VOLUME 111, ISSUE 50
UNC hosts summer reading round table
LEGISLATORS DISCUSS BOOK CHOICE AND SELECTION PROCESS
BY ARMAN TOLENTINO
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
The underlying goal of UNC’s
Summer Reading Program— to
generate dialogue and debate
has been achieved, even though
incoming students won’t officially
discuss it for another five weeks.
In response to a letter from Sen.
Ham Horton, R-Forsyth, disagree
READING DEBATE
CONTINUES TO RAGE
Groups
demand
balance
Say book choice
shows liberal bias
BY BONNIE KLUTTZ
STAFF WRITER
The Committee for a Better
Carolina —a conservative UNC
group is speaking out against
what it believes is the liberal bias
represented by the University’s
Summer Reading Program.
The commit
tee argues that
this year's book
selection,
Barbara
Ehrenreich’s
“Nickel and
Dimed: On
(Not) Getting
By in America,”
is a one-sided
view of the con
ditions of low
wage workers.
“This book is
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1351
Michael
McKnight
is leading the
opposition to
the reading.
not very academically or intellec
tually done or useful,” said Michael
McKnight, leader of the
Committee for a Better Carolina.
“They need to at least provide a
balance two perspectives.”
Last year, UNC selected
Michael Sells’ “Approaching the
Qur’an: The Early Revelations,”
which received criticism from
another conservative group, the
Family Policy Network.
N.C. Sen. Hugh Webster, R-
Caswell, a UNC alumnus, oppos
es this year’s selection and says it
lacks any academic value.
“I refer to (the book) as intellec
tual {Tomography with no redeem
ing qualities,” Webster said.
He added that he is “disap
pointed that my alma mater can’t
find a book that’s no more aca
demically and intellectually chal
lenging than that two-bit novella.
Our University can do better.”
The book, Webster said, might
even have a negative impact on
students.
“I don’t think there’s anything in
SEE OPPOSITION, PAGE 5
3 more announce Town Council candidacies
BY KATHRYN GRIM
CITY EDITOR
Three more citizens have joined
the running for Chapel Hill Town
Council seats.
Thatcher Freund, Sally Greene
and Rudy Juliano will join council
member Bill Strom and Parks and
Recreation Commission members
Andrea Rohrbacher and Terri
Tyson in this year’s race.
Town Council members Pat
Evans and Flicka Bateman, both up
for re-election, have announced
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
cOtt iatlu cutr Mttl
ing with this year’s reading selec
tion Barbara Ehrenreich’s
“Nickle and Dimed: On (Not)
Getting By in America”
Chancellor James Moeser
Wednesday, along with other UNC
officials, met with state legislators
to discuss their respective opinions
about the book and the purpose of
the reading program as a whole.
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Sen. Ham Horton (hands), R-Forsyth, and other state legislators joined Chancellor James Moeser on
Wednesday for a discussion in Carroll Hall about UNC's summer reading program and this year's book.
Tepper, others defend choice
BY ALESIA DICOSOLA
STAFF WRITER
A coalition of UNC student
organizations held a press confer
ence Tuesday at the state capital,
focusing on academic freedom
and the importance of fostering
discussion.
Student Body President Matt
Tepper, alongside representatives
from 11 student organizations, met
with state legislators to voice sup
port for this summer’s reading
selection for incoming freshmen.
The book, Barbara Ehrenreich’s
“Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)
Getting By in America," details her
experiences working minimum
wage jobs among America’s poor.
For the second year in a row,
UNC’s selection has come under
that they will not run again. Also up
for re-election are Mayor Kevin Foy
and council member Jim Ward.
Freund moved to Chapel Hill
from Austin, Texas, in 1993. His
wife teaches at the Duke University
School of Law, and they have
adopted two children, ages 5 and 7.
Freund earned his undergraduate
degree at Stanford University and
his master’s degree in journalism
at Columbia University in 1984.
Freund joined the town Planning
Board last September. He said one of
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“We’re here to listen,” Moeser
said, before he introduced the con
text of the program and its pur
pose. “The focus is not so much on
the book, but on the discussion
itself.”
But Horton said this year’s selec
tion, along with past selections, is
not fit for the academic environ
ment at UNC. “I don’t think any
scrutinv from a conservative voice.
The bulk of the current opposition
comes from the Committee for a
Better Carolina, a conservative
group that created newspaper
advertisements in opposition to
the book.
In response to the ads, which
claimed that the book has a liber
al bias, Tepper and a number of
student leaders decided to hold
the conference. “(The committee)
took everything out of context,”
said senior Justin Guillory, repre
senting UNC’s Young Democrats.
A number of state legislators as
well as representatives from UE
Local 150, the N.C. Public Service
Workers Union, also were in
attendance.
Tepper began the discussion by
his biggest concerns is how UNC
deals with its Horace Williams tract
“The relationship with the
University is only as good as the
compromises and solutions that the
town and University reach,” he said.
