easley’s proposal for the state bud
get, administrators are preparing con
tingency plans for the University’s
finances should it face a 5 percent to 10
percent budget cut.
In fight of past budget cuts, Provost
Owners
Dislike
Sprinkler
Proposal
By Ryan C. Tuck
Staff Writer
On Monday night, the Chapel Hill
Town Council voted to explore the pos
sibility of requiring bars and nightclubs
to install sprinkler systems, but most of
the businesses that could be affected
have not reacted positively.
The council voted after hearing a
report from Fire Chief Dan Jones that
demonstrated the hazards associated
with businesses that serve alcoholic bev
erages while having 50 or more people
in the facility.
The recent increased awareness of
fire hazards in bars and nightclubs arose
after The Station nightclub in Rhode
Island caught
fire, killing at
least 98 people.
The proposal
would require all
new businesses
that serve alco
holic beverages in
a facility that holds
50 or more people
to install sprinklers
before receiving
their certificates of
occupancy. All
businesses would
have to install the
sprinkler systems
within five years
or have their cer-
“We’ve had
every aspect of
our operation
inspected, and
just because a
tragedy happens
somewhere else
doesn’t make
us unsafe. ”
Larry Eldridge
Linda's Owner
tificates of occupancy revoked.
Although the council only voted to
discuss the possibility with state legisla
tors, local bar and club owners already
are speaking out against the endeavor.
Jared Resnick, owner of West End
Wine Bar, said the requirement is ludi
crous. He shares the opinion of the
owners of He’s Not Here and The Cave.
“It’s sad what happened in Rhode
Island, but it was not due to the fact that
they did not have sprinklers,” he said.
“They were using packing material in
their walls to absorb the sound, which
caused the fire."
He added, “Requiring additional
sprinklers would be an unsubstantiated,
ridiculous expense.”
Larry Eldridge, owner of Linda’s Bar
& Grill, said that when tragedies like
this occur, people always re-evaluate
every detail of the affected businesses.
“We’ve had every aspect of our oper
ation inspected, and just because a
tragedy happens somewhere else does
n’t make us unsafe,” Eldridge said.
Most local bar and club owners think
the proposal could hurt business.
Jeb Marlowe, manager of Hell, the
council needs to be sure such a measure
is necessary before applying it to local
businesses, which already are suffering.
“They need to examine if it is really
See BARS, Page 6
Learning the Ropes
In chambers filled with seasoned legislators, three
young lawmakers are trying to make their mark.
See Page 7
Robert Shelton advised administrators to
begin their budgeting process for the next
fiscal year by creating alternate funding
plans anticipating cutbacks by the state
legislature in the UNC system’s funding.
Shelton said that in a letter sent
Tuesday to UNC-CH deans and vice
chancellors, he asked them to create
plans for different scenarios should fund
ing be cut 5 percent or 10 percent as a
result of the state’s expected $2 billion
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Kim Calhoun, a Chapel Hill resident, leads protesters down Franklin Street on Tuesday afternoon. Protesters, demonstrating against a
possible war in Iraq, covered themselves with sheets and anti-war slogans for their march across campus and down Franklin Street.
ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS
EXERCISE RIGHT TO BARE
By Jenni Norman
Staff Writer
Only one word can stop a college student
dead in his tracks - naked.
On Tuesday evening, students munched on
sandwiches and sipped coffee in the Pit as a buzz
of anticipation fluttered from mouth to mouth.
By 5:30 p.m., about 250 students and a
handful of University police were gathered to
watch -or gawk -as the Naked People for
Peace Procession marched into the Pit.
The protesters appeared swathed in white
sheets with the phrase “end war” spray-painted
across the sheets in blood-red lettering.
University police officers arrived in the area
ahead of time to monitor the protest.
“There’s an appropriate way to protest that
the University has long recognized,” said Police
Chief Derek Poarch. Poarch said the job of
University police is to protect freedom of
expression.
Liz Mason-Deese, co-coordinator for the
Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence, said she
supported the protest despite the spectacle atmos
phere it generated. “Hopefully this will draw
attention to the anti-war movement,” Deese said.
“Any way to get the message across is good.”
As the protesters made their way to the Pit,
initial reactions were as diverse as the students who were present. A smat
tering of students even booed and jeered. Other students clapped and
cheered. The protesters, remaining silent and holding their heads high,
formed a human chain along their way.
“No more naked aggression,” a half-naked protester yelled as the proces
sion paused in the Pit. “No blood for oil.”
The protesters revealed different messages using their bodies. One activist
boasted white face paint and a single red tear on his cheek.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
budget shortfall.
Though unsure of the exact nature of
the cuts, Shelton said, “I’m sure we’ll
have cuts. I’m sure it’ll be single digits.”
The early plans, while mostly hypo
thetical, serve a specific purpose in the
first steps of the University’s budgeting
process. “It’s to try to get an overview (of
the cuts) and to try to see how it all fits
together,” Shelton said.
