VOLUME 112, ISSUE 62
Judge
rules in
Qur’an
lawsuit
Ruling states that
rights were secure
BY EMILY STEEL
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
A federal lawsuit that drew
a whirl of attention to the
University’s summer reading pro
gram two years ago has been dis
missed in its entirety.
The decision, by U.S. District
Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley Jr.,
marks an end to a fiery fight that
propelled UNC into a nationwide
debate about academic freedom
and the separation between church
and state.
The 2002 Carolina Summer
Reading Program selection,
“Approaching the Qur’an: The
Early Revelations,” translated
and introduced by Michael Sells,
spurred a lawsuit in July 2002.
The five plaintiffs, including
three UNC students, claimed that
the reading, a collection and anal
ysis of 35 suras short passages
from the chief holy book of Islam
violated the separation between
church and state and was a form of
religious indoctrination.
UNC originally required all
incoming students to read the
book and write a response paper,
but later stated that students with
religious objections did not need
to read the book.
The suit bounced from a
Greensboro federal court to the
4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Richmond and settled back into the
Greensboro court by fall 2002.
The court declined to issue a
preliminary injunction of the pro
gram and dismissed any related
claims that the program violated
the establishment clause of the U.S.
Constitution.
The final claim, which stated that
the University had violated the free
exercise clause of the Constitution
by “authorizing and requiring the
reading and discussing” of the book,
was dismissed July 7-
Tilley wrote that the University
did not affirm any religious beliefs,
lend its support to either side of the
controversy, discriminate based on
religious views or status, or punish
the expression of religious beliefs.
“Students who were not mem
bers of the Islamic faith, probably
the great majority of students,
were neither asked nor forced to
give up their own beliefs or to com
promise their own beliefs in order
to discuss the patterns, language,
history and cultural significance of
SEE LAWSUIT, PAGE 4
Tarpley, O’Reilly embody Hamm’s legacy
BY BRIAN MACPHERSON
SENIOR WRITER
The commercial’s first scene
opens on a dark field as a young
girl in a blue shirt, black shorts
and white socks strides into a sin
gle circle of light in the middle of
the grass.
Her brown hair is slightly out of
place, as if she has spent an hour
running around, kicking a soccer
ball under the lights. But there’s no
mistaking the sincerity in her eyes
as she approaches the camera in
tribute to Mia Hamm, the great
est player in the history of women’s
soccer.
“Thank you for opening the
door.”
Both Lindsay Tarpley and
Heather O’Reilly once were that
girl, once proudly displayed Mia
Hamm posters on their walls, once
dreamed of a similar career on the
world stage.
But as Hamm takes her final
bows and fades into retirement,
it’s important to understand that
Tarpley and O’Reilly aren’t just fol
INSIDE
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New college initiative might bring
entrepreneurship minor to UNC PAGE 9
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
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HOME STRETCH
BUSH PRESIDENT SEEKS TO
MAINTAIN HIS SLIM LEAD
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BY KAVITA PILLAI
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Whoever wins the presidential
election in November will
be the one who best mobi
lizes his base, experts say,
and this race likely won’t be
won in the middle.
t With the electorate nearly split evenly
between the two candidates, poll results could
swing back and forth in the next 57 days. And
the few undecided voters might not matter.
“The voters have made up their minds,” said
Dorothy James, a professor of government at
Connecticut College. “There’s only a 2 to 3 to
5 percent likelihood of much change.”
Anew poll by CNN-USA Today-Gallup
released Monday, the first after the Republican
National Convention, shows President Bush
receiving a post-convention boost of 2 percent.
The president leads the Democratic nomi
nee, Sen. John Kerry, 52 percent to 45 per
cent among likely voters. Kerry’s poll numbers
were virtually stagnant after the Democratic
National Convention.
Experts say the candidates will spend most of
the remaining campaign days in swing states.
“They’ll keep slugging away and get into every
kitchen in Ohio that they can,” James said.
But with such close numbers, whoever gets
the most supporters to the polls could win. And
many experts expect a rise in voter turnout.
“It would appear that the intensity that
drives people to the polls is high enough that
lowing Hamm’s legacy.
Tarpley and O’Reilly are
Hamm’s legacy.
When Hamm made her debut
at the international level, women’s
soccer wasn’t popular, wasn’t taken
seriously, wasn’t even an Olympic
sport. But as
Hamm car
ried the sport
to national
prominence,
she inspired
countless young
women to fol-
AFTER ATHENS
CQ<p
Tar Heel competitors
return from the
Olympic Games
Today:
Women's Soccer
low in her path, to seek oppor
tunities they had been denied in
years past.
Hamm now passes the torch to
Tarpley and O’Reilly, stars at North
Carolina and the leaders of a gen
eration of women’s soccer players
who have spent their lives looking
to Hamm for inspiration.
“What Mia has done for each
and every one of us is just remark
able,” O’Reilly said. “She can never
get enough credit for everything
that she is.”
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IT'S ELECTRIC
Chapel Hill considers switching to
electronic parking meters PAGE 7
www.dthonline.com
Election 2004
there is a high number of voters that will show
up,” James said. “Both sides have been work
ing desperately hard to get their potential
base registered and turned out to vote.”
Ron Eckstein, spokesman for the N.C. Kerry-
Edwards campaign, said the climate of the last
four years will drive people to the polls.
“I think turnout for everyone will be larger,”
he said. “Four years ago, the country was at
peace, and we were riding the longest econom
ic expansion in the nation’s history. Things
were good; people didn’t need a change.”
