VOLUME 111, ISSUE 152 People, issues spur voter turnout CANDIDATES PLEASED WITH NUMBER OF BALLOTS CAST BY AMY KINGSLEY STAFF WRITER The large field of candidates for student body president increased not only the competition and visi bility of this year’s election but also the level of involvement among students. The number of votes cast in this year’s student body president elec tion increased 4.4 percent from last Project aims to boost growth Builder eyes site on W. Franklin BY AYOFEMI KIRBY STAFF WRITER Developer Joe Riddle, who brought Top of the Hill restaurant to Franklin Street, plans to convert the Chrysler-Plymouth building located on West Franklin Street to engage more business on the street’s 400-block. The building, which Riddle Commercial Properties plans to acquire March 16, sits on about 1 acre of land between McDonald’s and the Studio Supply Store and likely will be tom down. Riddle hopes to rebuild a struc ture that includes ground floor retail, high-end student housing on top and a parking area under neath. “I want to stretch East Franklin,” he said. “I want people to have a reason, if they are walking up Columbia, to walk to the left, take a cab or ride a bike that way.” Riddle said many businesses had expressed interest in the property, including an interior design retail firm targeted at college students. Riddle, whose company is locat ed in Fayetteville, also is responsi ble for bringing the Gap and the Carolina Theatre to Franklin Street, along with Top of the Hill. He plans oh working with the same architect who helped him SEE FRANKLIN, PAGE 2 Aid program gets Williams’ support BY JAMIE MCGEE STAFF WRITER UNC men’s basketball coach Roy Williams and his family have pledged SIOO,OOO to the Carolina Covenant, anew initiative at UNC to allow low-income students to graduate debt-free. Williams endorsed the program in an advertisement that debuted during Hiesday’s basketball game against the Georgia Institute of Technology. The ad portrays Williams in Wilson Library describing the Covenant after a narrator discusses UNC’s commit ment to academic excellence. “The Carolina Covenant is a promise,” Williams says in the ad. “It’s a promise to help kids from low-income families get a college education debt-free. It’s a promise that Carolina is proud to make because everyone deserves a shot.” Beginning next fall, the Carolina Covenant will enable academically qualified UNC students at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line to graduate debt-free if they work 10 to 12 hours per week in a federal work-study job on campus. ONLINE Comparative literature group presents "Divine Intervention," a film about life in Israel and the West Bank. For full story go to dailytarheel.com. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 01ir lathi Star Hrrl year. Students cast 6,901 votes Tuesday, an increase from 6,613 in 2003. A total of 7,011 students voted in all races this year. “I am very pleased with the turnout,” said Melissa Anderson, chairwoman of the Board of Elections. “The turnout reflects on the quality of the candidates.” After the results were tallied, the field of candidates for student body Hu * * • , Hr Andrew McKee plays the saxophone during a Tuesday night jazz jam at Henry’s Bistro. UNC students and other Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents gather at the restaurant Tuesdays for International Night featuring live local ■&L . p 9 vHhHRh JgH UNC NEWS SERVICES Roy Williams films a TV spot in support of the Carolina Covenant. UNC will meet all student needs such as transportation, books and supplies through a combination of federal, state and private funds. Chancellor James Moeser said Williams called him after the Covenant was announced in October 2003 to commend the University’s dedication and to make his own donation. “He said it reminded him of his own upbringing, that it is a won derful thing and he wanted to be a part of it.” Moeser said. Williams, a native of Asheville, graduated from UNC in 1972. Williams made the donation along SEE COVENANT, PAGE 2 INSIDE BOTTOMS UP Popular drinking games are rooted in ancient Greek culture PAGE 3 www.dailytarheel.com president decreased from eight to two. Candidates Matt Calabria and Lily West will face off this coming Tuesday in the run-off election. “It’s a testament to the fact that so many good candidates were run ning,” said former candidate John Walker. Former candidate Ashley Castevens said the number of can didates forced campaigns to be inclusive. “When you have so many people, it forces you to reach out across the community,” she said. Walker also said the increase in visibility among this year’s candi PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC Local leads change in Northside BY EMILY VASQUEZ STAFF WRITER Though it’s just a few steps from Franklin Street, many Chapel Hill resi dents will never walk the streets of the Northside community. But that hasn’t stopped Delores Bailey. In recent years, Bailey has taken up the fight to preserve the historically black neighborhood and has become a com pelling voice for the cause. Carrboro Alderman Mark Chilton, for mer director of EmPOWEßment Inc., which works in Northside for community development, said he knew immediately that Bailey would have an impact. “The first time I saw her stand up in front of Chapel Hill’s town council just seeing how all nine council members were transfixed, I knew we had the right woman to transform the project,” Chilton said. In 2002, EmPOWEßment received a town.grant to hire a community organizer and Chilton recruited Bailey for the posi tion. By January 2004, she was co-director of the group, and the Independent Weekly named her a Citizen Award winner in 2003. Even before joining EmPOWEßment, Bailey was active in the community as a volunteer. She walked the neighborhood distributing fliers for community meet ings. She wasn’t afraid to talk to drug deal ers. And she pushed for a better