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CAMPUS BRIEFS
DTH seeks members for
editor selection committee
The Daily Tar Heel is now
accepting applications for its edi
tor selection committee. All stu
dents are eligible.
Applications are available in the
DTH office, located in the Student
Union.
Participants are required to
attend meetings March 18 from 5 to
6 p.m. and March 20 from 9 am. to
4:30 p.m.
Those selected will be notified
by March 4. Please contact DTH
Editor Elyse Ashburn with ques
tions at eashbum@email.unc.edu.
CITY BRIEFS
Police name places where
rape, assault occurred
Carrboro police identified the
Dominion Ramsgate complex and
Royal Park Apartments as the two
complexes where a rape and a sex
ual assault occurred early Monday.
The rape occurred at Royal Park
Apartments, while the sexual
assault took place at Dominion
Ramsgate. Both complexes are
located on N.C. 54.
Police have yet to make any
arrests, but are following up on all
leads.
Triangle Communities, which
owns Royal Park Apartments, is
offering a SIO,OOO reward for any
information leading to the arrest
and sentencing of the man who
committed the rape.
Residents of apartment com
plexes on N.C. 54 were given safe
ty packets Tuesday that included
measures to protect themselves as
well as the composite sketch of the
rape suspect and descriptions of
both suspects.
Anyone with information can
call Triangle Crime Stoppers at
226-2746. Callers do not have to
give their name or testify in court.
NATIONAL BRIEFS
Scientists' human cloning
claim incites controversy
SEATTLE ln a clash of poli
tics and science, the first success
ful cloning of a human embryo
and the extraction of stem cells
from it has ignited new calls for
a ban on all forms of human
cloning in the United States.
The cloning announcement by
South Korean scientists on
Thursday prompted members of
Congress and church leaders to
ask for immediate legislation.
“Cloning human beings is
wrong. It is unethical to tinker
with human life,” said Rep. Joe
Pitts, R-Pa. A ban must be passed,
he said, “before this unethical sci
ence comes to our shores.”
The Bush administration favors
such action and referred reporters
to a statement by the president
calling for full ban. “Human life is
a creation, not a commodity, and
should not be used as research
material for reckless experiments,”
Bush said last month.
Greenspan urges Congress
to preserve Bush tax cuts
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan said Thursday that
Congress should make President
Bush’s tax cuts permanent and
cover the $1 trillion price by trim
ming future benefits in Social
Security and other entitlement
programs.
Greenspan told the Senate
Budget Committee that Congress,
“as a first order of business,”
should restore budget rules that
cap discretionary government
spending and require increases in
entitlement benefits or cuts in
taxes to be offset by other program
cuts or other tax increases.
Greenspan was asked how he
would come up with the decade
long cost of $1 trillion to pay for
extending the 2001 and 2003
individual tax cuts. “I would argue
strenuously that it should be taken
out on the expenditure side,” he
answered.
GAi£lAl
Wednesday
7 p.m. Rick Halperin, a pro
fessor of history from Southern
Methodist University and an
expert on the death penalty, will
present an overview of the death
penalty in the United States and
its associated trends in the Student
Union Auditorium. The event is
sponsored by the Robertson
Collaboration Fund.
Thursday
4 p.m. Darryl Hunt, the
North Carolina man who was
recently released from prison after
18 years and fully exonerated of a
crime he didn't commit, will speak
at the UNC School of Law. He will
be joined by his attorney Mark
Rabil and Larry Little, the man
who led the movement to free him
for 19 years.
From staff and wire reports.
Police identify suspect in break-ins
Man charged with going into dorms
BY CLAIRE DORRIER
STAFF WRITER
After several reports of a suspi
cious man entering residence hall
rooms without consent and a long
investigation, University police
said Thursday they finally might
have the perpetrator.
Thomas Mineo 111 was arrested
at Hinton James Residence Hall
“When possible financially, no matter what the family structure,
families will work to have one of the parents stay at home.” nancy reichle, UNC FACULTY MEMBER
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DTH/SARA ABRONS
Maria, 6, and Tanya Carter Reichle, 8, play with the family dogs, Elsa and Midnight, with their mothers, UNC faculty member Nancy Reichle
(right) and Tanya Carter at their home in Pittsboro on Thursday afternoon. Reichle and Carter adopted their daughters from Guatemala.
