VOLUME 112, ISSUE 73
Greeks prepare report for BOT
TRUSTEES TO RECEIVE UPDATE
ON NEW CODE OF CONDUCT
BY CLAIM DORRIER
STAFF WRITER
As the pledge process comes
into full swing, members of the
University’s governing board are
sitting in the background, care
fully watching the Interfraternity
Council as it implements anew
code of conduct.
During the UNC Board of
Trustees’ University Affairs com
mittee meeting today, Jay Anhom,
director of Greek affairs, will pro
vide an update about fall recruit
ment and how the new code of
Congress
officials
approve
payouts
Committee OKs
S26K in fee cash
BY LIZZIE STEWART
STAFF WRITER
The Finance Committee of
Student Congress scrutinized nine
student organizations’ funding
requests and approved total alloca
tions of $25,929.60 T\iesday night.
The committee, which examines
each organization’s bid for student
fees, has more than $64,000 to
appropriate to student groups this
semester. Student Congress will
review and finalize all approved
requests at its meeting next
TUesday.
“We literally audit every request
that comes in front of us,” said
Daneen Furr, chairwoman of the
Finance Committee. “The more
exact the request, the better it is
for us, because we know we’re not
wasting student fees.”
Sangam, the University’s South
Asian awareness organization,
requested $19,806 but was appro
priated $9,150.
The request asked for $15,200
for programming fees to fund
SEE FINANCE, PAGE 6
Groups seek options
in registration drives
Attract voters outside residence halls
BY CAROLINE KORNEGAY
STAFF WRITER
With 15 days left to register to
vote in this year’s election, campus
groups are taking new avenues to
sign up students before registra
tion forms are due.
Various campus groups, from
student government to an English
class, have joined the ongoing
efforts to solicit student votes
and tout the importance of civic
participation.
In one of the latest pushes,
the Residence Hall Association
proposed an initiative Tuesday
requesting that resident advisers
conduct at least one registration
program between today and Oct.
8, the last day to submit forms.
Dorm-storming to register
voters inside the residence halls
has been banned because of the
University’s facility-use policy,
which prohibits such solicita
tion.
With that tool no longer
available, students have had to
find alternate means of getting
election information out to the
University community.
RHA President Colin Scott
said the new voting push will help
“teach our fellow Tar Heels to be
better citizens.”
“This is a good way to step up
and do what’s best for residents,”
Scott said.
INSIDE
KNOW THYSELF
Founder of self-knowledge club writes essay about
encounter with monk, takes home SIOOK PAGE 5
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
(Ilir Satin (Tar Mrrl
conduct is being implemented.
Of the 450 students who reg
istered for rush this year, 54 per
cent —a total of 242 new pledges
have entered the Greek com
munity. Freshmen constitute 83
percent of the entering class.
Last year, 422 students registered
for rush. Of those students, 213, or
50 percent, pledged fraternities.
The fraternity council found
itself under scrutiny last spring
after trustees became aware of
personal servitude and hazing
practices taking place in the Greek
UNC sophomore Taiyyaba Qureshi (right)
stands with other students who joined a silent
candlelight vigil organized by Students United
for Darfur Awareness Now on Tuesday night in the Pit.
The group, which is based out of N.C. Hillel, sponsored the
While students moving into
residence halls received voter reg
istration forms during check-in,
they also can pick up the forms at
their community offices.
English Professor Todd Taylor
and students in his first-year
seminar, “Multimedia North
Carolina,” are creating a Web
site that provides students with
a cache of information about
voting.
It includes information for
out-of-state voters, out-of-district
voters and first-time voters.
It also offers registration dead
lines, links to candidates’ Web
sites and statistics the class found
to inspire fellow voters.
Taylor said he decided last year
that he wanted to teach students
how to collect information on
how to vote and how to share it,
therefore making students a more
active part of the electorate.
“The perfect way to answer
their questions was for them to
do the research themselves,” he
said.
The class of 20 students broke
into groups that researched,
wrote, edited and compiled infor
mation for the site.
The result of the project is a
Web site called “The Counting
Vote,” http://www.unc.edu/voter.
SEE RHA, PAGE 6
INSIDE
FROM A GREAT HEIGHT
Rain ruins crops, pocketbooks in
western half of state PAGE 5
www.dthonline.coin
community. In response, the IFC
wrote and implemented anew
code of conduct that specifically
forbids those practices.
During the IFC grand chapter
meeting Sept. 14, which at least
75 percent of members from each
fraternity chapter were required
to attend, officials emphasized the
new code of conduct.
“I was particularly impressed
with the turnout for the grand
chapter meeting,” Trustee Rusty
Carter said.
To enforce the code of con
duct, the Office of Greek Affairs
has established a group of alumni
representatives to monitor and
approve pledge activities.
“Hopefully we will hear through
SILENT NIGHT
Mr., Ms. BSM candidates speak out
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DTH/RAY JONES
A supporter of Conitras Houston, one of two candidates for Ms. BSM, cam
paigns in the Pit on Tuesday. The BSM’s elections take place in one week.
that network the progress that is
being made and any issues we
should look into,” Carter said.