relation ship between the community and the \ l: tm dates contributed to the number of voters. Students saw a barrage of posters and signs advertising the candidates during the final days of the campaign season. Candidates also gathered around the Pit to discuss campus issues and platforms with students. Some issues that recently have been in the limelight, such as tuition, also could have spurred the increase. “There is a lot of stuff facing stu dents, particularly access and financing,” Calabria said. “Student government continues to have a great deal of impact on the lives of musicians. Henry’s is open from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and has a late night menu. The bistro also has live music Sunday and Monday nights. It is located at 403 W. Rosemary Street. Beer specials vary Monday through Wednesday. police. “She’s what we needed to ensure we were communicating appropriately with the community,” said Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies. “She’s a ball of fire.” Through EmPOWEßment, Bailey worked with police to organize a summer employment program last year to give area teens job experience. She also helped police develop a Tae Kwon Do program to provide a year-round alternative to “just hanging out.” Six mem bers of the program received yellow belts Feb. 2. “People really felt the town wasn’t going to help the community,” Chilton said. “She helped to overcome that.” While reducing crime in Northside, where some residents feel uncomfortable walking after dark, is a priority, Bailey says her mission is two-fold. Bailey also wants to ensure that Northside remains a family-oriented, affordable housing community. “It’s about how to protect and preserve our neighborhood from ourselves and from the outside,” she said. Bailey is working to prevent developers from turning the community into an exten sion of University housing. She said investors stand to profit from duplexes seriously, but their tenants aren’t likely to SEE BAILEY, PAGE 2 SPORTS IN THE RED A late rally falls short as the UNC wrestling team loses to N.C. State PAGE 9 students.” Former candidate Matt Liles also noted the role current issues play in the election. “Tuition put campus issues in the forefront, where I hope they always are.” Former candidate Laura Thomas also said recent tuition increase pro posals might have increased voter turnout. “I think it was a busy year with tuition coming up right at the beginning of the election,” she said. But Faudlin Pierre, another for mer candidate, disputed the impor tance of issues in the election. “Voters don’t turn out for issues, New leaders at Campus Y Co-presidents among those elected BY BRIAN HUDSON ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR Members of the Campus Y elected anew set of leaders who promised to improve the unity of one of the largest student organ izations on campus. Derwin Dubose and Elizabeth Sonntag were elected Tuesday as the male and female co-presidents of the Campus Y. Freshman Tracy Austria was elected minister of information. The Campus Y promotes social justice through a number of activities. “The Y is to me the most important campus entity,” Dubose said. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead it.” The new officials said improv ing the Campus Y’s organization will be their first priority in office. “I definitely want to work with membership retention and connect members to the larger organizations,” Dubose said. “We act like 19 separate organiza tions. We don’t act like the largest organization on campus.” Austria also said she is look ing forward to creating a more cohesive Campus Y. “I want to really work with Derwin and Elizabeth to start to work on uniting the Y,” she said. “I think our first order of busi ness is ... to get the Y going in the direction we want it to go in.” Austria said she anticipates working closely with Dubose and Sonntag. “This year I was on the execu tive board,” she said. “So I thought the minister of infor mation would be a good job DTH/PAILIN WEDEL THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2004 TURNOUT FOR SPB RACE 2004 6,901 voters 2003 6,613 voters 2002 7,074 voters 2001 5,402 voters they turn out for people,” he said. Although all the candidates laud ed the increase in turnout, some thought it was still not enough. Candidate Lily West expressed concern that only a particular type SEE TURNOUT, PAGE 2 because I’m a perfectionist. I like to get things done, and I wanted to work with Elizabeth and Derwin.” Meredith Flowe, current Campus Y female co-president, said ffie elected officials will take office after Spring Break so cur rent leaders can help with the transition before graduating. “We will be around,” she said. “We transition early, so we’ll be around to help out.” Aside from improving Campus Y cooperation, Dubose said die administration’s first task will be appointing new officers. “I want to open applications for the leadership team and committee heads,” he said. “We hope to have all (the decisions) made before Spring Break.” Sonntag said she is happy to be given the opportunity to work with Campus Y. “I am really excited about working with the Y and the com munity,” she said. “I’m excited to work together and get the com mittees working together.” Sonntag and Austria both ran unopposed for their positions, but Dubose ran against two competitors. Flowe said she was happy with the quality of candidates in the election. “I think all of them are very driven people, very committed to the Y,” she said. “We were very lucky this year to have a great number of candi dates. They all ran very good campaigns.” Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu. i if nhHHH B\j DTH/JANE NOVOTNY Delores Bailey, co-director of EmPOWEßment Inc., is active in trying to preserve Northside, the historically black neighborhood bound by West Rosemary Street. WEATHER TODAY Rain/snow, H 37, L 27 FRIDAY Sunny, H 53, L 27 SATURDAY Sunny, H 55, L 29