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COLIN SUTKER
CITY COLUMNIST
Town must
diversify
businesses
As warmer weather makes
its way up north, the town
of Chapel Hill is shedding
its winter clothes, embracing a
greener, lusher look.
The past few days have been
some of the most beautiful this
town has ever seen, thanks to a
wet, early spring.
But Chapel Hill has seen better
times.
Financially, Franklin Street is
no longer the economic power
house of Chapel Hill that it used
to be.
Some have criticized Franklin
Street stores for catering more
and more to students.
The result has been shops that
offer very little for the rest of the
professional community, forcing
them to do most of their buying
in either New Hope Commons or
Streets at South Point, both in
Durham.
Lining Franklin Street are
bars, trinket shops and restau
rants, all of which depend heavily
on the student buck.
Unfortunately for some of
them, most students do not have
an incredible amount of cash to
sling around certainly not
enough to sustain Franklin Street
all by themselves.
With too many shops and not
enough moola to go around, it's
no surprise downtown looks
more like a mouth missing a cou
ple of teeth.
But the Downtown
Commission, charged with main
taining and revitalizing Chapel
Hill’s charm and economic
strength, received more evidence
last week that Chapel Hill should
focus more on attracting long
term businesses that focus less on
students.
A report, compiled by the
Baltimore-based University
Retail Group, states that a mix
ture of both short- and long-term
business would provide Chapel
Hill with a more effective eco
nomic presentation.
Adhering to the report would
involve courting more national
businesses to Franklin Street
than there already are.
The commission focuses on
keeping a 80/20 ratio of local to
national business.
And while some will haw over
the loss of local independent
businesses, their earnings aren’t
meeting standards.
National businesses attract a
larger number of customers than
local ones look only to
South Point for proof —and local
businesses'would benefit from
increased customer traffic.
And while perhaps residents
do not shop in Chapel Hill as
much as they used to, they still
identify strongly with the town,
something the Family of
Communities campaign wants to
embellish.
The campaign’s message is to
promote the integration of
Orange County into the rest of
the Triangle region.
Organizers hope by doing this
they will strengthen ties between
the communities within the
Triangle in relationships that
would benefit all.
Chapel Hill has a unique
opportunity to turn business
trends around and embrace both
national business and community
integration.
The downtown could both
attract its own locals and others
from around the region, making
Chapel Hill business known for
more than Tar Heel T-shirts.
As old practices are becoming
increasingly ineffective, Chapel
Hill is counting on a well-organ
ized game plan of regional and
national integration to help the
town bloom into anew era of
economic development.
Contact Colin Sutker
at cosu@email.unc.edu.
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Co-sponsored by University W6dll6sdfly/ Mflrch 26/ 2003 frOITI 9*oo GIITI ■ 1 2*30 pm
Career Services and the Carmichael Auditorium J
School of Education All students and majors are welcome!
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BOT could act on traffic, parking
BY JOHN LIPPS
STAFF WRITER
The UNC Board of Thistees’
Finance Committee will meet
today to vote on proposed changes
to the ordinance regulating traffic
and parking on campus.
The Advisory Committee on
Transportation has proposed
major changes to the ordinance,
including anew sliding-scale per
mit pricing policy that is based on
employees’ and students’ incomes.
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OTH FILE PHOTO/LIZ WINTER
Town Council member Mark Kleinschmidt (above left) is one of two openly gay elected officials in the area. Carrboro
Alderman John Herrera (below) is the only first-generation Hispanic immigrant in N.C. municipal government.
Minority leaders stress
need to push for diversity
BY MAGGIE KAO
SENIOR WRITER
After years of paving the way for
progressive communities in the state,
Chapel Hill and Carrboro minority
leaders say the towns still have a jour
ney ahead on the road to equality.
Several elected officials weren’t sur
prised by a recent survey that revealed
that almost 42 percent of Carrboro
minorities think race relations in the
town are poor to fair, as compared to
more than 23 percent of white resi
dents who expressed the same.
The survey also showed that
minorities believe citizen input is less
important to local governments' deci
sion-making.
Valerie Foushee, a Chapel Hill-
Carrboro Board of Education member
and a native of Chapel Hill, said she
became involved in town issues out of
concern for minority representation.
“I wanted to serve to ensure that all
students would have an equal oppor
tunity,” Foushee said.
3rd high school
may worsen traffic
BY RYAN C. TUCK
STAFF WRITER
The highly congested Smith
Level Road received anew compli
cation Thursday when the Chapel
Hill-Carrboro Board of Education
approved anew 1,000-student
high school on the adjacent Rock
Haven Road.
With the approval of the Rock
Haven site, traffic on Smith Level
is bound to get worse.
The N.C. Department of
Transportation wants to add two
lanes to a span of Smith Level Road
between Rock Haven and Morgan
Creek roads to alleviate traffic.
But March 18, the Carrboro
Board of Aldermen decided
NCDOT’s proposal for Smith Level
Road was not the best plan.
The board unanimously passed
a resolution requesting instead that
NCDOT install intermittent medi
ans, turning lanes, crosswalks, bus
pull-offs, bike lanes and gutters.
The board said the NCDOT plan
Top News
If the sliding-scale plan is imple
mented, permit prices will increase
5 percent each year for five years for
students and employees earning less
than $50,000 per year. That rate
would increase to 10 percent for
those who earn between $50,000
and SIOO,OOO and to 20 percent for
those earning more than SIOO,OOO.
Derek Poarch, UNC police chief
and ACT chairman, highlighted the
sliding scale as one of the suggest
ed changes that best addresses the
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DTH FILE PHOTO/HUNTER McRAE
Foushee said the school system has
made great strides in minority student
achievement since she took office. But
she added that area schools need to
continue on the path to equality for all
students.
