VOLUME 111, ISSUE 80
ADDRESSING CHANGE
Noting UNC’s challenges, Chancellor James Moeser says University will forge ahead in its service to the state
BY BROOK R. CORWIN UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Chancellor James Moeser’s
thi"d annual State of the
University address presented
no shortage of challenges for
UNC, all the way down to finding a
venue in which to deliver the speech
itself.
With the Student Union’s Great Hall
site of the last two addresses —and
Memorial Hall closed for renovations,
Moeser delivered his address
Wednesday in the auditorium of Hill
Hall, the only large venue Moeser said
was still available.
On a much larger scale, Moeser’s
address was full of such setbacks, com
plete with the chancellor’s plans to
overcome the challenges UNC faces as
a result of a stagnant economy.
“As we reflect on our own situation in
North Carolina, and as we glance over
our shoulders at the difficulties faced by
public universities in the other states,
we can see many signs of trouble,”
Moeser said.
Keeping those troubles from serious
ly affecting UNC was a reoccurring
theme in Moeser’s speech.
To meet the economic challenges,
Moeser proposed generating new rev
enue sources, doubling the size of the
Honors Program and modifying the
enrollment cap to allow UNC to admit
more out-of-state students.
He also announced a
groundbreaking financial aid program,
the Carolina Covenant, which will
ensure that students at or below 150
percent of the poverty line are able to
graduate from UNC without debt.
Such proposals, Moeser said, are
needed in the face of the N.C. General
Assembly’s widespread budget cuts.
Moeser presented numerous conse
quences of budget cuts, including the
lack of salary increases for faculty
members and of competitive benefits
packages for staff.
While Moeser praised numerous
UNC programs and initiatives, he said
SEE ADDRESS, PAGE 11
Coulter speech blasts liberals
BY ALESIA DICOSOLA
STAFF WRITER
Conservative commentator Ann
Coulter’s characteristically brash style
dominated both her lecture and the ques
tion-answer session that came after
Wednesday at the UNC School of Law
Rotunda.
The lawyer and author, who also is a
popular syndicated columnist, focused on
the nation’s foreign
policy and the War
on Terror and criti
cized recent actions
of prominent
Democrats. “In
wartime, their infer
nal idiocy is life
threatening,” she told
the crowd.
Coulter staunchly
defended racial pro
filing as a means of
combating terrorism.
Her speech included
a laundry list ofter-
DTH/JUSTIN SMITH
rorist attacks attributed to militant
Islamic fundamentalists.
“So naturally, Democrats won’t let us
look for Muslim extremists,” she said. “It’s
crazy to take appearance completely off
the table.”
While some of her more pointed barbs
were reserved for political figures such as
U.S. Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.,
and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., some of her crit
icism was directed at Democrats in gen-
INSIDE
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
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Chancellor James Moeser proposes Carolina Covenant, anew financial aid initiative, at the State of the University address on Wednesday afternoon.
“Despite
what
you may
see on
the news
or what
you
may
think,
college
is afford
able."
JAMES
MOESER,
UNC-CHAPEL HILL
CHANCELLOR
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Left: Ann Coulter speaks Wednesday night in the UNC School of Law Rotunda. Above:
The Rotunda was packed with several hundred students, faculty and local residents.
eral.
“This is a party that stands for race dis
crimination,” she said.
“Liberals don’t think of themselves as
Americans. They aren’t betraying
America because they don’t think of
America as their own country.”
The high profile speaker drew several
hundred people to the venue. There were
no empty seats, and many spectators were
ushered into overflow rooms.
Significant numbers of supporters and
critics attended the event.
Some attendees applauded wildly in
approval of her statements. Others
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New program to aid poor students
BY JENNIFER IMMEL
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Chancellor James Moeser announced a
nationally groundbreaking initiative
Wednesday that will allow low-income stu
dents to attend UNC and graduate debt-free
within four years.
The Carolina Covenant
will cover all costs for low
income students, requiring
them to work 10 to 12
hours per week in a feder
al work-study job.
