VOLUME 111, ISSUE 132 200 gather for tuition teach-in STUDENT LEADERS VOICE OPPOSITION TO $1,500 HIKE BY EMILY STEEL ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR As the lyrics “Come together, right now,” echoed through the lecture hall Wednesday night, about 200 students organized to learn about the impact pro posed tuition increases could have on their university. “You folks are the future. You are the stewards of this institution,” said Faculty mm Jg|g|gPl|B| //* ’* tJjSj, A fill 'll' B illllfllll til §fl Ik. fj. S- "b-if? (9 pi jW^JUI MB IMJ> --'.-'ml; ' SH Wt % % Jgs [ _ 1 Islifer'. ." " RBsralF DTH/JANE NOVOTNY Student body president hopeful Faudlin Pierre (left) speaks with junior Brian Rackley (right) while sophomore Adam Serlin signs Pierre's petition. Each of the 10 student body president candidates have until Jan. 20 to collect the 800 signatures needed to appear on the ballot. The signature requirement was increased last year. CANDIDATES FACE FIRST CHALLENGES BY MARY BETH BARDIN STAFF WRITER An uncommonly high number of candidates and the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. holiday led to fierce first-day competition for campaign petition signatures Wednesday. The 10 candidates running for student body pres ident must gather 800 signatures each to be placed on the ballot for the Feb. 10 election. Because double-signing is not allowed, a total of 8,000 student names are required to keep all the candidates in the race. But most candidates said that they were not fazed by the loss of a class day to gain signatures and that the extra challenge will bring out the best in the race. STUDENT 1 A ELECTIONS Ut Desi in me race. “I think that getting the signatures in the short amount of time shows that you’re serious about run ning and about getting your message out,” said Matthew Calabria, a junior political science and public policy major. Candidates said they welcomed the added chal lenge of reaching out to a wider range of the student body. “It forces us to go out and talk to more students, which is a good thing,” said Matthew Compton, a junior history and peace, war and defense major. “A race like this is good for the school.” Laura Thomas, a junior international studies and peace, war and defense major, stressed the impor tance of student signatures. “If my administration is going to represent all of the student body, I have to show that I can get out to 800 people,” she said. A time extension was not considered because of a strict elections code detailing specific regulations. “Petitions must start 28 days before elections,” said Melissa Anderson, Board of Elections chair woman. “We can’t change deadlines because it’s stip- CONGRATUIaATIQNS NEW HIRES ARE POSTED Stop by the DTH in Union 104 today to check out your spring desk assignment. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 ®hr iaiht ®ar Merl Council Chairwoman Judith Wegner. “The trustees really want to do the best for this university, but we need to remind them that we are the University.” Both in-state and out-of state students filled the seats and stood in the aisles at the teach-in sponsored by student government and the Out-of- State Students Association. RMK I / - . >v| '. • # ®ji{i i ') gi®^‘--7^ ulated in the code.” The election code also prohibits candidates from presenting their platform when petitioning signa tures, an additional obstacle to the petition process. “It’s frustrating to not be able to tell people, ‘This is what I stand for and this is who I am,’” said Ashley Castevens, a junior public policy major. “The reason I am running is for issues and ideas, and it’s hard not to be able to tell people.” Lily West, a junior political science and journal ism major, said she also found difficulty in sup pressing her campaign platform. “But I think students would rather have someone who followed the rules... and told them their plat form later down the road,” she said. Most candidates said they were optimistic despite the challenges presented by the campaign. “I’m pretty confident that I’ll get the signatures I need,” said Micheal Jones, a junior history and African and Afro-American studies major. “You just have to be persistent, determined and double up on time and the things you do.” Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu. INSIDE NATIVE APPEAL Bricks outside Student Union to feature work of American Indian artist PAGE 3 www.dailytarheel.com They listened as student lead ers explained a proposed tuition hike that would cost nonresidents $1,500 next year. Student Body President Matt Tepper pointed to a “spiky” line graph that depicted recent non resident tuition increases. “I’ve been in enough meet ings to know tuition philoso phy,” he ssid. “It’s supposed to go up gradually, and as you can see, it’s not.” Students held a “cheat sheet” that covered the basics of the campus-based tuition increase proposal to keep in-state ELECTIONS 2004 tuition in the lowest quartile among 10 public peer institu tions and to raise out-of-state tuition about $3,600 during several years. The