<% DaiUj (Ear Hrrl CAMPUS BRIEFS Diversity subcommittee discusses faculty issues The Chancellor’s Task Force on Diversity’s faculty subcommit tee met Friday to discuss research questions for the evaluation of the presence and participation of people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives in the UNC faculty. The group discussed questions to assess UNC’s expression of its commitment to diversity, its efforts to recruit and retain from varied backgrounds and the measures it has taken to ensure a support ive environment that encourages responsible interaction. There have been surveys on diversity in the student body at UNC, but none that focused on fac ulty, said Archie Ervin, director of the Office of Minority Affairs and chairman of the task force. The group had five broad-based questions that they are to build on and refine to develop 30 questions pertaining specifically to matters dealing with faculty members. These will be presented to the Office of Institutional Research, and assistants will draw up and conduct a survey from the group’s draft of questions. The committee’s analysis of the survey results will be presented to Chancellor James Moeser as rec ommendations to better position UNC for diversity, Ervin said. The subcommittee plans to meet again in November. CITY BRIEFS Florida resident robbed at gunpoint in local hotel A hotel guest at the Red Roof Inn at 5623 Chapel Hill Blvd. was robbed at gunpoint at 3:40 a.m. Saturday, Chapel Hill police reports state. According to reports, the suspect took $l5O cash from the victim, a 34-year-old man from Florida. There were no injuries reported, but reports state that the victim was under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. UNC student charged with assault, other violations A 22-year-old UNC student was arrested at 1:13 a.m. Sunday and charged with assault and bat tery and resist, delay and obstruct following an incident at Lucy’s Restaurant on Henderson Street, Chapel Hill police reports state. According to reports, Michael Raeford Cooke 11, a junior political science major, assaulted an employ ee and refused to obey officers. The employee, who suffered severe cuts in the incident, obtained a warrant for assault, reports state. When officers took Cooke to the police station, they also served outstanding warrants for delay and obstruct and reckless driving, reports state. Cooke was taken to Orange County Jail. He will appear Dec. 13 in Orange County District Criminal Court in Hillsborough. 2 men arrested in separate incidents at Time Out Two men were arrested at Time Out Restaurant in University Square on Saturday. About 3 a.m., a Chapel Hill man was arrested and charged with pos session of a handgun by a felon, a felony offense, Chapel Hill police reports state. According to reports, Shawn Leray Baldwin, 29, of 107 Creel St., was arrested and taken to the Orange County Jail to be held on a $5,000 secured bond. He will appear today at Orange County District Criminal Court in Hillsborough. An employee of the Carolina Club also was arrested at 4 a.m. and charged with being drunk and dis ruptive, reports state. According to reports, Tony Matthew Mebane, 22, of 227 N. Graham St., was attempting to start fights and was cursing at officers who were tending to a prior incident. Mebane was released on a written promise to appear Dec. 6 in Orange County District Criminal Court in Hillsborough. UNC student charged with driving while intoxicated A UNC student was arrested early Friday morning on drunk driving charges. Susan Devane Dickson, 21, a senior journalism major, was stopped by police shortly after midnight after hitting another vehicle while driving on North Street, reports state. Dickson is a staff member of The Daily Tar Heel. According to reports, Dickson registered a .15 on the Intoxilyzer test. She was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor. Dickson was released on a writ ten promise to appear in Chapel Hill District Court. She is scheduled to appear Jan. 25. From staff reports. Officials warn against illness Student's condition remains serious BY CARLY SALVADORE STAFF WRITER Five days after a UNC student was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis, health officials still are taking extreme precautions to pre vent the spread of the highly conta gious and potentially fatal disease. Freshman Jonathan Parker Davis was admitted Wednesday to UNC Hospitals and diagnosed with the bacterial infection Thursday. Davis remains in serious con dition, said Stephanie Crayton, Mb. HmIB ' Jn HUB / WF jM IP JB v • - Jk MM Of MUgQyi jgr I \| DTH PHOTOS/LAURA MORTON Above: Daryl White (front left) leads a group dressed as pirates down Franklin Street during the Halloween festivities Sunday night. Below: TJ. Roberton dances with Alex Filadelfo, an instructor for the organization Grupo Capoeira Brasil on Franklin Street on Sunday. WITCHING HOUR SETS ON FRANKLIN v,, • -yA.