2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2004 Candidates debate pensions Meyer, Moore run for treasury spot BY ANH LY STAFF WRITER The two candidates for state treasurer might come from diverse backgrounds, but they do have one goal in common: to give their opponent a run for his money on Election Day. Richard Moore, the Democratic incumbent who was elected in 2000, has a tough Republican competitor in Ed Meyer. The state treasurer is respon sible for ensuring the fiscal health of the state and serves as the state’s banker and chief invest ment official. The treasurer also is responsible for more than S7O billion in public monies and state investments and the pension funds for more than 700,000 state employees. Moore said he deserves to be re elected because his record shows that he has managed the taxpay ers’ money in a prudent and effi cient way. “During my tenure as state trea surer, I have done an excellent job of managing the s7l billion of pub lic funds entrusted to this office,” Moore said in a prepared state- Race focuses on workplace safety Berry, Goodwin vie for labor position BY KAVITA PILLAI ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR The race for N.C. commissioner of labor has become a bitter war of statistics, with each candidate dis puting what the numbers mean for workplace safety in the state. Challenger Rep. Wayne Goodwin, D-Richmond, said he believes the state to be one of the worst in the nation as far as workplace accidents and deaths. He also said the commissioner of labor should be more involved in the economy of the state. He is running to unseat incum bent Republican Cherie Berry. “During this administration, there have been too many plant explosions, too many workplace accidents and deaths and too many job losses,” Goodwin said. The commissioner of labor is the head of the Department of Labor, which is responsible for policies associated with workers and the workplace. Its most important function is as a regulatory agency. The depart ment is responsible for ensur ing that the more than 220,000 employment sites in the state com ply with the safety standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It leads inspections and inves whatdoyouwannaloe? ♦! pl&ce to skop for 2k 11 yout* Hs]|ovh NJs! I NOW OPEN at [ NORTHGATE MALL | 919-286-7857 I CRABTREE VALLEY MALL Kid tU Mrtfet COStuhO to tun, Uids Oh FvAhtlih Stt TRIANGLE TOWN CENTER ft ofhZ*™ 1 RALEIGH • 9)9-792-2399 HI 1 W r j 1 io/ 2 ?/oh f Till: SONJA HAYNLS STONI: CIiNTKR I ()R BI.AC'K CI'LTI'RI: AM) I MS LC)RY Diaspora I cslival oj Dlaclv’ anti 1 ntlepcndent Mini "I'rorn Bahia to Brooklyn" With special guest, Brazilian film and TV producer Joel Zito Araujo and the North Carolina premiere of his film "Daughters of the Wind." Film premiere is November 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Union Film Auditorium. All films in this series are free and open to the public. For a complete list of films in the series: http://ibiblio.org/shscbch/ or call 919.962.9001. Sponsored with Chamas Brazilian restaurant. Republican Ed Meyer and Democrat Richard Moore are vying to be the state's banker. ment. “I will continue to invest the public employees pension funds in a fiscally conservative man ner.” Julie White, spokeswoman for the Moore campaign, said that under Moore’s leadership, North Carolina had the second best pen sion funds in the United States. But Meyer disagrees, saying that the value of the public-pen sion fund has declined by almost $lO billion under Moore’s leader ship. “If I were state treasurer, I would have advocated this so strongly that this would not have happened,” Meyer said. Meyer also voices concern about how Moore funds his cam paign. Meyer argues that there is a major problem with the way campaigns are funded, and that tigations into violations, inspects the state’s mines and quarries and deals with employee discrimina tion and wage and hour assistance, said Juan Santos, a spokesman for Berry’s office. The commissioner also signs off on the safety of all elevators in the state. Goodwin said, if elected, he would focus more resources on Spanish-language training for Hispanic construction workers, some of the most at-risk workers in the state for workplace injuries and deaths. He said he would work to pass legislation that he introduced as a representative to provide special training for Hispanic workers for construction companies. In exchange for putting their workers through the program, employers would receive a three year reduction or waiver of certain OSHA fines and penalties. Currently, the Department of Labor has a mobile training unit that travels the state at the request of construction companies. Santos said the number of Hispanic workplace fatalities dropped from 25 in 2002 to 21 in 2003, adding that the depart ment is conducting a forum for Hispanic construction workers in “(Ed Meyer) is taking campaign money from the same companies that fund public pension. It’s a conflict of interest.” RICHARD MOORE, democratic candidate for state treasurer Moore has not advocated this issue during his tenure as state treasurer. “He is taking campaign money from the same companies that fund public pension,” Moore said. “It’s a conflict of interest.” But