6
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2003
Organizations spur voter drive
BY JOHN ZHANG
STAFF WRITER
Student government and a
diverse group of student organiza
tions are continuing their efforts
this week to register students to
vote in Orange County.
The groups including Young
Democrats, the Residence Hall
Association and the N.C. Public
Interest Research Group have
gone door to door, spoken at resi
dence halls and campaigned in the
Pit to encourage voter activism.
Ben Adams, chief of staff for
Student Body President Matt
Tepper, said about 500 voters have
been registered —a total well
below student government’s goal of
4,000 students.
But Adams stressed that stu
dent government’s major push
will be next week with events at
Top of Lenoir, Chase Hall and
Polk Place.
These locations were chosen in
an attempt to reach a majority of
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students.
Adams said he thinks register
ing 4,000 students is an incredible
feat but is feasible with next week’s
expected turnout.
Events will be held every day of
the week.
Members of various government
committees will be present at the
slated locations to generate inter
est in student government and to
register students to vote.
Student government also will
visit students in residence halls
and attend club meetings to recruit
student voters.
Young Democrats have been
leading the charge among student
groups.
The organization collected voter
registrations at Chase Hall on
Monday and will have another
event Friday in the Pit.
Justin Guillory, vice president of
Young Democrats, said the group
had about 200 students registered
at press time.
From Page Three
“As more young students participate in
the voting process ... the young will have
a larger voice in policies”
JUSTIN GUILLORY, VICE PRESIDENT OF YOUNG DEMOCRATS
He said he expected the group to
register another 100 to 200 stu
dents Monday night.
“As more young students partic
ipate in the voting process, politi
cians will target more campaigning
toward the young, and the young
will have a larger voice in policies,”
Guillory said.
RHA also plans to implement
programs to educate students on
the registration process. Programs
will be held in residential commu
nities and should start later this
week.
Colin Scott, vice president of
RHA, said the group will ask resi
dent assistants to encourage stu
dents to register and to vote.
RHA is working with student
government and Young Democrats
to go door to door in residence
halls, spreading the message about
the voter registration drive.
Student groups receive 75 cents
for every ballot turned in by their
organization, but no group can
receive more than $3,000.
Funding was made possible by a
grant to student government from
the Tennessee-based Bentwood
Foundation.
Adams said he encourages stu
dents to have their voices heard in
elections.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
=ll Ernst & Young
Quality In Everything We Do
SEARCH
FROM PAGE 3
learn more specifics.
“I am very interested in this
position but cannot make a blan
ket statement until I see what the
offer will be,” said candidate
Bonita Jacobs, vice president for
student development at the
University of North Texas.
The three candidates said they
understand why UNC officials are
taking such a long time to finalize
a decision.
“It is important to do it right,”
said candidate Penny Rue, dean of
students at the University of
Virginia. “It is just a complicated
process.”
Bruce Roscoe, dean of students
at Central Michigan University,
said UNC officials informed him
from the beginning that the
process would last several months.
“They would rather take time
and find someone that is a good
match rather than jump the gun to
have someone on board.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
(Ebr Qaily (Ear Hrcl
TEACH-INS
FROM PAGE 3
while they attend the event, and
workers will only have a 30-
minute lunch break to attend the
teach-ins,” Bollag said.
Faltering opinion of University
administrators among low-wage
workers is due to their disregard
for equal opportunity even in
light of Honor and Integrity Week
—and a main reason for the
teach-ins, Brannigan said.
“(There is) a complete lack of
honor and integrity by officials in
regard to workers.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
NORTHSIDE
FROM PAGE 3
West Rosemary Street and west of
North Columbia Street, is the
town’s largest historically black
and working-class community.
The area used to consist mainly
of single-family, one-story homes
that were owned by the occupants.
But the burgeoning student
population has led developers to
market rental units toward stu
dents. Residents say that this
trend has forced many from their
homes due to increasing property
values and that developments tar
geting students have diminished
the area’s charm and uniqueness.
Restrictions placed on new
developments and renovations,
committee members say, will dis
suade property ow r ners from leas
ing “mini dormitories” and force
them to focus on the nontransient
demand for houses.
Complaints about the newer
developments in the area range
from front yards devoted solely to
parking instead of green space and
homes that occupy the entirety of
the lot they sit on. Potential restric
tions include a building height limit
of 20 feet, a limit of no more than
four unrelated persons living in any
single unit and a maximum square
footage of 2000 feet per home.
Delores Bailey, the committee’s
chairwoman, said that she is opti
mistic about the process but that it
has proved to be trying.
“We were anticipating that we
would be done with the whole
process by September,” Bailey said.
“We’ve got emotions tied into this;
we’ve got investors tied into this.”
Enactment of committee-spon
sored restrictions will require
council approval.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
GAY MARRIAGE
FROM PAGE 3
Newlin said he knows many
couples who want to get married
and a few who have had commit
ment ceremonies or holy unions.
Chantelle Fisher-Borne “married"
her long-term partner last May on
a farm near Asheville.
Fisher-Borne said there are
more than 1,000 rights in hetero
sexual marriage, and she would
like to see them granted to gay cou
ples. “It’s very important for folks
to think about marriage and that
there is a big difference between
civil and religious marriage.”
Though a commitment ceremo
ny has enhanced the relationship
of Jim and Evan Ellis-Raymer, the
experience has been challenging.
They met in 1995 and married four
years later at Chapel Hill’s Binkley
Olin T Memorial Baptist Church.
The union spurred debate, said
Evan, a Duke University adminis
trator and former minister. Fred
Phelps, Westboro Baptist Church
pastor and face of the Web site
h ttp: / / www. godh atesfags. com,
protested the union. Jimmy
Creech, the officiating minister,
was tried in Nebraska and
defrocked for participating.
“In the beginning, (God) made
the male and the female, and those
two should be one,” said Fred
Phelps Jr., a member of his father’s
church. “There’s no biblical basis for
(homosexuality).”
The younger Phelps said he has
been to all 50 states preaching
against homosexuality and gay
unions. Members of the church
will be at Canada’s Parliament Hill
in October in support of legislation
against gay marriage, he said.
Evan, who was married to a
woman for 23 years before he
declared his sexuality, said he
understands the argument for tra
ditional marriage. “When I got
married, I knew I was gay. But in
the South then you just weren’t gay.”
As for the future of same-sex
unions, Evan doesn’t expect much.
“I would rather see us go toward
legal recognition to get the
same rights, like tax breaks,
because we own things jointly.”
Newlin said people who fight for
same-sex marriage to be recog
nized focus on equal rights.
Meditating on fears of expiring
visas and other challenges, Ed
expressed similar sentiments. “Just
because I’m gay, I shouldn’t be
denied the rights of any person."
Contact the Features Editor
atfeatures@unc.edu.