-ap BY TED STRONG AND BLAIR RAYNOR STAFF WRITERS From Osama bin Laden to Noah and his ark to Brazilian martial artists, everyone seemed to be on Franklin Street on Sunday night. As Silvio Cowrea, a Hare Krishna, passed out literature about self-realization, throngs of adorned revelers rejoiced downtown. Ben Trueblood, a cook at Whole Foods Market, went as Sun Ra, a jazz musician who claimed to be from another planet. “It’s nice to dress up and become somebody else.” The crowd, which officers estimated at 70,000, was excited. “Everyone is so excited when they call out ‘Oompa Loompas!’” said Matt Zemen, a student at N.C. State University. He and three of his friends were dressed as char acters from the film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The same thing happened to freshmen Patrick Nerz and lan Murphy, who were in a group of bright blue Smurfs. “We’ve been Smurfed all over the place. People want our photograph. I can’t believe it,” said Murphy. That worried some business owners. “After talking with other owners and managers on the street, they basically told me if I didn’t close early my store would be trashed,” said Erica Gill, owner of Cold Stone Creamery at 131 E. Franklin St., who was tentatively planning to close at 10 p.m. The prospect of growing crowds of poten tial customers also was a powerful incentive for business owners. Center targets interdisciplinary efforts BY KATHERINE EVANS STAFF WRITER Barry Popkin has traveled as far as China, Russia and the Philippines to research how shifts in diet and activity levels affect obesity levels in populations. Asa fac ulty fellow in the Carolina Population Center, Popkin has had the opportunity to conduct research of UNDER THE MICROSCOPE A ten-part series examining the University's research mission. TODAY: Carolina Population Center international consequence. A pioneer in interdisciplinary research, the center supports the work of 51 elected UNC faculty fel lows who represent 15 disciplines and five schools. Founded in 1966, it combines multiple areas of study to promote collaborative population research. The center now supports more than 50 funded research projects Top News spokeswoman for UNC Hospitals. Since then, intensive efforts have been made to track students who were in close contact with Davis up to two weeks before he was diagnosed. So far no other cases of meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, have been reported. The period for developing symp toms of the disease, which include high fever, headache and stiff neck, is between two and 10 days after expo sure, said Orange County Health 8L “We need to make all these fellas happy. All these guys are hungry,” said Abdou Mahmoud, owner of I Love New York Pizza at 106 W. Franklin St. Security for the event was tight Newspapers had been removed from distribution boxes, dumpsters pre-emptively sprayed with foam by the Chapel Hill Fire Department and Franklin Street barricaded and lined with officers. As of 11 p.m., a number of people had been treated for alcohol poisoning. “It’s gotten horribly busy,” said Michael Day of the Orange County Department of Emergency Management Services. “We’re typically not this busy at 1 a.m.” Day said that as of 11 p.m., all units were treating patients. that fall under seven overreaching themes. The efforts range from stud ies on Mexican migration in North Carolina to the patterns of obesity and activity in adolescents. Popkin, also an economist and a nutrition epidemiologist at the School of Public Health, calls this focus on collaboration a move from “cell to society.” “We are working hard to find more effective ways to address society,” he said. “(We are) getting people to bridge (and to) meld many approaches.” Center director Barbara Entwisle said the main purpose of the cen ter is to catalyze research. “Our fac ulty fellows are fantastic,” she said. “(They) have big ideas.” This research goes far beyond North Carolina or even U.S. borders because much of the work conduct ed by research fellows takes on a global scale. They have contributed to huge data collections in Russia, AIDS studies in India and research Director Rosemary Summers. As of press time Sunday, Student Health Service had given 11,019 peo ple the oral antibiotic Cipro, which prevents the bacteria from grow ing. About 800 students who five in Granville Towers, where Davis lives, have taken the antibiotic. Students can receive a dose of Cipro through Student Health today. On Oct. 26, Davis attended a mixer co-sponsored by four UNC Greek organizations Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Tao Omega and Kappa Alpha at Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery. “Through Jay Anhorn, who is Two people had been arrested as of 11 p.m. according to Officer Phil Smith of the Chapel Hill Police Department. This year, the crowd also included mem bers of the Chapel Hill Town Council and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. Mark Kleinschmidt, a member of the Town Council, said that he always goes to Franklin Street and that he intends to keep doing so in the future. “I always enjoy when the streets close and looking at all the costumes for Halloween. It’s part of our character,” he said. Though he doesn’t dress up for the occa sion, he said he still believes it’s a great SEE HALLOWEEN, PAGE 5 on social change in Thailand. Penny Gordon-Larsen, a faculty fellow at the center who works as