VOLUME 112, ISSUE 26
Officials release March Report
TUITION TALKS, BUDGET CUTS
HIGHLIGHT TEPPER’S TERM
BY LIZZIE STEWART
STAFF WRITER
When Matt Tepper began his
term as student body president
last April, he had no way of know
ing the amount of turbulence that
awaited him.
“We got thrown some crazy
curve balls,” Tepper said. “Our
whole administration has dealt
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DTH PHOTOS/JUSTIN SMITH
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, accepts a four-leaf clover Sunday from supporter Martha Kelder of New Hampshire. Below: Supporters Bert Geiger and Bob Plonsey listen to the speech.
KUCINICH HAS HIS DAY
BY SARAH HANCOX
STAFF WRITER
Crowds of people waving flags
and carrying banners for peace
gathered in Carrboro on Sunday to
hear a speech by Democratic pres
idential candidate U.S. Rep.
Dennis Rucinich of Ohio.
It was the first time that a well
known presidential candidate vis
ited the town, and in honor of the
occasion, Mayor Mike Nelson pro
claimed Sunday “Dennis Kucinich
Day.”
The celebration took place at the
Carrboro Farmers’ Market at 301
W. Main St. and was sponsored by
Nelson and North Carolina
Kucitizens.
The event opened with a peace
chant led by Jon Seskevich of
Universal Chanting, followed by
songs sung by the Raging
Hate crime victim says
police efforts fall short
BY SHANNAN BOWEN
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
Gagandeep Bindra thought he
was safe walking down Franklin
Street until he was assaulted last
weekend after three teenage boys
called him al-Qaida leader Osama
bin Laden.
Bindra, a Sikh UNC senior eco
nomics major from Punjab, India,
said he is more disappointed with
the way Chapel Hill police handled
the incident than he is with the
verbal attack.
According to police reports,
each of the three boys was arrested
on charges of simple assault but
XNSIDE
GOING GREEN
UNC's Green Energy Campaign sparks a conservation
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
obr latlu oar MM
really well with it.”
The March Report, released
Thursday, documents the adminis
tration’s efforts in completing plat
form promises and handling events
that leaders didn’t anticipate.
According to the report, all but
five of Tapper’s dozens of platform
items were completed during his
term, an effort he said started as
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN CARRBORO
"Welcome Dennis, wel
come Dennis, we love you,” sang
the Grannies as Kucinich took the
stage. In his speech, Kucinich
stressed the need for a clear vision
for the Democratic Party that
would address the issues of the
common people.
Kucinich is campaigning on a
platform that calls for universal
health care, withdrawal from the
North American Free Trade
Agreement and the World Trade
Organization, the repeal of the
USA PATRIOT Act, universal
prekindergarten through college
education and the development of
clean energy.
He also criticized the Bush
administration’s actions in Iraq.
“When will we learn that America
cannot be the policeman of the
world?” he said.
was not charged with ethnic intim
idation. N.C. law makes it a misde
meanor to assault another person,
to damage property or to make
threats because of a person’s race,
color, religion or national origin.
But, according to reports, police
did categorize last week’s incident
as a hate crime. Chapel Hill police
Chief Gregg Jarvies said a charge
of ethnic intimidation was not filed
because police did not think it was
clear that the assault occurred as a
result of verbal attack.
“We have to prove the assault
SEE ASSAULT, PAGE 4
www.dailyfarheel.com
soon as he took office.
“You get your bearings over the
summer,” Tepper said. “It’s the
calm before the storm.”
A frustrating issue Tepper wres
tled with during the summer was
filling in places where budget cuts
left gaping holes.
“We weren’t even planning on
the magnitude of cuts,” he said. “It
was a rough way to get started.”
One program in particular that
took a big financial hit was First
Year Initiative, a program for
incoming freshman that intro
Kucinich said he thinks that the
United Nations needs to intervene
in Iraq and that U.S. troops should
come home. He called for an end to
the “privatization of Iraq.”
“It’s time for our country to
rejoin the world,” Kucinich said.
“Going alone won’t work. Going
alone never works.”
Kucinich also said he thinks the
war has put unnecessary econom
ic strains on the country. If elected,
he would cut Pentagon funding by
16 percent to provide money for
education. Other economic
reforms Kucinich endorses include
an end to tax cuts for the wealthy
and converting the for-profit
health care system to nonprofit to
provide universal care.
On domestic issues, Kucinich is
SEE KUCINICH, PAGE 4
Fox may vacate top NCSU post
Likely headed to UC-San Diego job
BY STEPHANIE JORDAN
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
N.C. State University
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox has
announced her intention to take
the top job at the University of
Califomia-San Diego.
