VOLUME 111, ISSUE 51
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DTH/BRIAN CASSELLA
Sen. Hugh Webster, D-Alamance, voices his dissatisfaction with UNC's
liberal tendencies during last week's summer reading round table.
Critics say campus
tells 1-sided tales
BY ALESIA DICOSOLA
STAFF WRITER
For the second year in a row,
UNC-CH’s freshman summer read
ing selection has faced criticism
from numerous conservatives.
Several state legislators and the
Committee for a Better Carolina are
questioning the University’s diversi
ty or lack thereof in political
opinion. Some legislators said they
have been troubled by what they’ve
seen as a liberal bias on campus.
N.C. Sen. Austin Allran, R-
Catawba, said the conservative
voice is not encouraged or given an
equal opportunity on UNC-CH’s
campus. “I think when the profes
sors and the chancellor and the
administration are all coming
from a left-wing bias then it has a
tendency to stifle true discussion,
and it’s intimidating,” Allran said.
He added that it’s important to
consider the fact that the recent
controversy was started by stu
dents and not legislators.
On July 16, several legislators
invited to a conference at UNC-CH
said the campus is more liberal
than the rest of the state and that
Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and
Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in
America” might not have been the
best choice as a summer reading
assignment.
Rep. William Daughtridge, R-
Nash. said he fears that students
will not see the book as one-sided
but as fact.
Other lawmakers have ques
tioned the intellectual integrity of
the book. Sen. Hugh Webster, R-
Alamance, said Ehrenreich pres
ents her own views as truth. He
said that journalists have predis
posed views and that Ehrenreich’s
struggle was a pretend one.
While the controversy at hand is
the selection of “Nickel and
Dimed,” the issue of whether UNC
CH pays too little attention to con
servative ideology and stirs up too
much controversy is deeply embed
ded in the University’s history.
Just last year, UNC-CH made
international headlines over a sum
mer reading selection which dealt
with the Quran in the wake of the
Sept. 11,2001, terrorist attacks. In
the 19605, UNC-CH also incited
J-school dean to step down after 24 years
BY ELLIOTT DUBE
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
UNC’s longest-serving active
dean has led the School of
Journalism and Mass
Communication for 24 years. But
an end to Richard Cole’s tenure is
in sight.
His term ends June 30, 2004.
But in a memo to School of
Journalism and Mass
Communication faculty and staff,
Provost Robert Shelton said Cole
agreed to Shelton’s request to con
tinue as dean for an extra year.
Shelton said that those who
run the school will have to meet
the challenge of recruiting for a
number of faculty positions that
are set to be vacated and that
adding the dean’s seat to that list
INSIDE
JUMPING INTO THE MIX
NCGOP Chairman Bill Cobey
enters gubernatorial race PAGE 3
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
(She fSatlu ®ar Hcrl
uproar by protesting “Speaker Ban”
laws, which prevented known
Communists from speaking at
state-supported colleges or univer
sities, in the name of free speech.
UNC-CH is not alone in select
ing Ehrenreich’s book. UNC-
Asheville and Appalachian State
University also have chosen “Nickel
and Dimed” for their reading pro
grams, along with about 15 other
universities. Yet none of those
schools have
faced the criti
cism UNC -CH
has seen.
Judith
Wegner, profes
sor of law and
chairwoman of
the Faculty
Council, attrib
utes the extra
attention to
UNC-CH’s role
in the educa
tional function
.!■
Law Professor
Judith Wegner
says the uproar
stems from
myriad factors.
of the state and its proximity to
Raleigh. She also thinks this sum
mer’s debate is due to the publicity
from last year.
In response to charges that the
book offers a biased viewpoint, she
noted that the selection committee
is in the process of collecting sup
plemental materials reflecting dif
ferent opinions. “A teacher’s job is
to facilitate discussion on both
sides of the issue,” she said. “They
should not express their own polit
ical views but show students they
are safe and all views are welcome.”
Wegner added that the program
is important for the dialogue it cre
ates and that students are more
eager to read a controversial book.
UNC-CH Student Body
President Matt Tepper dismissed
the claim that the university caters
to the left. He said the fact that the
University encourages all points of
view makes it a great institution.