Meyer chooses to fund his campaign through the generosity of friends, family and other sup porters. While Moore was unavailable to comment on this issue, White said funding from those compa nies helps the candidates reveal to voters exactly what they stand for so they can make a well-informed choice Nov. 2. “The treasurer wishes we had a better system,” White said. “But until we do, we have to raise the money to get the message out.” The candidates’ backgrounds differ as widely as their platforms. Richard Moore is a born-and bred North Carolinian who grew up in Granville County. He attended Wake Forest University and graduated from 1 —” m wL- H - mam, Republican Cherie Berry and Democrat Wayne Goodwin are running for commissioner of labor. November. But Goodwin maintains that the state is the ninth worst in the nation for workplace accidents “Until October of this year, the Department of Labor said that we continued to have the best safety record ever,” Goodwin said. “They admitted 10 months into 2004 that actually, in 2003, acci dents went up, workplace deaths went up, workplace accidents went up, the number of Hispanic deaths went up.” But Santos disputed Goodwin’s claims, citing statistics showing that the N.C. injury and illness rate was four out of every 100,000 full time employees. He said the figure is the lowest in the history of the state. He admitted that the number of workplace fatalities increased from 169 in 2002 to 182 in 2003, but attributed this in part to an air plane crash in Charlotte last year News Wake Forest Law School. He also earned a degree in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics. On the other end is Ed Meyer, a California native of Mexican descent. He graduated from Stanford University with a degree in inter national studies and then attended graduate school at Georgetown University. But both men have extensive experience that qualifies them for the position of state treasurer. Moore has served as a fed eral prosecutor, a member of the N.C. House of Representatives and as the secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. Meyer is a former member of the Reagan administration and the Social Security Administration and helped pass the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. that claimed 21 lives. Twelve of the deaths were considered workplace deaths. The year also was marked by a plant explosion in Kinston that killed six people. “I’m sure Mr. Goodwin is going to put our fatality figures in a cer tain slant of light,” Santos said. Santos said the commissioner has worked with the private sector since the beginning of her term to increase awareness of the problems with workplace safety and that she created a Hispanic safety task force as soon as she took office. Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. Town prepares for weekend BY BRANDON REED STAFF WRITER Town personnel are preparing for Halloween, but deciding which char acters of “Reservoir Dogs” they will be might not be on their to-do list. The Chapel Hill police, fire and transportation departments and Orange County Emergency Medical Services are gearing up for another busy Halloween on Franklin Street Chapel Hill police officer Phil Smith said officials expect about 70,000 people to visit Franklin Street this year. Last year, a record 78,000 people attended, he said. Smith said police will increase the number of officers on-hand to 340. He said that officials do not want to be short-handed and that based on last year’s attendance, they will need more officers. Smith could not comment on the number of officers who would not be in uniform. He also urged students not to consume more alcohol than they can handle and asked that students be patient with officers, especially at checkpoints. “Come out, have fun and enjoy the event,” Smith said. Many items are prohibited by town ordinances, including alco holic beverages, coolers, glass hot- tSHTI FT< jIH fc PITAS SALADS rSSSS VEGGIE ° PTIONS OPEN LATE 919.933.4456 115 E Franklin St Demonstrate your specialization in issues of international development and social change by earning a Graduate Certificate in International Development 1 UNC <asaa# UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Information can be found at www.ucis.unc.edu/programs Seniors begin planning for 9/11 memorial Donations already being collected BY AL KILLEFFER STAFF WRITER On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Dora Menchaca, an associate director of clinical research at Amgen Inc., boarded American Airlines Flight 77 to Los Angeles. Her flight home was cut tragi cally short when terrorist hijack ers crashed her plane into the Pentagon. On the same day, Karleton Fyfe, a senior analyst at John Hancock, boarded American Airlines Flight 11. His flight was the first of two planes to crash into the World Trade Center. In the north tower, where the first plane hit at 8:45 a.m., Ryan Kohart was going through his day as an equities trader for the firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Andrew King was also in that building, carrying out his duties as president of the company’s ESpeed desk. Neither man knew that the tower would collapse at 10:28 a.m. In the south tower, hit by