SaiUj oar Hppl CAMPUS BRIEFS Eight groups receive funding from Finance Committee The Finance Committee of Student Congress scrutinized binding requests from eight groups and approved total allocations of $6,477-98 Tbesday night. The Finance Committee allocat ed $4,200 to student publication Cellar Door for printing costs. The Board of Elections was granted $350, including SIOO for programming purposes —a vital fund, members said, after the controversy that hit campus last spring during the student election season. The Student Environmental Action Coalition was granted SSOO to bring two speakers for UNC’s Environmental Awareness Week. The Muslim Students Association was allocated funds for improved office supplies to enhance its Discover Islam Series posters, which provide information for Islamic Awareness Week. Carolina Mock Trial was granted $538 for its regional and national competition fees. Three groups were denied fund ing: the Carolina Production Guild, the Persian Cultural Society and the Pakistani Students Association. Electronic equipment stolen from room in Greenlaw Hall Electronic equipment valued at $712.96 was reported stolen from 225 Greenlaw Hall on Friday, according to University police reports. The equipment included a 27” screen TV, a single-drawer DVD/ CD player, a four-head hi-fi VCR and the corresponding cables, reports state. The equipment was last secure at 2 p.m. Sept. 29. The incident is under investigation, according to reports. CITY BRIEFS Local man charged with possession, intent to sell A Chapel Hill resident was arrested on the corner of East Franklin and South Columbia streets Monday and charged with possession with intent to sell and distribute cocaine, Chapel Hill police reports state. Mario Louis Schaffer, 29, was arrested at 2:50 p.m. with 2.8 grams of crack cocaine, which were split into 20 individual rocks, reports state. According to reports, narcotics investigators observed Schaffer attempting to sell the cocaine, which he pulled out of his pants. Schaffer is listed in the UNC directory as a housekeeper in the Facilities Services Division of the University. He was held at the Orange County Jail on a secured $5,000 bond but was released Tuesday afternoon. He was set to appear in the Orange County District Court in Hillsborough on Tuesday. N.C. State student struck in strong armed robbery A student at N.C. State University was the victim of a strong armed robbery and assault Monday evening as he crossed East Rosemary Street in front of Warehouse Apartments, Chapel Hill police reports state. According to reports, Wyatt Tucker, 21, of Raleigh, and a friend were walking across the street at around 10:50 p.m. with a case of beer when an unknown suspect approached them and demanded the alcohol. When Tucker refused several times to hand over the beer, the suspect struck him in the head with a closed fist, reports state. According to reports, the suspect then got into a vehicle and drove away. The vehicle was described as a Jeep, reports state. Police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said strong armed rob beries occur when a suspect doesn’t have a weapon. STATE S NATION Republicans move House to reject military draft bill WASHINGTON - House Republicans sought to quash a persistent Internet rumor that the government will reinstate a military draft after the election, engineering an overwhelming vote Tuesday to kill legislation they hope will put the rumor to rest for good. The House voted 402-2 to defeat the draft bill offered last year by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. Republicans accused Democrats of feeding the rumor mill to scare young voters and their parents into voting against President Bush. Just two lawmakers, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., struck off on their own and voted for the measure. From staff and wire reports. County considers animal services Department may be formed by March BY ZACH JEPSEN STAFF WRITER County leaders sounded off Tuesday night on a report that outlines the steps to establish a permanent county department for animal services, praising sug gested changes while saying the process could be shorter. The report, issued to the Orange County Board of Commissioners, recommends that the county form a permanent animal services I W f ■ A " i Ig in 1 JBH 4 1 ' IV * r \ Nf. * 1 Wm % ’\ JH '• Bp y \ JH Sophomore Billy Scott writes a joke about Duke University on one of the several Carolina blue-painted cubes placed outside the Student Union near the Pit. Titled “The Walk of Wokka Wokka,” the cubes are sponsored by the Carolina Union Acivities Board for the comedic enjoyment of UNC primes Peace Corps leaders Ranks Jfh among recruiting colleges BY LAURA BOST STAFF WRITER In 1960, Sen. John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in devel oping countries —and the Peace Corps was created. Ever since, tens of thousands of volunteers from universities all across the nation have