The university has not offered
Fox the chancellorship officially,
but she has the recommendation
of UC-system President Robert
Dynes. The system’s Board of
Regents will meet April 12 to
determine whether to extend Fox
the invitation.
In an e-mail addressed to the
duced them to various academic
and social opportunities.
The administration organized
the First Year Residential
Education program to take its
place, which turned out to be more
of a mentoring program.
And though FYl’s annual budg
et was almost $70,000 and FYRE
operated on a budget of $4,000,
Tepper said, “It turned out to be
really successful.”
Senior Adviser Alexi Nunn said
the March Report was evidence of
the feasibility of Tepper’s platform
“It’s time for our country to rejoin the
world. Going alone won't work. (It)
never works.” rep. dennis kucinich, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
1 1
UC-San Diego community Friday,
Dynes pledged his support of Fox.
“In the end, my decision was
guided by my belief that Dr. Fox
brings the combination of skills
needed to build on UCSD’s repu
tation as one of the finest univer
sities in the world,” he stated.
Although UC-San Diego’s deci
sion is preliminary, Fox said, she is
“leaning toward” the opportunity.
“It’s a fantastic school. It’s a great
opportunity for me, personally.”
UC-San Diego was the seventh
ranked public university in the
2004 edition of U.S. News &
SPORTS
NARROWEST OF MARGINS
The UNC gymnastics team misses its first trip to
the NCAA championships by C. 025 points PAGE 14
and the administration’s ability to
take on various projects to benefit
the student body as a whole.
“It shows our perseverance in
seemingly uphill battles ... the
tuition increase, in particular,” she
said.
Chief of Staff Ben Adams said
every administration has certain
big issues with which to deal,
including the tuition increase bat
tle. “Everything else was put on
hold while we focused our energies
SEE MARCH REPORT, PAGE 4
World Report’s America’s Best
Colleges, while N.C. State ranked
39th.
But Fox said that under her
guidance and leadership, N.C.
State has become a better univer
sity, particularly with regard to its
Centennial Campus, an expansion
similar to UNC-Chapel Hill’s pro
posed Carolina North.
By training, Fox is a nationally
renowned physical organic
chemist, and she has been the
chancellor of N.C. State since
1998. Before that, she was vice
president for research at the
University of Texas-Austin.
UNC-system President Molly
Broad said the situation is bitter-
WSATHEK
TODAY Sunny/windy, H 57, L 32
TUESDAY Sunny, H 67, L 43
WEDNESDAY Partly cloudy, H 71, L 46
MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2004
ANALYSIS
Inquiry
stifles
debate
in class
Probe is violating
rights , some say
BY BRIAN HUDSON
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
At the beginning of the semes
ter, students recall, Elyse CrystalTs
English 22 class had an open
atmosphere that promoted free
discussion.
“Classroom discussion was very
free, very open,” said sophomore
Amanda Buckley, a member of
CrystalTs class. “Students respond
ed well to discussions led by
Crystall, and they responded well
to each other.”
But that atmosphere of open dis
cussion has been stifled, students
say, in the wake of a national inves
tigation into possible free speech
violations. The investigation, led by
the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S.
Department of Education, is deter
mining if Crystall limited the free
speech of a student in the class.
“The classroom is not an open
discussion anymore,” Buckley said.
“I think the people are afraid of
their comments being brought
into the media, their comments
being brought out of the classroom
and taken out of context and gain
ing national criticism.”
In early February, Crystall sent
an e-mail to the class in response
to a student’s comments against
homosexuality. In the e-mail, she
labeled the student as heterosexist
in a position of privilege.
Sophomore Tim Mertes, who
originally made the comments in
opposition to homosexuality, said
that much of the class agrees that
the reaction to the incident has
gone too far. “They still feel the sit
uation was not handled in the best
way, but the professor has apolo
gized and the class had resumed,”
Mertes said. “It’s been blown way
out of proportion.”
Sophomore Helen Dombalis,
another member of the class,
blamed students’ fear of having
their comments publicized for the
change in the atmosphere.
“I’m sure everyone is concerned
about what they are saying, and in
the back of their minds they’re
thinking about what is being said
in class,” she said.
Buckley also said many students
are afraid to make comments that
might bring them under the same
scrutiny that has plagued Crystall.
“Now it’s far more restricted,” she
said of class discussion. “People
that used to comment a lot don’t
comment as much.”
To further the investigation, the
civil rights office has requested
information from the class’
Blackboard Web site, a password
protected site.that features a dis
cussion board for students.
Dombalis said the publication
of the discussion board has upset
SEE CLASSROOM, PAGE 4
COURTESY OF TECHNICIAN/TIM LYTVINENKO
sweet.
“I’m sorry to see her leave North
Carolina, but I wish her the best,”
she said. “The University of
California at San Diego is arguably
the greatest university success
SEE FOX, PAGE 4
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