United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston at 9:03 a.m., Christopher Quackenbush oversaw the day’s developments at Sandler O’Neill, an investment banking firm he helped to establish. A few floors below him, Mary Lou Hague was working as a financial analyst at the investment banking firm Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods when the building collapsed at 10:05 a.m., clouding lower Manhattan with dust and debris. All six victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were UNC alumni. On Tuesday, members of the class of 2005 voted to construct a 9/11 memorial garden in honor of the alumni as their senior gift to the University. Planning is already underway. ties, paint, fireworks and explosives, animals, flammable substances and weapons, Smith said. If officers see these items, the owner will have to deposit the items in a bin or will be asked to leave. Vehicles should not be parked on Franklin Street after 3 p.m., and towing will begin at 6 p.m. After 9 p.m., downtown streets will be closed to vehicular traffic except for downtown residents and their guests. Shuttle buses will run from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. from the Jones Ferry Road, Southern Village, N.C. 54 and University Mall park-and-ride lots. Buses will run continuously from these locations. Round-trip tickets will cost $5, and one-way will cost $3. Franklin Street will be closed between Raleigh and Mallette streets. Columbia Street will aLso be shut down from Rosemary Street to Cameron Avenue. To allow for a shuttle drop off, Raleigh Street also will be closed from East Franklin Street to Cameron Avenue. EMS will set up field hospi tals to deal with problems. They will be located at Hill Hall and near the intersection of Church and Rosemary streets, said Kent McKenzie, EMS Emergency aljr 00% (Ear MM Brandon Neal, a member of the senior class fund-raising commit tee, said the garden will consist of flowers, benches and a memorial plaque. “We want to have one (bench) for each of the six,” Neal said. He added that everything will depend on space and budget limi tations, noting that the project is still in its nascent stage. The garden will be modeled after the recently inaugurated Wellstone Garden located next to Murphey Hall, said Katisha Newkirk, associate director of annual giving in the Office of Development. Senior Class Vice President Becca Frucht also is working with the fund-raising committee and the development office to address issues that will determine the gar den’s future. Frucht explained that students already can donate to the fund at http://seniors.unc.edu/ with their UNC ONE Card. She added that officials hope to secure a signifi cant number of donations through a phone pledge drive. Senior class leaders will host a small kickoff for the project Nov. 2 in the Pit. The event will provide students with more information on the proj ect and donation methods, Frucht said. “The real push to have seniors donate will be second semester,” she said. “Right now we’re building the structure and strategy to market the.gift” In addition, Newkirk said offi cials are planning to promote the project during senior activities and direct mailings. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu. “Guys dress up in drag, they can’t handle it, fall and twist • their ankles.” KENT MCKENZIE, EMS DEPUTY DIR. Management deputy director. A dozen paramedics will be pres ent to move injured students to one of the two field hospitals. Ambulances also will be available to take students to either UNC Hospitals or Student Health Services. Historically, 80 percent of Halloween patients have been treated for alcohol poisoning, McKenzie said. The other 20 per cent consists of people with minor cuts, bruises and sprains. “Guys dress up in drag, they can’t handle it, fall and twist their ankles,” McKenzie said. Fire teams will be on foot with fire extinguishers to deal with small fires, Chapel Hill Fire Marshal Caprice Mellon said, adding that they will also ensure that clubs, restaurants and bars are not overcrowded and are in compliance with fire codes. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu. CORRECTIONS Due to reporting errors, the Oct. 27 article “This Roy's Life”: ■ States that men’s basketball coach Roy Williams was wearing a towel on his shoulder. Williams actu ally had a Homecoming T-shirt. ■ States that Williams was late to the event due to basketball prac tice. In fact, the coach could not find a parking spot. ■ States that Williams referred to a time he spent “in a Hampton Inn for 11 months.” Williams actually said he spent 11 weeks in such hotels. ■ States that Williams said he “is” mad at basketball player Rashad McCants; Williams said he “was” mad. Williams also said McCants is “exhilarating” to coach. To report corrections, contact Managing Editor Chris Coletta at ccoletta@email.unc.edu. icrilg ©ar Uni P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill; NC 27515 Michelle Jaiboe, Editor, 962-4086 Advertising & Business, 962-1163 News, Features, Sports, 962-0245 One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased at The Daily Tar Heel for $.25 each. © 2004 DTH Publishing Corp. 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