Platform politics
Although Bush’s policies on stem-cell
research, abortion and same-sex marriage
could indicate that he is a hard-line conser
vative, some say the overall platforms for both
parties are moderate in an effort to win the
few centrist votes that are still up for grabs.
“Both parties have gone to a more moderate,
noncontroversial platform,” said David Almasi,
executive director for the National Center for
Public Policy Research. “The Democratic plat
form in the past has been very left of center. This
year, they have excised a lot of the big issues.”
James said that the level of generality in the
campaigns is high but that Bush is better at
laying out his ideas plainly.
“His (convention) speech was good in that
he said, ‘This is what I plan to do in the next
four years,’” she said. “The Democrats’ biggest
problem is that their campaign theme is just
And a star-studded commercial
tribute to Hamm, compiled by
Gatorade and featuring Michael
Jordan, Billie Jean King, Anson
Dorrance and U.S. teammates
Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy and
Brandi Chastain, only scratches
the surface of her impact on
American sports.
“She deserves it,” Tarpley said.
“Everything she’s getting and got
ten, she’s worked so hard for, and
that’s just a small token to repay
what she’s done for everybody.”
Another small token, of course,
was the Olympic gold medal that
Tarpley and O’Reilly played an
important part in winning.
“There are few people in the
world that wanted Mia and Kristine
to go out with a gold medal more
than I did,” said Dorrance, who
coached both players at North
Carolina. “And to have that gold
medal delivered by the young kids
that are currently playing for us,
could any of you have written a bet-
SEE OLYMPICS, PAGE 4
KERRY CHALLENGER MUST
OVERCOME DROP IN POLLS
‘ ’ Hk ' , ” v
to beat Bush. They haven’t laid out as much of
a strategy as the Republicans have.”
Several experts say debates between the
candidates could be a deciding factor for many
voters. Three nationally televised presidential
debates are scheduled to occur before Nov. 2.
“(The debates) will give the voters a chance
to see the persons in comparison,” James said.
On the offensive
In light of Kerry’s speech after the last night
of the RNC answering claims from swift boat
veterans and others that he did not earn his
Vietnam War medals, pundits say this cam
paign season already is a negative one.
But both campaigns claim to be concerned
with issues, not attacks.
“All of our advertisements have been posi
tive,” Eckstein said. “We hope the election
will be about issues, our plan and his plan.
But they seem to want to make it about really
nasty things.”
Many Democrats point to Georgia Democratic
Sen. Zell Miller’s keynote address at the RNC as
an example of Republican negativity.
But Almasi said that the convention was gen
erally positive and will help Bush in the polls.
Ferrel Guillory, director of UNC’s Program
on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life,
said that while Kerry’s response to the swift
boat controversy was firm, it also was negative
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 4
“Part of the battle of being on the national
team is earning the respect of the people
around you.” heather o’reilly. UNC SOPHOMORE
| Vf JH t
DTH/ASHLEY Pin
UNC sophomore Heather O’Reilly (second from left) acknowledges the
crowd at Fetzer Field on Friday in honor of her Olympic gold medal.
SPORTS
UNDEFEATED
Tar Heels take down Tribe, win season
opener for first time since 2000 PAGE 16
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2004
Lensing
selected
as Dec.
speaker
English professor
to helm ceremony
BY BRIAN HUDSON
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
UNC English Professor George
Lensing has been tapped to give
the keynote speech at this year’s
December Commencement,
University officials said.
News of the appointment, origi
nally slated to be released later this
week, was announced prematurely
during Friday’s Faculty Council
meeting.
Officials say they will make
a formal announcement
of the December and May
Commencement speaker selec
tions later this week
Judith Wegner, chairwoman of
the faculty, described Lensing as
a professor dedicated to students
throughout the University.
“If I am looking to find him for
something, he’s having lunch with
students some place,” said Wegner,
a member of the commencement
speaker committee. “He’s some
body who is just always going out
of his way for students.”
Lensing was recommended for
the honor by the committee during
the summer.
Chancellor James Moeser
approved the recommendation
and extended an invitation to
speak to Lensing soon after.
An expert in modern poetry,
Lensing earned his BA. from the
University of Notre Dame in 1962,
and he received a doctorate in 1966
from Louisiana State University.
After a two-year stint serving in
the Peace Corps in Brazil, Lensing
joined the University’s faculty in
1969.
SEE SPEAKER, PAGE 4
DTH FILE PHOTOS/JUSTIN SMITH
Students
work to fix
voter lists
BY RYAN C. TUCK
CITY EDITOR
During a move from on- to
off-campus housing, a variety of
things change. Unfortunately for
local party advocates, most stu
dents’ voting records do not.
At least that’s what Tom Jensen
and Justin Guillory are finding
while scanning records of locally
registered Democrats as part of
the Young Democrats’ new part
nership with the Orange County
Democratic Party.
Jensen, party affairs director
for the Young Democrats, and
Guillory, the group’s president,
are starting a project with county
Democrats to make that sure vot
ers registered as on-campus resi
dents still live at UNC or are
even still students.
According to state law, voters
must know or correct the address
listed on their voter registration
paperwork before Election Day, or
they could be barred from voting.
Jensen and Guillory said the
county Democrats helped them
access the county voter registration
lists and are covering the group’s
fees and providing office space in
exchange for Young Democrats’
volunteer hours.
“We need to weed out the people
who don’t live in dorms anymore
and find the students,” Jensen said
SEE VOTERS, PAGE 4
WEATHER
TODAY Rain, thunder, wind, H 80, L 69
WEDNESDAY Heavy rain, H 79, L 69
THURSDAY Mostly cloudy, H 81, L 65
English
Professor
George
Lensing
was praised for
his dedication
to the UNC
community.
Ma,