GAY PARENTS MAKE
TIME FOR CHILDREN
As likely to stay home as other parents, study says
BY AMI SHAH
STAFF WRITER
Instead of heading to fraternity parties and
Franklin Street, one UNC junior spends her
Saturday nights going out to dinner or playing
board games with her partner of seven years
and their 4-year-old son.
Because the UNC student, a 30-year-old
psychology major who wishes to remain
anonymous, and her partner are both full
time students, they set aside special “family
time” to ensure they spend ample time with
their son.
“We have to work quite hard to meet the
demands of our school schedule and the self
imposed demands of raising a good kid,” the
UNC student said.
The responsibility of supporting a family
and paying for college makes it in impossible
for this nontraditional student and her part
ner, a Duke University graduate student, to
stay at home.
“We just can’t survive on one income,” the
UNC student said.
On the whole, however, a study by Gary
Gates, a demographer at the Urban Institute,
a research organization in Washington, D.C.,
shows that the gap between the number of
lesbian couples and the number of heterosex
ual couples that have one stay-at-home parent
is closing.
And, according to Gates’ study, gay male
NCCU dorms to reopen this fall
BY AMY THOMSON
STAFF WRITER
As UNC-system officials walked
past the biohazard signs of the
closed residence halls at N.C.
Central University on Thursday to
view repairs to the mold damage,
they crossed under a mural titled
“Growth, Freedom and Obstacles.”
The holes gaping below the art,
where renovations have claimed
the vents, drove the message home.
Black mold that deyeloped from
problems in the heating and air
conditioning systems infected sev
eral buildings on campus, includ
ing two residence halls. Officials
expected to spend more than $67
million in repairs. Gov. Mike
Easley has agreed to fund the ren
ovations, which have displaced
hundreds of students.
While the mold has received a
great deal of attention for its toxic
ity, officials at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
said the most common problems
Top News
early Wednesday morning after a
call was made around 3:30 a.m.
regarding a suspicious person.
Since his Thursday morning
release on bail, officers at the
Department of Public Safety have
implicated Mineo in several other
residence hall break-ins this year.
Capt. Mark Mclntyre said
University police officers hope to
couples have one stay-at-home parent at a
rate 1 percentage point higher than that of
heterosexual couples —a fact that is garner
ing national media attention from newspa
pers, including The New York Times.
By analyzing the U.S. Census 2000’s 5-
Percent Public Use Microdata Sample, Gates
found that 26 percent of gay men households
and 22 percent of lesbian households have
one stay-at-home parent, compared to 25 per
cent of heterosexual couples.
Gates said he was not surprised by the find
ings and attributed the difference between the
number of gay and lesbian stay-at-home par
ents to the difference between male and
female incomes.
“Male partners tend to make more money
(than females), so they can be at home,” Gates
said.
Brian Dew, a psychologist at Georgia State
University, said the results might be mislead
ing because “stay-at-home” is not clearly
defined.
“Some individuals are able to work from
home, still have an income and still be classi
fied as a stay-at-home parent,” Dew said.
UNC faculty member Nancy Reichle and
her partner have adopted two 4-month-old
children from Guatemala. Carmen, adopted
in 1995, is now 8 years old, and Maria, adopt
ed in 1998, is 6.
Reichle said she believes no correlation
linked to the mold contamination
are asthma attacks and respiratory
irritation.
N.C. Central Chancellor James
Ammons said he isn’t aware of any
illnesses reported by students.
The residence halls were 4 years
old when the problem was discov
ered and still have safety rules and
billboards hanging on the walls.
The nook where vending machines
once stood are filled with power
tools and masks.
Pipes are exposed where mold
infested tiles have been removed,
and the building has been
scrubbed with bleach.
C.T. Wilson Construction Cos.
has been hired to carry out the sec
ond phase of the remodeling
process and the restructuring of
the air-conditioning system to pre
vent the mold’s return.
“It’s got to be finished June 1, or
I’ve got to move out of the state,”
joked Herb Stanford, a C.T. Wilson
employee who led the tour. “The
arrest Mineo as early as today.
Mineo is described as 5 feet 9
inches tall, 240 pounds, with
brown eyes and black hair. He is
identified as half Italian and half
Hispanic.
When officers approached
Mineo, he provided them with a
false identity, Mclntyre said.
Reports state that Mineo was
charged with breaking and enter
ing and delay and obstruct, both
misdemeanors. He posted a SSOO
exists between sexual orientation and stay-at
home parents.