The last permanent cut, administered
in October, reduced University alloca
tions by 3 percent, but a round of tem
porary reductions brought the total cuts
Jmi ii'
Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue.
John Kenneth Galbraith
Final Push
UNC tries to keep postseason
hopes alive at Wake.
See Page 7
Wednesday, March 5, 2003
to nearly S2O million. Administrators are
preparing to begin this budgetary cycle
by planning for possible future cuts.
Jeff Davies, ONC-system vice presi
dent for finance, said the system’s bud
get is likely to be slashed. “We’ve had
significant budget cuts over the last cou
ple of years.”
Shelton said the contingency plans he
requested in his letter will help assess how
broad of an impact the cuts will have.
Kevin Fitz Gerald, who serves as a
liaison between the University and the
N.C. General Assembly, said die deans’
protest was defeating its purpose.
“What about the innocent fives that Saddam’s taking right now?" he asked.
Wemick said it was ridiculous to call the war “a war for oil” and labeled
the procession a publicity stunt.
But protester Chuck Morton said the publicity is what the group desired.
Fellow protester Ryan O’Dell agreed. “We hope to accomplish more vis
ibility, so to speak,” he said. “It’s one more way to get the word out”
The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.
l)
plans will be written in the context that
the state still is suffering from an eco
nomic downturn.
Administrators are waiting on the
governor’s budget proposal, which will
be released at 9:30 a.m. today.
Fitz Gerald said that he listened on
Monday to Easley’s State of the State
address and that he does not think the
governor’s budget will call for any dras
tic cuts to the University’s funding.
“He’ll be making SSOO million in
(recurring) cuts,” Fitz Gerald said, refer
ring to permanent cuts. “We’re hoping
The procession did not contain itself to the
Pit. The chain made its way through Polk Place
and to Franklin Street, stopping to gather around
the flags in the quad and outside the post office.
“There is no flag that can cover the stain of
innocent blood," the group chanted on the quad.
The procession drew people from all ages
and walks of fife, both pro-war and anti-war.
Behm Williams, a student at Culbreth Middle
School, followed the march to Hanes Art
Center. “I can’t believe we’re actually coming
together like this,” Williams said. “It’s great.”
UNC junior Chris Cymbalak and his cousin
Piotr Lipski watched the protesters outside the
Franklin Street post office. “They want atten
tion; they’re getting attention,” Cymbalak said.
Lipski, who is from Poland, said that the
protest was a great idea but that he was sur
prised to see it. He added that there are no
naked protests in Poland.
As the march wove its way up Franklin
Street toward Columbia Street, reactions from
onlookers were mixed. Most stared in shock,
while others made their opinions more vocal.
“Support our troops,” a woman yelled through
her car window. The protesters rebuffed,
“Support our troops; bring them home.”
Richard Wemick, a UNC student, said the
Weather
Today: A.M. Showers; H 68, L 51
Thursday: T-Storms; H 60, L 32
Friday: Partly Cloudy; H 62, L 45
www.dailytarheel.com
for some additional money.”
The plans created by the deans are
possible worst-case scenarios that
administrators would have to face.
“A reduction at 5 to 10 percent would
significandy harm the University,”
Davies said.
In the College of Arts and Sciences,
departments are beginning to feel the
strain of annual budget cuts.
“I think it’s becoming devastating to
morale to ask teachers to teach under
See BUDGET, Page 6
Congress
Overrides
IDC Veto
By Megan Davis
Staff Writer
Congress members voted 18-2
Tuesday to overturn Student Body
President Jen Daum’s veto on a bill they
passed allocating $95 to the
Independent Defense Counsel.
The bill, originally passed Feb. 18 by
Congress, was vetoed by Daum the
next day.
The funding requested by IDC was
intended for printing and publicity pur
poses, and according to IDC officials, it
was necessary because the student'attor
ney general didn’t make it clear to
clients that IDC is an option for them.
Daum said Tuesday in her address to
Congress that she vetoed the bill
because she does not support the pro-
See CONGRESS, Page 6
1 | *
DTH/ELSPETH CALLAHAN
Gov. Mike Easley pushed for a
line-item veto in nis State of the
State address Monday.
Line-Item
Veto Could
Shift Power
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Senior Writer
In no uncertain terms, Gov. Mike
Easley made it clear Monday in his
State of the State address that he will
veto this year’s budget if it contains any-
thing he
believes is
inappropriate.
He even
went so far as
to call for the
N.C. General
Assembly to enact a line-item veto this
session -a policy that is viewed as kryp
tonite by legislators hesitant to cede
political power.
See VETO, Page 6
i *, • 4 t 4 4
* *i* t *
Line-Item Veto:
Gives the governor the
ability to strike out or
change a single item in
any appropriations bill.