“I see a movement to provide equal
access, but I don’t think we're there
right now," Foushee said.
Carrboro Alderman John Herrera
agrees with Foushee that the towns have
room for improvement but also remains
enthusiastic in his praise for the area.
“I think that the town of Carrboro is
DTH/STAFF
is flawed because it doesn’t include
estimates taken since the introduc
tion of Chapel Hill Transit’s fare
free bus program, which has
increased ridership by 42 percent.
Another concern for the aider
men was that widening the road
merely would facilitate traffic cut
ting through Carrboro to the
SEE HIGH SCHOOL, PAGE 6
needs of UNC’s five-year parking
and transportation plan. “This will
help out our employees with lower
salaries,” he said. Poarch added that
he would like to do more to help
employees but that permit prices
will increase for only five years.
Poarch would not predict how
the proposed changes will be
received by the BOT, but he said all
the suggestions have been through
ACT and UNC’s vice chancellors
and reviewed by the BOT’s
one of the most open societies in the
country,” he said.
“Carrboro really appreciates diver
sity not only of race but also of
ideas, lifestyles, religions and age."
Since his election last year, Herrera
said, he has had a positive experience
serving as the only first-generation
Hispanic immigrant in N.C. municipal
government.
Herrera, a native of Costa Rica,
came to study in the United States in
1984 and has lived in Carrboro since
1992. “I feel a big responsibility to bet
ter represent the people of Carrboro
and bring a voice that was not there
before,” he said.
But Herrera also expressed concerns
about the inclusive nature of Carrboro
town government. He said it is difficult
for working residents and minorities to
be involved in decision-making when
town positions require so much time.
“I think it’s really hard to be a per-
SEE LEADERS, PAGE 6
Conservatives counter anti-war protests
BY JOE SAUNDERS
STAFF WRITER
While anti-war protesters have
constituted the most vocal politi
cal movement on campus in recent
weeks, many conservative-minded
students said their convictions in
support of President Bush and the
war with Iraq are just as strong.
In addition to demonstrations
and protests, students have
expressed their support for the war
in various ways.
Allie Perry, president of College
Republicans, said her organization
has been participating in activities
that allow students the opportuni
ty to voice their support for U.S.
troops and the war effort.
Next week, College Republicans
will set up a table in the Pit and
give students an opportunity to
sign cards and write messages of
encouragement for the troops in
Iraq, Perry said. “We’ll send them
to Fort Bragg,” Perry said. “Then
they’ll send them to the troops.”
Lisa Andrews, second vice chair
woman of College Republicans,
said the group is not so much ded-
SEE SUPPORT, PAGE 6
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003
Buildings and Grounds Committee.
ACT has worked on the planned
changes to the ordinance since July.
Faculty Council Chairwoman
Sue Estroff said she thinks the
BOT will accept the changes as
they are. Estroff, who stressed the
many hours and meetings that
resulted in the proposed changes,
said she is especially proud of the
sliding scale for permit prices.
“The big news is that we volun
teered to have the people who
CAPS site
addresses
war anxiety
BY LIZZIE STEWART
STAFF WRITER
Anxiety isn’t uncommon among college students
who juggle pressure from school, work and relation
ships.
But as the nation grows more absorbed in its war
with Iraq, students might begin to feel more anxious
than usual.
UNC’s
Counseling and
Psychological
Service has cre
ated a Web site
that explains
how the war in
Iraq might con
tribute to stu
dents’ anxieties,
prompting those students to adjust their lifestyles to
ease tension.
“Given the pending situation that we have, we want
our students to have something to help them cope
with the things that they might experience,” said John
Edgerly, director of CAPS.
Edgerly said that many students who have used the
page found the Web site helpful and that practicing
the tips on the Web site eased their anxieties.
Students perceive the Web site as a step in the right
direction to recognize and attempt to solve the problem
of war anxiety in students. “It’s a good idea.... There’s
definitely students here who would benefit from it,” said
freshman political science major Sophie Pearson.
For students who have family or friends in the mil
itary, the Web site offers students a place to discuss
things such as anxiety caused by the war, she said.
Andrea Montoute, a freshman music major, said
she understands firsthand where this anxiety comes
from. Montoute’s brother was deployed just before
President Bush gave his ultimatum to Saddam
Hussein.
“We have no clue where (my brother) is,” Montoute
said. “It adds to the anxiety; I want to have some way
of contacting him.”
Common symptoms of anxiety include fatigue, irri
tability and difficulty concentrating, to name a few.
Suggestions to ease anxiety include a regular sleep
pattern, a balanced diet and regular exercise.
The Web site also suggests that students talk open
ly with others about their feelings and make room in
their schedules for recreation and relaxation.
Some students appreciate what the service has to
offer even if they don't see themselves benefiting from
it personally. “It's probably a good thing for everyone,
but especially for those who have family over there,”
said Amanda Goodwin, a junior chemistry major.
The Web site attempts to get students engaged in
SEE CAPS, PAGE 6
DTH FILE PHOTO/LAURA MORTON
Freshman Livingston Sheats attends a pro-war rally Saturday. Many
students have expressed their support for the war in Iraq.
make more pay more,” she said.
“How often does that happen?”
Poarch said that in the event the
BOT does not choose to adopt all
the changes, it could choose to
accept some and reject others.
Estroff pointed out that last year
the BOT rejected the proposal for
nighttime parking but accepted
other proposed changes.
ACTs original proposal included
SEE BOT, PAGE 6
heel; notes
■ What: Support group for students
with family or loved ones in the military
■ When: Tuesdays, 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
beginning April 1
■ Where: CAPS, third floor of the
Student Health Service building
■ How: Call 966-3658 to register
SOURCE: http://CAPS.unc.edu/GW.htm
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