Tepper also acknowledged the
positive side to the uproar. “This
shows how much people love the
University and how it has such a
central importance to the state and
as a leading public university.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
in the near
future would
be unwise.
“This will
enable the
school to make
a felicitous
transitional
period,” jour
nal is m
Richard Cole
Professor Chuck Stone said of
Cole’s extended tenure. “It won’t
be with any stress. It will be good
for the school and the University.”
Under Cole’s direction, Shelton
said, the school has become
arguably the best of its kind in the
nation. “On all fronts, he’s really
led the school to new heights.”
Since becoming dean in 1979,
Cole has helped the school reach
WE E KIA SUM ME K iS S l E
www.daiiytarheel.com
Lawmakers call it a day
Plans for UNC cancer center nixed
BY ARMAN TOLENTINO
SENIOR WRITER
The N.C. General Assembly’s
2003 session came to a close
Sunday, but not before House
members walked away from
negotiations regarding anew
SIBO million UNC-Chapel Hill
cancer center.
The squabble over the center
stalled action on some other bills
during the session’s final days,
FIXING HOLES
CREATED BY EXITS
BY TIM CANDON SPORTS EDITOR
Mississippi State men’s basketball coach
Rick Stansbury is canvassing the country
this month trying to lock up blue-chip tal
ent for his 2004-05 freshman class. As he
sells Mississippi State and his program to potential suit
ors, Stansbury can’t help but wonder if a recruit will
honor a letter of intent if he signs to play in Starkville.
In Stansbury s four seasons as head coach at Miss. State, two dif
ferent recruits Jonathan Bender in 1999 and Travis Outlaw in
2003 balked at their commitment to the Bulldogs and entered
the NBA draft. Both were first-round picks.
While a lot is said about basketball players skipping college and
leaving coaches with incomplete rosters, the prospect of not hav
ing players full-time plagues coaches in other college sports, too. In
addition to men’s basketball, baseball and men’s and women’s soc
cer coaches must find ways to fill unexpected roster vacancies.
Backing out
• While ffe eyytnqioint tht-finger at the kids renegmg-ow thek
word, Stansbury quickly to comes to their defense.
When an 18-year-old kid with a silky-smooth jump shot and
"N‘ ml * fIBP ~
COURTESY OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Arizona State assistant baseball coach Jay Sferra signs more players
than he needs to make up for players who will enter the draft.
the top of the national rankings
and grow in terms of internation
al influence. In 1992, he was
awarded the Freedom Forum
Medal for Distinguished
Accomplishments in Journalism
and Mass Communication
Administration, which previously
had been awarded three times.
According to a 2002-03 on-site
evaluation report by the
Accrediting Council on Education
in Journalism and Mass
Communications, which acknowl
edged that the school is recognized
as “perhaps the best program in
the nation,” Cole is a well-respect
ed administrator with laudable
vision and energy.
“The central administration
regards him as the dominant
END OF SUMMER
THIS IS THE LAST WEEKLY SUMMER ISSUE
The Daily Tar Heel will resume publication for the fall
semester, on Saturday, August 23, 2003.
which were long ones.
Lawmakers met until 2:30 a.m.
Sunday and returned at 11 a.m.
for eight more hours of debate.
Senate leader Marc Basnight,
D-Dare, an avid supporter of the
cancer center, was disappointed
that House members failed to
reach an agreement on the pro
posal, said Basnight representa
tive Amy Fulk.
She added that the cancer cen-
dean on the campus," the accredi
tors wrote in their report. “He is
considered an unselfish leader
who works extremely well with
other programs at the university'.”
Professor John Sweeney, head
of the school’s advertising
sequence, said Cole has succeeded
in getting diverse faculty members
to work well together without let
ting politics or other conflicts
interfere. His ambition and flexi
bility also were cited by his peers.