a professor of nutrition, acknowl edged the need for a broad cross section of researchers to address population problems. She is working to find causes of obesity by studying activity levels and the distribution of activity resources, such as parks or recreational facili ties, throughout populations. Gordon-Larsen said that because obesity is such a complex disease and is influenced by a broad range of factors that include genetics, biology and culture, it is important to base research on a broad range of academic disciplines. The center is the third largest funded unit of the University, hav ing received almost $29 million in external grants and contracts in 2004. Entwisle credits the success of the funding to the “amazing pro ductivity” of the faculty fellows. “We compete well because we MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2004 the Greek director, it is my under standing that the students in those sororities and fraternities were all contacted,” said SHS Director Bob Wirag. Wirag added that students, faculty and parents have received informa tion about the issue and preventa tive actions. “Students have been responding very, very well,” he said. Wirag also said many parents have expressed concern about the situation and have encouraged their children to get treatment if they feel they have been exposed. SEE MENINGITIS, PAGE 5 have a lot to offer,” Entwisle said. Popkin won the prestigious National Institutes of Health Roadmap grant for interdisciplin ary research for his studies in inter disciplinary strategies in obesity. Only 21 of these awards are granted nationally, and three researchers at UNC received awards this year. Other notable grants awarded to the center include the IGERT award from the National Science Foundation and money for the Measure Evaluation Project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Though the center’s primary focus is to support the research of the faculty fellows, it also offers pre-doctoral and postdoctoral training programs. Entwisle said the training pro grams will build the next genera tion of population scholars. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu. PRESIDENTIAL RACE The president serves as the nation's commander-in-chief, taking responsibility for the armed forces, major policy decisions, foreign relations and appointment of justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. A term in the office lasts for four years, and a president can serve for two consecutive terms. Bush’s Ist term marked by strife BY EMMA BURGIN STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR During the last half of the 20th century, the president was largely seen as responsible for the nation’s policy initiatives. Congress occasionally would take a more prominent role, but in modern times, the president has been responsible for directing domestic issues. President Bush is no exception. Republicans have constituted the majority in both the House and Senate since 2002, making it easy for him to push his policies through. And he is the first president in 100 years not to President George Bush faces a close race to keep his office. exercise the executive veto sim ply because, pundits say, he has no need for it. But while Bush has faced little opposition in Congress, he has experienced a rocky re-election campaign. Middle ground The last polls before Tuesday’s election show the nation’s voters in a virtual dead heat. An Oct. 29-30 Democracy Corps poll shows 47 percent of likely voters favoring Bush, while Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry enjoys a superficial lead with 48 percent support. This too-close-to-call situation is not new to Bush. In 2000, the final Washington Post-ABC daily tracking poll estimated that Bush SEE BUSH, PAGE 5 Kerry’s future rests on election BY EMMA BURGIN STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR It is hard to predict the actions of a second-term president. But it’s much easier than guess ing what a newcomer would do after moving into the White House. While pundits think it unfair to categorize him as a “flip-flopper,” John Kerry does seem to be a man struggling with self-definition. The Vietnam veteran served on a Swift boat in river deltas, earn ing a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V and three Purple Hearts. But Kerry quickly became disillusioned with the war. Challenger John Kerry has struggled to maintain a solid image. “What can I say?” he wrote his parents soon after a close friend’s death. “I am empty, bitter, angry and desperately lost with nothing but war, violence and more war around me.” Kerry funneled these feel ings into his work with Vietnam Veterans Against the War. His first brush with the Senate came in April 1971, when he testified as a mem ber of VVAW before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The definition of the type of leader Kerry is might lie beyond any role the nation has seen him take, said Charles Franklin, a his tory professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “When he was the prosecutor in charge of the office or skipper of the Swift boat, he may have been a more decisive actor.” SEE KERRY, PAGE 5 3