Freund said he is a proponent of
affordable housing, the diversifica
tion of business downtown and
dense development, but with care
taken to protect the rural buffer
zone from development.
Sally Greene, freelance lawyer, is
registered as a visiting scholar in
one would consider it great litera
ture,” he said. “And I don’t think
anyone would consider it a schol
arly work.”
Horton suggested having stu
dents read classic novels instead of
books like Ehrenreich’s, which is a
journalist’s account of the low
wage workforce. “It’s almost like a
put-down to give them this quali-
pointing out that the students in
attendance represented a diverse
cross-section of the UNC popula
tion and that they were not fiind
ed by any outside groups. The
Committee for a Better Carolina’s
ads were funded by the Raleigh
based John William Pope
Foundation.
Tepper also called the book “a
legitimate selection" and praised it
for the debate and discussion it
has sparked.
Incoming freshman Anne
Marsh Treadwell of Fayetteville
also spoke highly of the book as
“an informative and extremely
worthwhile assignment.”
“It forces readers to look into
SEE SUPPORT, PAGE 5
the Departments of English and
History at UNC.
Greene announced her candida
cy Tuesday at the Franklin Street
post office, which she called “a
crossroads” between the town and
the University. Greene moved to
Chapel Hill in 1987 to earn her
doctorate in English at UNC.
She is acting chairwoman of the
Planning Board, on which she
served as vice president last year.
SEE TOWN COUNCIL, PAGE 5
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can say Inside, Sports, Top News or other PAGE 3
ty of work,” he said.
Sen. Austin Allran, R-Burke,
Catawba, along with several other
legislators, criticized the book and
the program for not offering a bal
ance of political and religious
beliefs.
But Student Body President
Matt Tepper said it’s okay for the
book to be one-sided because stu
dents will be able to examine the
issues and come up with their own
arguments and ideas.
Balancing act
defines lives
in legislature
Legislators work, have families
BY ELLIOTT DUBE
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
For members of the N.C.
General Assembly which is
set to adjourn Friday the
chance to represent North
Carolina’s residents comes with
some built-in demands.
A seat in the state House or
Senate offers some legislators
an exciting yet challenging post
retirement opportunity to serve
both their communities and the
state as a whole.
But many other lawmakers
must include their careers in a
balancing
act that
requires
them to
divide their
time and
effort among
family, busi
ness and
legislative
responsibili
ties.
Rep. Joe
“It’s a responsibili
ty that you ask for,
so it’s not difficult.
It s something yo u
want to do."
MARC BASNIGHT, pres .pro tem
Hackney, D-Orange, works as
an attorney whenever his duties
as a legislator aren't pressing.
He still practices law Mondays
and Fridays when the House is
in session, he said, and he even
conducts some business by way
of cellular phone during trips to
and from Raleigh.
Asa native of Chapel Hill, it
takes Hackney a relatively short
time to bounce among his lives
as a lawyer, a representative and
a family man.
“As far as home matters, I’m
fortunate that I’m close enough
that I can come home every
night,” Hackney said.
“It’s harder on those from the
west and the east; there’s no
question about it.”
Lawmakers who live much
farther away from the capital
IF ‘
DTH/ARMAN TOLENTINO
N.C. Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange, a Chapel Hill native and local
attorney, must balance his practice and duties as a legislator.
While in session, he practices law on Mondays and Fridays.
WEATHER
TODAY Partly cloudy, High 90, Low 67
FRIDAY Isolated storms, High 90, Low 70
SATURDAY T-storms, High 89, Low 70
THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2003
For Moeser, the discussion was
productive in terms of gathering
input on the book and the reading
program as a whole.
“The program is always subject
to continuous study and revision,”
he said. “I’m sure the (selection
committee) will take into account
the suggestions that were made
today.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
typically make lodging accom
modations that allow them to be
present when the chambers
convene four times per week
and at committee meetings.
For Sen. Robert Carpenter,
R-Macon, a one-way trip to or
from Raleigh calls for about 320
miles of driving. He pointed out
that his hometown of Franklin
is closer in distance to six other
state capitals Atlanta;
Charleston, W. Va.; Columbia,
S.C.; Frankfort, Ky.;
Montgomery, Ala.; and
Nashville, Tenn. than to
Raleigh.
Carpenter
said that
despite the
intense
amount of
traveling, his
tenure as a
lawmaker has
worked out
fine. After
retiring in
1987 from a
successful career as a banker, he
said, he wanted to serve the
people he had lived near all his
life.
“I felt that as good as the peo
ple had been to me, maybe there
would be a way to come back
and do some things legislatively
for the people,” he said.
Carpenter added that law
makers must make sure that the
people are always the primary
focus.
“The 50 state senators owe it
to each other to support the
local bills that pertain to each
legislator’s respective con
stituency,” he said.
Rep. Martha Alexander, D-
Mecklenburg, also stays in
Raleigh for a good portion of
SEE ASSEMBLY, PAGE 5