“Despite what you may
INSIDE
Scholarships
director recalls
struggle to
fund schooling.
PAGE 3
see on the news or what you may think, college
is affordable,” Moeser said. “This University is
affordable.”
UNC is believed to be the first public uni
versity to initiate such a financial aid plan,
while Princeton University is the only private
institution known to have a similar initiative.
The Covenant is set to begin with the
incoming freshman class of 2004. Students
pointedly and passionately challenged
her views during the question-answer
period.
While the atmosphere of the event was
decidedly civil, tensions did rise, especial
ly during the hourlong question-answer
session. Many of the audience’s questions
were critical of Coulter and her often
blunt comments. Some audience mem
bers broke into individual arguments as
the session progressed.
Michael Hachey, a UNC freshman,
said he wanted to give Coulter a fair
SEE COULTER, PAGE 11
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already at the University will not be eligible for
the plan.
After four years when all students on
campus have had the chance to benefit from it
the Covenant’s total estimated cost per year
will be about $1.38 million, depending on
inflation and enrollment. The estimated cost
to fund the program in its initial year is
$300,000.
Moeser said some of the program’s funds
will be provided by the Carolina First
Campaign, an ambitious $l.B billion fund
raising initiative, in addition to a combination
of grants and scholarships from state, federal,
University and private sources.
“We are absolutely confident that we can
make this work,” Moeser said.
To qualify for the Covenant, a student must
be at or below 150 percent of the federal
poverty level. This equates to an annual
income of about $28,000 for a four-person
SEE FINANCIAL AID, PAGE 11
U.S. resolution calls
for greater U.N. role
Powell pushing for key council votes
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS - Anew
U.S. resolution calls for a strength
ened U.N. role in rebuilding Iraq
and a step-by-step transfer of
authority to Iraqis but gives no
timetable, according to a draft of
the document obtained Wednesday
by The Associated Press.
The new measure, circulated by
U.S. Ambassador John
Negroponte to key Security
Council members, underscores
that the U.S-led occupation is tem
porary and urges Iraqis to deter
mine a date for a transfer of power.
“The day when Iraqis govern
themselves must come quickly,” the
resolution says.
The United States wasted no
time after it took over the presi
dency of the U.N. Security Council
on Wednesday in calling a meeting
to distribute the revised text to the
other four veto-wielding council
nations Russia, China, France
and Britain.
“As far as time is concerned, we
would like to move expeditiously
on it," Negroponte said. “We’d also
like to see the resolution in place, if
possible, well in advance of the
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2003
NEW STUDENT FINANCE PLAN
The Carolina Covenant aims to offset student
loans through an increase in federal work study
jobs. The covenant is set to begin with the
incoming freshman class in 2004.
Undergraduate need-based financial aid
distribution for 2002-03 by type:
34%
■ Grant
> Loans
Work Study
Total undergraduate aid distribution for 2002-03
by source:
m Federal
;S||p s ' 42% Institutional/Prrvate
- State
SOURCE: UNC OFFICE OF DTH/ELUSON
SCHOLARSHIPS AND STUDENT AID
upcoming donors conference in
Madrid on Oct. 24” for Iraq.
The U.S. council presidency was
a stroke of good timing as
Washington campaigns for
approvEil of the new resolution,
aimed at getting more countries to
contribute troops and money to
Iraq.
The new draft like the previ
ous draft would transform the
U.S.-led coalition force into a
multinational force. The United
States, as leader of the force, would
report to the Security’ Council at
least every six months.
The new draft spells out that the
force will ensure “necessary condi
tions” for adopting a constitution
and holding elections as well as
protect U.N. offices, the U.S.-
appointed Iraqi interim govern
ment and other key institutions.
It reiterates the call to the 191
U.N. member states to contribute
military forces and to increase
financial aid. It makes a similar
appeal to international financial
institutions.
The U.S. decision to give the
SEE IRAQ. PAGE 11
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