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VOLUME 112, ISSUE 82 B."' J -V'" A DTH/LAURA MORTON Gubernatorial candidates Patrick Ballantine (center) and Mike Easley (left) faced off in an hourlong debate about public education issues Monday morning at the SAS Institute in Cary. John Dornan, Executive Director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, moderated the debate. CANDIDATES DEBATE EDUCATION Easley, Ballantine differ on plans to increase school funding, teacher pay BY ERIN GIBSON ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR CARY Incumbent Gov. Mike Easley and Republican challenger Patrick Ballantine attacked one another Monday on education policies while addressing questions from education officials. Despite the countless differences between the candidates, they agreed that more money needs to be invested in the school systems and teacher pay. The difference, as was apparent during the debate, comes in the way each plans to accomplish that goal. Easley, who did not stay behind the podium as he spoke, emphasized his desire for a state lottery, with proceeds going toward education and decreas ing class sizes. “I want to see an education lottery,” he said. “We’re building schools in South Carolina, Georgia Leaders discuss election changes BY CARLY SALVADORE STAFF WRITER Students gathered Monday night at a public hearing to debate amendments to sections of the Student Code that sparked con troversy during last winter’s highly contentious election season. During the first of three hear ings, students and student govern ment officials reviewed proposed amendments to Title VI of the Student Code, the section that governs conduct during all student elections. One of the amendments most debated at the hearing,was the proposal to clearly define neg ative campaigning in the Code. During last year’s election, can didates for student body presi dent were investigated on charges SEE HEARING, PAGE 9 4 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER TO VOTE Serving the students and the University community since 1893 ©hr iaUu (Tar Rrrl GOVERNORS DEBATE ‘To be the other, and to be attacked for being the other, strikes at the core of who we are as Americans.” preetmohan singh, KEYNOTE SPEAKER Talk targets building racial tolerance BY JOHN RAMSEY STAFF WRITER The keynote speaker for Race Relations Week said Monday that minorities must edu cate others, build coalitions and be willing to learn through dialogue to build a foundation of tolerance. Preetmohan Singh, national director of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, described the Sikh religion and the experi ences of Sikhs in America since the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to about 150 audience members. He also outlined strategies for improving race relations. Sikhism, founded more than 500 years ago in northern India, promotes equality of race, religion and sex. About a half-million Sikhs live in the United States. About 500 anti-Sikh hate crimes have been reported since the Sept. 11 attacks, and count less others are never reported, Singh said. He pointed to Gagandeep Bindra, who as a UNC senior was assaulted by three teens on Franklin Street in a hate crime last March. Bindra preceded Singh by describing the event and its ramifications. “Hate crimes are so pernicious because they can instill fear not only in the victim, but in an entire community,” Singh said. He added that some Sikhs began taking off their turbans, cutting their hair and shaving INSIDE NORTHERN EXPOSURE Classes at the University study impacts of UNC's proposed satellite campus PAGE 5 www.dthonline.coxn ... while our kids are packed in schools here.” But Ballantine said he does not think a lottery is the answer and instead is proposing a 5 percent increase for teacher salary without a lottery. Ballantine said his critics think he’s against edu cation because he didn’t vote for Easley’s initiatives during his tenure in the N.C. Senate. But Ballantine said he has his own ideas to improve schools. “This isn’t impossible for me, governor, just because it’s impossible for you,” he said. Easley said he is the best choice for governor because his administration has elevated K-12 test scores to some of the best in the nation. “I’m not saying we’re great,” he said. “I’m saying we’re making great progress.” SEE DEBATE, PAGE 9 ML " 'mm 1118 ;9| DTH/lIRYS CULLINAN Preetmohan Singh, the National Director of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, delivers the keynote talk for Race Relations Week in Carroll Hall on Monday night. their beards to try to “look more American.” “To be the other, and to be attacked for being the other, strikes at the core of who we are as Americans,” Singh said. Singh’s task force works to protect the rights of Sikhs through legislative advocacy, public education, legal assistance and accu- rate portrayal of the religion. A member of Sangam, UNC’s South Asian cultural group, which co-sponsored the event with Student for the Advancement of Race Relations, said Singh was picked as a speak- SEE KEYNOTE, PAGE 9 INSIDE IT'S EASY BEING GREEN Carrboro Farmers' Market attracts a wide range of customers, all seeking the perfect buy PAGE 11 Victims of rape often stay quiet OFFICIALS HAVE SEEN 8 BLIND REPORTS AT UNC SINCE AUG. 31 BY SUSIE DICKSON STAFF WRITER On Aug. 31 a woman reported to University police that she was raped in Morrison Residence Hall, but the investigation was dropped. The woman, an 18-year-old who does not attend UNC, decided not to pursue the inves tigation after a witness’s statements conflicted with her own. University police closed the investigation and said that there was no need for the community to worry about the suspect. Since then, seven other students have reported sexual assaults to University officials the most recent reported Monday morning. But none of these seven students filed reports with University police. One out of every four college women is a vic tim of sexual assault, according to a 2003 study conducted by the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault. In North Carolina, 18.5 percent of women are sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. But of all violent crimes, sexual assault is the least often reported to law enforcement official reports are filed for only 28 percent of all rapes and sexual assaults nationally, the NCCASA study states. Low report rates can be partly attributed to high rates of date and acquaintance sexual assault in a large majority of rapes, the victim knows the aggressor and is reluctant to file an accusatory report. Students also tend to be wary of reporting sexual assaults to the University if alcohol was involved, even though officials will not pun ish underage students if alcohol is involved in the circumstances of an assault, said Melinda Manning, assistant dean of students. If students report sexual assaults to the Department of Public Safety, University police is required by law to investigate the crime and to determine whether or not it presents an ongoing threat, said DPS Deputy Director Jeff McCracken. Even if the victim chooses not to pursue the investigation, University police must investigate once the report has been filed. If a victim chooses not to report a sexual assault to University police, there are several places on campus where students can confiden tially report an assault through a “blind report,” Manning said. Between 10 and 20 students make these blind reports to the University each year, she said, while DPS reports show that only four stu- SEE RAPE, PAGE 9 WEATHER TODAY Sunny, H 72, L 41 WEDNESDAY Sunny, H 69, L 42 THURSDAY Sunny, H 76, L 46 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2004 COLLEGE RAPE FACTS 759,453 women 18 years of age and older in North Carolina have been sexually assaulted Almost 60% of rapes that occur on campus happen in the victim's residence 9 out of 10 victims knew their attacker 75% of college men who commit ted sexual assault drank alcohol or took drugs before the attack 55% of female college victims reported using alcohol or drugs prior to the attack Only 27% of women whose sexual assault met the legal definition of rape thought of themselves as victims Only 5% of vic tims reported the assault to police, and 42% of vic tims told no one SOURCE: NORTH CAROLINA COALITION AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT, OCT. 2003 BSM feats pave road for others BY EMILY STEEL UNIVERSITY EDITOR The year was 1967, three years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act and 16 years after the first black students were admitted to the law school. The campus was boiling with controversy, and racial tensions peaked one day that November when UNC student Preston Dobbins took his first step toward estab lishing the Black Student T-\ •DEFINING* . Diversity A five-part series " examining the state of race relations at UNC. Today: Student Activism Movement at the University. The day marked the creation of one of the most powerful student organizations in die history of UNC —one whose loud cries and silent protests have altered the events on the University’s timeline. “It was wild back then,” said Virginia Carson, who was a stu dent at UNC during the formative years of the BSM and now serves SEE BSM, PAGE 9 0
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