VOLUME Hi, ISSUE 150
Reading
selection
becomes
difficult
BY JOHN FRANK
PROJECTS TEAM EDITOR
The committee selecting the
next summer reading book made
little progress on narrowing the
field in what was slated to be the
final meeting.
With two of the 10 members
absent, the committee was hesi
tant to make any decisions but did
eliminate two of the final five
books: “Copenhagen” and “Cradle
to Cradle.”
The committee didn’t support
the three books left, though, and
three more were added: “Life of
Pi,” by Yann Martel; “You Can’t Be
Neutral On a Moving Train: A
Personal History of Our Times,” by
Howard Zinn; and “Enough:
Staying Human in an Engineered
Age,” by Bill McKibben.
A decision on the book was
scheduled for mid-February, but
the deadline was pushed to the end
of the month. Facing that deadline
pressure, the group will meet Feb.
25 at a committee member’s home
for a dinner meeting that will last
as long as it takes to select a final
book and two alternatives.
In the meantime, the commit
tee will stay in touch over an e
mail listserv, eliminating books
and adding others as needed.
Two front-running books have
survived the last four cuts:
“Absolutely American” and “A
Hope in the Unseen.”
But disagreement about those
two books could prevent a consen
sus decision. The group still is
searching actively for anew book
that could jump to the top of the
list and stave off debate.
Some concerns about “A Hope in
the Unseen” were eased as commit
tee chairwoman Jan Bardsley told
the group how rewarding the selec
tion was for Marquette University’s
reading program last year.
Specific worries about the book’s
author, Ron Suskind, whose most
recent book attacks the Bush
administration, were lessened
when Marquette reported that he
was an engaging public speaker.
“Everything sounded very good
with that book,” she told the group.
The committee met the same
day a special report appeared in
The Daily Tar Heel revealing the
once-confidential committee’s
inner workings.
SEE READING, PAGE 4
Calabria wins support from SEAC
Gains fourth endorsement atforum
BY TORRYE. JONES
STAFF WRITER
The Student Environmental
Action Coalition gave student
body president candidate Matt
Calabria his fourth endorsement
Monday night.
Summer Flowers, co-chair
woman of SEAC, said Calabria had
the most environmentally based
issues on his platform. “It seemed
like his ideas were more feasible
than the other candidates’,” she
said. “He did his homework and
planned out his platform well.”
Calabria said he thinks his plat
form was a likely reason for
SEAC’s endorsement, also claim
ing it was more comprehensive on
environmental issues than any
other candidate’s platform.
SEAC co-chairwoman
Catherine Shields said she liked
Calabria’s idea for a “paperless
University,” in which he proposes
to cut down on the use of paper in
student government and class
rooms by increasing the use of
online resources.
Calabria said he was proud to
have support from people who are
experts on the issue.
“UNC has an opportunity to
help with environmental issues
INSIDE
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
UNC-system student leaders present a book about
students' struggles with tuition increases PAGE 2
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
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STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT ELECTION
HEAD TO HEAD
Eight candidates vie for coveted , if unpredictable f SBP position
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like we’ve never had before,” he
said.
He said that three crucial areas
of interest are the green energy
initiative, Carolina North and
construction on campus.
Most candidates focused on
increasing recycling efforts, estab
lishing a permanent student gov
ernment committee to advocate
environmental issues and main
taining sustainability.
Candidate Lily West said she
wanted to revive the environmen
tal issues committee of student
government and make sure these
events are publicized.
“Sustainability needs to be lit
erally plugged in every aspect (at
the University),” she said.
Candidate Ashley Castevens
said that the best way to increase
student involvement is in the
classroom itself. “I think students
should have first-hand experience
in dealing with these issues,” she
said.
Candidate Matt Compton said
UNC has taken a revolutionary
step to save energy and resources,
but he stressed that students need
to continue to conserve.
“Every time you ride a bus, you
see (signs that say) how much
www.dailytarheel.com
BY BROOK R. CORWIN UNIVERSITY EDITOR
If history is any indication, the
eight candidates for student body
president have little idea what they’re
in for.
The winner of the election will take
office in April with a familiar plat
form'likely filled with carefully
researched goals.
But inherent within the position is
the task of handling ongoing and
suddenly appearing campus issues,
the challenges of which Eire almost
impossible to foresee.
INSIDE
See a complete
guide to
today's student
elections
PAGES 6,7
body presidents end up dealing with
a variety of things that pop up. I don’t
think (current President) Matt
(Tepper) anticipated the issues that
came upon us.”
Tepper said he hadn’t.
First came an unexpected contro
versy with the Summer Reading
Program. Then budget cuts forced the
reduction or elimination of many stu
dent services. Concerns among UNC
staff members prompted Tepper’s
involvement with the Chancellor’s
Thsk Force for a Better Workplace.