“He certainly hasn't been any
body with his feet in the sand,”
said Associate Dean Jan Yopp, the
head of the school’s newswriting
sequence. “He’s always got an idea
and he’s always looking for the
SEE COLE, PAGE 4
MQVIE REVIEWS
BAD BOYS AND BAD MOVIES
The latest summer sequel tanks
behind a barrage of action PAGE 7
ter, which would have replaced
UNC-CH’s Lineberger
Comprehensive Cancer Center,
also would have generated 1,200
jobs and provided North Carolina
with a hub for cancer treatment
and research. “It just would have
improved health care for the peo
ple of the state,” she said.
House Co-speaker Jim Black,
D-Mecklenberg, said there were
multiple reasons for the House’s
refusal to discuss the proposal
with the Senate.
“We were all in favor of the
- j, ' ,'W
lightning-quick speed
who’s never had
money is told he’ll
make $3 million a
year in his first three
NBA seasons, how can
he say no?
“You can’t fault the
kid,” Stansbury said.
“It’s the system. As
long as the system
allows this to happen,
the trend is going to
get worse and worse.”
That system is the
timetable in which
high school players
and college under
classmen have to
declare their eligibility
for the NBA draft.
This year, those
DTH FILE PHOTO/GARRETT HAU
UNC men's soccer coach Elmar Bolowich
will miss four key players in parts of 2003.
prospects had until June 19 to withdraw from the draft and retain
their eligibility, as long as-theydhbvtsign with an agent.
But by mid-June, all the top talent has committed. If a player
decides to enter the draft, a school is left scrambling to replace him.
With prep phenoms hoping to take their games right to the pros,
college coaches are altering their recruiting strategies. Stansbury,
having learned from experience, said he won’t bother recruiting
kids projected to go
straight to the NBA.
While high school
kids jumping directly
to the NBA has
become a more recent
trend, it’s been going
on in baseball for years.
Since 1966, the top
overall pick in the
Major League Baseball
draft has been a high
schooler 20 times.
With that in mind,
Arizona State assistant
coach and recruiting
coordinator Jay Sferra
said the Sun Devils
don't try to field a team
comprised entirely of
top prospects. Rather,
Sferra looks to build a
core of everyday, con-
DTH FILE PHOTO
UNC's Catherine Reddick will miss the first
half of next season to play in the World Cup.
tributing-tvpe players, then seek the top prep stars.
“They’ll be the guvs that'll stay for four years,” Sferra said. “They’re
very good college players, but not high prospects out of high school.”
Sferra said, for example, he’ll try to sign at least 10 top prospects,
knowing full well that all 10 will never play a game in Tempe.
“It's not a crapshoot,” Sferra said. “It’s an educational guess. If you
SEE RECRUITING, PAGE 4
UNC, Gatorade to
fight child obesity
BY ELLIOTT DUBE
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
UNC and Gatorade Cos. have
teamed up in an effort to find solu
tions to one of the nation’s major
health problems.
The University and the popular
sports drink maker have formed
“Get Kids in Action” —a $4 mil
lion, four-year partnership to
combat childhood obesity by
researching preventive strategies
and educating the public.
“Obesity is one of the major epi
demics going on around the coun
try, and it starts with children,”
said Steven Zeisel, chairman of the
WEATHER
TODAY Showers, High 82, Low 64
FRIDAY Partly cloudy, High 86, Low 66
SATURDAY Cloudy, High 90, Low 67
THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2003:
cancer hospital at Chapel Hill,
but there were a number of rep
resentatives who felt there should
also be a stroke center at (East
Carolina University) and also dif
ferent programs at (UNC-
Charlotte),” he said.
He added that there simply was
not enough money to fund a SIBO
million project. “You can’t just
reach into the sky and grab
money,” Black said. “There’s a lot of
other things that are worthwhile.
SEE ASSEMBLY, PAGE 4
Department of Nutrition in the
School of Public Health.
The partnership was launched
with the help of U.S. Surgeon
Genera] Richard Carmona and for
mer UNC soccer star Mia Hamm
at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
“Dr. Carmona’s extremely con
cerned about the growing rate of
child obesity," said Craig Stevens, a
spokesman for the surgeon gener
al.
Stevens partly attributed the ris
ing rate to kids “growing up on
Play Station and off the play-
SEE GATORADE. PAGE 4
*4b