“When possible financially, no matter what
the family structure, families will work to have
one of the parents stay at home,” she said. “It
is not indicative of how much they care for
their child.”
Gates said the analysis excludes gay and
lesbian couples who might not be comfortable
using these terms to define their relationship.
Nonetheless, he believes the study accurately
reflects the homosexual population.
“(The) census provides one of the best
sources available for exploring the geograph
ic, demographic and economic characteristics
of gay and lesbian families,” Gates said.
He noted that the increased acceptance of
gay and lesbian couples makes more individu
als comfortable identifying themselves as hav
ing an “unmarried partner” or a “husband/wife
of the same sex.”
“(Increasing acceptance) shows that those
relationships are going to be more stable in
the long run, so the notion of raising children
will be a more logical path,” Gates said.
Overall, Dew said, the similarity between
the statistics illustrates that gay, lesbian and
heterosexual couples are all equal-caliber par
ents.
“By and large, the research shows that there’s
very little difference in the educational achieve
ments and individual development of children
raised in gay and lesbian families,” he said.
SEE PARENTS, PAGE 4
governor’s going fo come looking
for me.”
State contractors were responsi
ble for the initial phase, which
involved removing the mold
infested areas of the building.
Ammons said the reason the
mold was allowed to progress so
far is being investigated but that no
conclusions have been made.
Many blame the original con
tractor, R.K. Stewart and Son Inc.,
for flaws in the residence halls’
construction that led to the mold
growth, but Ammons refused to
comment on this speculation.
UNC-system President Molly
Broad toured the renovation site.
“The good news is there’s no mold,
and we have a clear plan that will
get us this residence hall back in
June and ready for students,” she
said. The halls will reopen for stu
dents next fall.
Contact the State & National
editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2004
bond and was released Thursday
morning.
According to reports, he entered
a suite occupied by female students
and was knocking on doors
requesting entry into individual
rooms. Mclntyre said it is
unknown how Mineo might have
gained access the residence hall.
After police further investigated
the break-in, Mineo was re-arrest
ed on separate charges Thursday.
Police think Mineo was also
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DTH/JUSTIN SMITH
% eff Fowler (left) and Kirk Bryson, members of the
I band Bazungu, perform in the Top of Lenoir during a
special Valentine’s dinner event held Thursday night.
A dessert buffet, white table cloths and candles also were
used to mark Thursday’s special dining occasion.
responsible for two counts of
breaking and entering in connec
tion with a break-in at Hinton
James on Feb. 6.
His bond was set at SI,OOO for
the second arrest. Mineo again
posted bail and was released
Thursday afternoon.
Later on Thursday, officers con
nected Mineo to break-ins at
Carmichael and Morrison resi-
SEE BREAK-IN, PAGE 4
Branch
fills 31
vacant
spaces
BY ALLISON PARKER
STAFF WRITER
Student body president was not
the only important position on the
ballot Tuesday.
Student Congress, the legisla
tive branch of student govern
ment, also held elections, filling
31 of their 40 open seats. Eight
more elected students are eligible
but have not yet accepted posi
tions.
Seat vacancies have been a
problem in the past, but this year,
only graduate student spots have
been difficult to fill, said Board of
Elections Chairwoman Melissa
Anderson.
After candidates receive a single
vote to be members of Congress,
they can assume the role provided
they notify Congress Speaker Will
DuPont that they will accept the
position.
Among those elected as write
in candidates were men’s basket
ball players Raymond Felton and
Jackie Manuel, but Anderson said
she doubts either will accept due
to time constraints.
SEE CONGRESS, PAGE 4
County
mulls
merger
issues
BY CHRIS GLAZNER
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
Judging by the empty seats at
Thursday night’s meeting of the
Orange County Board of
Commissioners, the fervor sur
rounding the possible merger of
the county’s two school systems
seems to have died down.
In their discussions, the com
missioners mostly avoided the
issue, which brought dozens of par
ents out to meetings last fall and
provoked loud debate in both the
Orange County Schools and Chapel
Hill-Carrboro City Schools districts.
Instead, the commissioners
focused on three issues that have
been raised in response to the
merger: a study of collaboration
between the districts, an econom
ic efficiency study and an
Educational Excellence Task Force
SEE MERGER, PAGE 4
3