move would place nonresident tuition in the 75th percentile among peers. “I think it is always danger ous to start doing these tuition comparisons,” Tepper said. Officials have trimmed the figures from previous propos als that projected out-of-state increases as high as $6,000 during a three-year period. The new proposal has yet to be studied and, if passed, will Pit won’t serve as race locale BY BRIAN HUDSON ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR For the first time in several years, candidates run ning for student office will not be able to campaign in the Pit UNC’s center of social activity. During an informational meeting Tuesday, Board of Elections Chairwoman Melissa Anderson dis cussed some of the rules candidates needed to follow during the elections. She explained that no candidate will be allowed to campaign inside the Pit because she determined that the election code could not address numerous con cerns about the Pit’s use. BOE officials had attempted to reserve the Pit, but the request was not approved by Carolina Union offi cials, Anderson said. Student Body President candidate Matt Calabria said the BOE had reserved the Pit in past years so sev eral candidates did not attempt to make reservations on their own behalf. “The expectations from a lot of the candidates was that the Pit would be reserved for us,” Calabria said. “Obviously that wasn’t done. “My understanding is that since it’s already reserved by other groups, it can’t be used unless relin quished by those groups,” he said. In order to create a fair campaigning atmosphere, Anderson said, candidates will not be able to use the center of the Pit, regardless of prior reservations they had made. SEE PIT, PAGE 2 SPORTS TAR HEELS STUMBLE The Tar Heels allow Terps to catch up and then win in close matchup PAGE 4 be, as Wegner has said, a “live experiment” on the student body. Leaders noted the funda mental shift both tuition poli cies and the philosophy of the University would take if the proposals are approved. “We don’t want to put our selves in a position that this university is one that is differ ent than it has been in the past,” said Rebekah Burford, student body vice president. Burford underscored the SEE TEACH-IN, PAGE 2 THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2004 h JHS& flv s ' DTH/JUSTIN SMITH Students pack Murphey Hall on Wednesday night for a teach-in about proposed nonresident tuition increases. Campus to drop journal contract BY JOSEPH SCHWARTZ ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR Biology Professor Lawrence Gilbert said he experiences difficulty completing his research because of the unavailability of many scientific journals in UNC-Chapel Hill libraries. His task soon might become more difficult. One of the largest publishers of scholarly jour nals, Elsevier, will not renew its contract with a network of schools that includes the University. Gilbert said the absence of an agreement will prolong his research. “It would make it very diffi cult because I use the online access to all the Elsevier jour nals,” he said. “I use them all the time when I write papers and when I write grant appli cations.” Amid qualms with indeter minable escalating prices and a requirement to purchase unwanted journals, UNC-CH officials said the Triangle Research Libraries Network will not renew its contract with Elsevier, a Dutch company that provides a wealth of scientific, technical and health research source information. The TRLN comprises Duke University, N.C. State University, and N.C. Central University in addition to UNC-CH. The contract provided all schools access to the online journals. However, Joe Hewitt, associate provost for libraries, said UNC-CH will continue to subscribe to Elsevier journals on an individual basis, even though they will cost more when not bought in bulk. “We are trying to cancel enough (journals) so that our payments to Elsevier will be about the same as they were last year.” Hewitt said UNC-CH spends about $1.5 million per year to purchase journals from Elsevier. He cited the company’s inability to lock in a yearly price for a multiyear contract as a key issue, SEE JOURNALS, PAGE 2 University’s town talks upset locals BY DAN SCHWIND ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR A neighborhood advocacy group is questioning a system encouraging one-on-one meetings between Chapel Hill Town Council members and University officials. The Town Council received a petition Monday night from the Coalition of Neighbors Near Campus asking the council to take steps toward ending the policy. The coalition is a group com prising people who live near the University. But at least one UNC official said the policy is designed merely to help foster better town-gown relations, particularly with two new council mem bers coming onto the scene, and work out issues with the ever-growing topic of Carolina North. SEE PETITION, PAGE 2 WEATHER TODAY Mostly sunny, H 50, L 20 FRIDAY Sunny, H 43, L 20 SATURDAY Partly cloudy, H 46, L 33 Provost Robert Shelton said journals cost too much. o