served in 137 countries, and UNC students have been no exception. Since the Peace Corps’ incep tion, 883 UNC graduates have gone overseas, including 58 who are now abroad. Nine others will leave this fall, making UNC fourth among the nation’s colleges in recruiting Student groups unite over races, identities GLBTSA, BSM sponsor open forum BY KATIE HOFFMANN STAFF WRITER More than 40 students of vari ous races and sexual orientations joined forces Tuesday night to dis cuss issues relevant to being black and gay. Members of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender-Straight Alliance and the Black Student Movement gathered for the first time to attend an open forum spon sored by the two groups. Asa part of GLBTSAs “Coming Out” week, the event was one of many scheduled to educate and inform students about issues involving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. “Overall, our goal this year is to make a safe place on this campus,” said Christina Delane, co-chair woman of the Outreach Committee on GLBTSA. Members of the GLBTSA spe cifically addressed the feelings of isolation and separation that some times are associated with being both a sexual and racial minority at the University. Top Nows department by March 1. Animal services were previously managed by the Animal Protection Society, a private organization, until the county took control of the shelter July 1. The report, issued by a county task force, also recommends the appointment of an animal services director by Jan. 1. The director would oversee both the shelter and the animal services department. DOWNING THE DEVILS volunteers. George Leamon, a 2004 UNC graduate and former senior class president, joined the Peace Corps for adventure and a chance for per sonal growth. He was accepted into a 27- month commitment as an envi ronmental sanitation promoter in the Dominican Republic. After three months of train ing, Leamon will be sent to a rural Dominican community, where he will work to improve drinking water and sanitation facilities and to promote health education. For now, though, he spends his days in intense language training in the capital, Santo Domingo. “We have to go through about 200 hours of language training,” “We’re both minorities, and we’re both definitely oppressed on this campus,” Delane said. The two co-chairmen of the BSM’s Embrace Committee, Aaron Watson and Terrence Smith, stressed that the BSM’s goal this year is to accept all students. “We’re not looking to endorse any particular beliefs,” Watson said. “But we want to make sure all the lifestyles in our organization are heard and represented.” Students who attended the meeting agreed it was a first step in furthering communication between the two groups and dis cussing issues that concern mem bers of both organizations. “This was an important oppor tunity for BSM to demonstrate its willingness to truly be accepting of the diverse lifestyle and beliefs that embody its membership,” said Dimia Fogam, a member of BSM. Several members of GLBTSA agreed that the event was a major SEE GLBSTA, PAGE 5 The task force’s suggestions also include ways to improve the qual ity of care in the county’s animal shelter and to keep the popula tion of animals in the shelter at low levels. “The transition from indirect to direct responsibility has gone very well,” said Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. But Carey also said he wants to see the situation end sooner rather than later. “The pressure’s off, but not off,” he said. Commissioner Stephen the campus. The cubes will be available from Oct. 4 to Oct. 22 as blank canvases on which the University community can write its jokes. While students are free to write general jokes, one section of the cubes is dedicated for jokes about Duke, while another has space for jokes about the 2004 election. Leamon said. “I’m in class about four hours a day almost every day, learning Spanish.” Leamon said the majority of his lessons are conversation-based and focus on practical application of the language. “We learned vocabulary about going to the store, and then we had to go to the (market) to buy groceries for a dinner we are cook ing tonight with our host mothers,” Leamon said. After four weeks of language training, Leamon will go to anew site for project training, where he will learn to identify water sources and build aqueducts. Two more weeks in the capital, and Leamon will be sworn in as a full-fledged Peace Corps volun teer. “There is going to be a lot more liberty as a volunteer than as a Talk examines racial issues BY WILLIAM FONVIELLE STAFF WRITER A dialogue regarding what are perceived as the “other” races brought the issue of American race relations into a broader focus TYiesday night. About 50 students filled the Student Union Auditorium to ask questions to a panel of students and faculty members about what it is like to be a member of a race not defined as black or white. “Any step toward improving