Alumni advisers are playing a
larger role in enforcing the code and
acting as contacts among pledges,
parents and fraternity brothers.
New pledges have been instruct
ed to contact their alumni advisers
if they encounter problems.
“We just let them know they
have the power to step forward
and report any kind of violation of
the new code of conduct,” said Will
Robinson, vice president of public
relations for IFC. “If the executive
board is hearing about things, we
aren’t going to turn our heads and
let it slide.”
Jim Tatum, chairman of the
event to raise awareness about the organization and the
ongoing crisis in the Sudan. Portions of the African nation
have been in conflict after rebel groups in the Darfur region
rose up against the government with accusations of neglect
and to discrimination. For the full story, please see page 2.
SPORTS
WALKING WOUNDED
UNC running back Ronnie McGill likely won’t
play Saturday against Louisville PAGE 9
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
UNC Fraternity Alumni Advisers
Committee, said all reports are
confidential so students will not
feel alienated.
“All advisers of fraternities are
sending out letters to parents of
pledges addressing important
issues and inviting parents to stay
in touch if problems arise,” Tatum
said.
As parents gathered in Chapel
Hill for Family Weekend, numerous
forums were held Saturday morn
ing, including one on Greek life.
Tatum said there was a frank
and open discussion about the
demands and stresses of Greek
life.
SEE PLEDGES, PAGE 6
DTH/LAURA MORTON
Have 1 week to present service plans
BY DANIELLE HARTMAN
STAFF WRITER
With only one week left before
election day, candidates for Mr. and
Ms. BSM are racing to present their
original service projects to the stu
dent body in efforts to gamer votes.
The contest, sponsored by the
Black Student Movement, chal
lenges students to develop a plan
for the enrichment of the black
community.
After completing a detailed
application, a round of interviews
and a presentation about their
plan, winning candidates will have
the opportunity to implement their
initiatives this spring.
Although service is its primary
focus, the award also carries a signif
icant social perk. Mr. and Ms. BSM
receive automatic nominations to
UNC’s Homecoming Court
This year’s campaign began
Monday in the Pit; candidates and
their supporters manned tables
and waved posters touting their
credentials and championing their
service projects.
Although their platforms are
unique, each hopeful cited the same
reason for initiating a campaign:
the chance to positively influence
the entire black community.
Candidate Gahmya Drummond-
Bey, a senior communications
major, emphasized the importance
of helping black citizens outside of
the University community.
While outlining her service plan,
WEATHER
TODAY Sunny, H 87, L 59
THURSDAY Sunny, H 84, L 60
FRIDAY Partly cloudy, H 82, L 55
Board
to see
suicide
report
Trustees to tackle
issue Wednesday
BY JAMIE DOUGHER
SENIOR WRITER
Three UNC students commit
ted suicide between September
2002 and May 2003.
The following August, a special
task force formed to study why
student suicides had become more
common at the University in recent
years. Group members began
to examine UNC’s policies and
national data concerning suicide.
Then, two more students com
mitted suicide at the end of the
spring 2004 semester.
Today, the Suicide Prevention
Task Force will present its report
at a meeting of the University’s
Board of Trustees.
The deaths last spring height
ened awareness of student suicide,
a trend that is becoming more
common nationally it is now the
second leading cause of death for
college students, the report states.
After pointing out what it
deemed the best practices used by
UNC and nine of its peer universi
ties to target mental health issues,
the task force outlined ideas to
improve the University’s suicide
prevention procedures.
Counseling and Psychological
Service, which the report describes
as a short-term referral service, is on
par with similar programs at other
universities, the report states.
“It’s really strikingly similar,” said
Jan Sedway, a member of the task
force and a professor of psychiatry
who is engaged in an online study
to screen students for potential
mental health problems.
The College Screening Project,
coordinated by task force mem
ber Linda Nicholas, is funded
through May 2005 by the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Students periodically are invit
ed by e-mail to fill out an online
survey, which Sedway evaluates to
determine whether they are at risk
for depression and might want to
SEE SUICIDE, PAGE 6
“It’s importantfor
people to know that
even though the
risks are out there,
they can still relax!'
CONITRAS HOUSTON, CANDIDATE
which involves giving residents
at a Methodist children’s home a
glimpse of University life, she said
that “a community is only as strong
as its weakest link.”
Drummond-Bey said she hopes
to provide guidance and account
ability for youths through mentors
and scholarships.
Candidate Conitras Houston,
a senior communication studies
major, is focusing on healthy life
styles and exercise. After losing a
grandmother to diabetes, she said,
she became concerned with culti
vating positive health habits.
Houston said she plans to
sponsor a three-day health fair,
stressing “Awareness, Action and
Relaxation.”
“It’s important for people to
know that even though the risks
are out there, they can still relax,”
she said.
Although he is the sole candidatp
for Mr. BSM, Arthur “TJ” Abrams,
a senior journalism major, also has
SEE BSM, PAGE 6
o