Finally, a landmark tuition proposal
put Tapper on the defensive, advocat
ing student financial interests.
Recent student body presidents
have dealt with similar unforeseen
tasks, such as the creation of tuition
taskforces, the threat of a night park
ing fee for students and controversy
surrounding the effectiveness of
UNC’s student-run honor system.
UNC officials say that to be an
effective student body president, the
winner of this year’s election will
have to understand firmly all these
issues and more.
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 4
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Candidate Matt Calabria (right) campaigns Monday in the Pit before
winning the Student Environmental Action Coalition endorsement.
we’ve saved from the landfills,” he
said. “But that is not enough. We
must double our recycling.”
Compton discussed a proposal
for a greenhouse emissions reduc
tion plan for University indus
tries.
Candidate Matt Liles said envi
ronmental concerns are people
issues just as much as they are
practice issues.
“We should be concentrating
on leaving it better than we found
it,” he said. “Unless we are con
/oteTODAY
at studentcentral.unc.edu, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“Every year has its
own new dimen
sions,” Faculty
Council Chairwoman
Judith Wegner said.
“Usually student
stantly working at it, we aren’t
doing our job,” he said.
Dan Waxman, the event’s mod
erator, said candidate John Walker
could not attend the forum.
Waxman read a statement pre
pared by Walker that proposed
using student hinds to install water
purifying units in residence halls.
Candidates Faudlin Pierre and
Laura Thomas did not attend.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
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LAURA THOMAS
LILY WEST
Push for referendum
postponed by leaders
Backers seek to
inform students
BY BROOK R. CORWIN
AND MEGAN SEROW
SENIOR WRITERS
Citing an interest in better
informing the student body on the
issue, the top officials in the exec
utive and judicial branches of stu
dent government have postponed
efforts to put a referendum on the
student ballot that could change
drastically how their branches are
funded.
The two branches had been try
ing to collect the roughly 2,500
signatures needed to overrule a
decision made last week by
Student Congress and place the
referendum on the ballot for the
Feb. 17. runoff election.
If approved, the referendum
would allocate 5 percent of student
activity fees to the judicial branch
and 3 percent to the executive
branch. This totals about $45,000
and $26,000, respectively.
Student Body President Matt
Tepper and Student Attorney
General Jonathan Slain
announced Monday night that
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2004
Easley
against
tuition
hikes
Letter to BOG
outlines stance
BY DORA P. GONZALEZ
STAFF WRITER
UNC-system students pushing
for a vote against tuition increas
es have anew ally in their fight,
somebody who has quite a bit of
sway in the state.
Gov. Mike Easley sent a letter to
the UNC-system Board of
Governors on
Friday asking
them to freeze
tuition increas
es, stating that
he would make
every effort to
include more
funding for the
system in his
2004-05 budg
et.
While BOG
members said
they would con-
sider the petition, they also said
they needed more concrete details
on Easley’s plans before they voted
against increases.
BOG Chairman Brad Wilson
also noted that Easley’s petition
still has to pass the N.C. General
Assembly’s approval.
“It’s one thing to propose, it’s
another to enact,” said Wilson, to
whom the letter was addressed.
“Therein is the dilemma.”
In the letter, Easley stated that
tuition should not increase this
year because it would jeopardize
access to the system.
“Many families have been hit
hard by our national recession and
unhelpful trade policy and argue
that increases of this size should
not be considered at this time,” he
said.
But BOG member Ben Ruffin
said that the letter does not speci
fy a plan of action and that the
board cannot make any intelligent
moves unless it has something
concrete.
“What we want to see is how the
governor is going to provide the
resources,” he said.
The board is concerned that
there will not be enough money in
the state budget to avoid tuition
SEE TUITION, PAGE 4
they will postpone the push for the
referendum for a special election
to be held next month.
“We feel it is our responsibility as
student leaders to ensure that you
have adequate time to consider this
extremely important change,”
Tepper and Slain stated in a release.
“For the next month, we will be
using every outlet possible to fully
inform everyone about what this
referendum entails.”
Student Congress members have
expressed concern about the timing
of the referendum, which was pre
sented to students last week.
Also of concern are the proposed
uses of the funds. Speaker Pro Item
Charlie Anderson said that he does
n’t oppose some extra funds for the
judicial and executive branches but
that he is hesitant to provide fund
ing without prior approval.“ They
don’t have to go in front of Congress
to justify what they’re using the
money for,” Anderson said.
Tepper said both branches
would be overseen periodically by
committees to make sure funds
were spent properly. “There are
still checks and balances, and
that’s extremely important.”
SEE REFERENDUM, PAGE 4
WEATHER
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THURSDAY Rain & snow, H 46, L 27
N.C. Gov.
Mike Easley
opposes a
tuition increase
this year.
Ob