race relations is a positive one,” said lan Kibbe, a senior communication studies major. “This is an issue that needs to be taken out into the larger Carolina community.” As part of Race Relations Week 2004, the Students for the Advancement of Race Relations —a subcommittee of the Campus Y co-sponsored the event with the Asian Students Association and N.p. Fellows. The event opened with a set of filmed interviews regarding race relations at UNC. Soon after, senior Amon Anderson, a representative of N.C. Fellows, took the stage to introduce the panel composed of officials who take minority issues to heart. Terri Houston, director of on campus recruitment and support WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2004 Halkiotis said the shelter’s staff has grown restless while waiting for an end to its ordeal. “There is a certain degree of impatience out there,” Halkiotis said. The path to county control of its animal services has been a long one. APS and its most vocal critics, Judith Reitman and Elliot Cramer, feuded for more than two years over shelter operations under APS before the county intervened in July. Hopes are high that the county control of animal services will DTH/RAY JONES trainee,” Leamon said. “But there will be a lot more responsibility, too. It’s going to be difficult to be out there on my own.” Ryan Reid, a 2001 UNC gradu ate and Peace Corps volunteer, has done his job on his own. He said it is not as difficult as one might expect. “Volunteers are on their own, but they are backed up by a large support network,” Reid said. “It just depends on how much the volunteer wants to depend on that support.” Reid, who worked in an agri culture and forestry program in the Dominican Republic for two years, now serves as a sector coor dinator for his program in Santo Domingo. SEE PEACE CORPS, PAGE 5 h 1 /, 3L jC... ... . .iff! DTH/AUISON MONEY Sumeet Banker (left) talks at a panel discussion focusing on what it's like to be a race other than white or black in the Union Auditorium on Tuesday. for the Office of Minority Affairs, opened the discussion by under scoring the importance of the opportunity to have real dialogue. “Two people can have differ ent viewpoints ... on the exact same subject, and that’s healthy,” she said. “It’s when we talk about diversity and when we become angry that we need these oppor tunities.” bring about more thorough care than was previously possible. “We’re talking about building the best animal service program in the country,” Carey said. Gwen Harvey, assistant county manager, said that in order to accomplish this goal, the county must diligently prevent overpopu lation at the shelter. “We want to see what we can do to encourage people to spray and neuter their animals,” Harvey said. To prevent unnecessary eutha- SEE SHELTER, PAGE 5 Police groups endorse Easley Incumbent leads polls after debate BY ARENDELL CARLTON STAFF WRITER Three police organizations lent a hand to Gov. Mike Easley on Monday when they endorsed the Democrat in his bid for re-election. Easley, who served as a district attorney and North Carolina’s attorney general before being elected, received the groups’ sup port on the day of his first debate with Republican candidate Patrick Ballantine. The endorsements came on the same day as anew poll showing Easley expanding his large lead over Ballantine, who attacked the governor’s law enforcement record Monday in hopes of closing the gap. In a Mason-Dixon poll released Monday, Easley leads Ballantine with the support of 53 percent of registered voters, compared to 36 percent for Ballantine. The poll surveyed 625 likely voters ancl has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. Now, Easley is counting on the police endorsements to further boost his support. “There are many law enforce ment advocates in North Carolina, so I think that if these people see that Governor Easley is an advocate of law enforcement, it will be a pos itive for his campaign,” said Andrea Mournighan, a legislative assis tant for the National Association of Police Organizations, which endorsed the governor. The N.C. Coalition of Police, a combination of 10 police labor unions, also endorsed Easley. “We feel that Easley has done a good job for the working class and for first responders in North Carolina,” said David Spagnola, the coalition’s director. “With his campaign platform, he plans to improve working conditions for first responders like police officers and firefighters, as well as teachers.” The endorsement of law enforce ment is especially desirable, Spagnola said, because homeland security is such a huge issue right now. The third endorsement came SEE ENDORSEMENTS, PAGE 5 One question, asked by an Asian woman in the audience, dealt with the issue of whether whites should consider Asians to be minorities or simply “honorary members of the white race.” Judy Ising, an employee in UNC s School of Medicine, responded by saying that Asians, SEE PANEL, PAGE 5 3