VOLUME 112, ISSUE 118
2 found dead at UNC building
APPARENT MURDER-SUICIDE OCCURS NEAR FRIDAY CENTER
■
BY EMILY STEEL
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
An ongoing domestic dispute between
a UNC Health Care employee and her
estranged husband climaxed early
Monday morning in what police are call
ing an apparent murder-suicide.
UNC police have identified the victims
as Shennel R. McCrimon McKendali, 37,
of 612 Mitchell Chapel Road in Pittsboro,
and Randy Leveme McKendali, 34, of the
same address. The victims were married
and reportedly estranged.
“There is no indication whatsoever
that this is anything other than a domes
tic-related murder-suicide," University
police Chief Derek Poarch said Monday.
University police received a call at 7:41
Police reports
state that
Pittsboro
man Randy
McKendali
shot his wife,
Shennel, and
then turned the
gun on himself.
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Journalism professor and civil rights activist Chuck Stone speaks to a reporter in his office Monday evening. Stone has announced that he will retire after next semester.
STONE TO SIGN OFF
AFTER YEARS AT UNC
BY RACHEL BROCK staff writer
One of the University’s most honored professors,
who created a legacy through his involvement
in the civil rights movement and his tenure at
UNC, announced his retirement Monday.
Chuck Stone, Walter Spearman professor in the School
of Journalism and Mass Communication, will complete his
final semester this spring.
“I have been very gratified,” he said. “What defines you is
what your colleagues, friends and family think of you.”
Stone’s presence as a full-time professor will be missed,
said Richard Cole, dean of the School of Journalism and
Mass Communication.
“Chuck is a paragon, and he has done a stunning job,” he
DTH/BRANDON SMITH
Jim Clary (left) and his son, Greg, are co-founders
of Mobile Information Corp., one of the many
information technology firms in the Triangle.
ONLINE
Amid recent controversy in Carrboro, Chapel Hill
takes a close look at potential additions for 2005
For this story and more, visit www.dthonline.com.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
me Saiht 3ar Mcrl
“Chuck is a paragon, and he has done a stunning job.
He has helped put us on the map” richard cole, DEAN OF THE JOURNALISM SCHOOL
RTP drives changing economy
BY MEGAN MCSWAIN
STAFF WRITER
The Research Triangle Park,
established in 1959, has become a
hub for the information technology
industry, making the IT industry
a main sector of North Carolina’s
economy.
“The park has really helped lead
the transition of North Carolina’s
economy to a technology-based econ
omy,” said Rick Weddle, CEO and
president of the Research Triangle
Foundation of North Carolina. “It is
one of the most significant success
stories in economic development
experiments.”
North Carolina has the seventh
fastest growing IT industry in the
INSIDE
THE HEAT IS ON
New wings restaurant to open in
former Inside Scoop locale PAGE 7
www.dthoniine.com
a.m. that reported gunshots being fired
outside the James T. Hedrick Building,
located at 211 Friday Center Drive, about
3 miles from the main campus.
Officers from the UNC Department of
Public Safety and the Chapel Hill Police
Department responded to the call and pro
nounced both victims dead at the scene.
Police reported that Shennel
McKendali was walking into the Hedrick
building, where she has worked as a sup
port assistant in the employment office
since Aug. 6,2000, when an altercation
ensued with her husband.
Randy,McKendali then allegedly shot
and killed his wife with a 9 mm hand
gun before committing suicide. Officials
have yet to confirm the registration of
said. “He has helped put us on the map.”
Phil Meyer, a professor in the journal
ism school, said he has been a close friend
of Stone’s ever since they were neighbors in
Washington, D.C., during the 19605.
Meyer said that at the time, he was a jour
nalist covering Congress, while Stone was
working for Adam Clayton Powell Jr., an
outspoken congressman.
“I would ask tough questions about his
boss and he would just stonewall me,” Meyer
said. “That’s how we became friends.”
A close friend of both Martin Luther King
Jr. and Malcolm X, Stone also worked as a
journalist during the civil rights movement.
During the 13 years he has worked at UNC,
Stone has served as a role model and a legend
for many students.
At 80, he is the third-oldest professor at
the weapon or to determine if drugs or
alcohol were involved.
At least two shots were fired, and
the findings of ongoing investigations,
including medical examinations and
interviews with witnesses or people close
to the couple, will uncover more clues to
the incident, said Randy Young, spokes
man for University police.
About 10 a.m. Monday, the victims’
bodies were wheeled away from the mur
der scene. About half an hour later, offi
cials had towed Randy McKendall’s 1988
black Ford truck, which had run over a
tree lining the driveway, and Shennel
McKendall’s 1999 green Honda Accord.
SEE MCKENDALL, PAGE 4
the University and earns a base salary of
$126,025 the third-highest salary in the
journalism school as of the end of October.
His course on censorship is one of the most
popular on campus.
Justin Lyons, co-president of the Carolina
Association of Black Journalists, said he
admires Stone for all he has done to pave the
way for minority journalists.
“He really opened doors in the journalism
industry,” he said.
“The University will definitely miss him.
We just have to take what we learned from
him.”
Although he is retiring as a full-time pro
fessor, Stone said the move only represents a
conceptual retirement.
SEE STONE, PAGE 4
nation. The industry is projected to
employ 69,950 North Carolinians
by 2006, according to Deloitte &
Touche’s Tech Fast 50 annual rank
ings.
This contin
ued growth can be
attributed to new
companies coming
to the area, staying
and expanding.
IBM originally
/►STEPPING-i
forward
A four-part series
on North Carolina's
efforts to rekindle
its struggling
economy.
started looking at locations in North
Carolina during the early 19605, and
the research network in the state was
an attraction, said John Lucy, an
IBM spokesman.
IBM began at its RTP location as
a small manufacturing center. But
INSIDE
KEEPING UP HIS SPIRITS
Former UNC hoops player looks to the
business world with portable bar PAGE 7
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DTH/LAURA MORTON
University police investigators examine the scene of an apparent
murder-suicide outside the James T. Hedrick Building early Monday.
over the years, it has changed into
a full-fledged IT center and is the
company’s largest site in the world.
“IBM pretty much was the cata
lyst for growth of the IT industry in
the state,” Lucy said
The educated workforce in North
Carolina fueled by major universi
ties such as UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C.
State University and Duke University
draws technology companies to
the state.
“North Carolina is one of the
largest states where (IBM) recruits
employees not just for here, but
globally,” Lucy said.
Large international corpora-
SEE TECH, PAGE 4
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2004
Awards
policies
frustrate
faculty
Fulbright xmnners, others
seek supplemental funds
BY CHARLOTTE MURPHY
STAFF WRITER
University faculty members have expressed
heated concerns about a policy they say discour
ages them from applying for prestigious awards,
such as the Fulbright Scholar grant.
Three members of the University community
received the Fulbright award, which allows fac
ulty the opportunity to teach and lecture abroad,
two weeks ago. Since then, several professors
have come forward with complaints about
UNC’s policy not to supplement the salaries of
faculty members who receive the award.
“UNC has done everything it can to discour
age faculty from applying for and accepting this
award,” said Jodi Magness, one of this year’s
Fulbright recipients.
The College of Arts and Sciences subsidizes,
or “tops up,” the salaries of professors who win
awards that meet certain criteria, said Darryl
Gless, senior associate dean of the college. To
qualify, the award must be nationally recog
nized, pay 50 percent of the professor’s salary
and be a research or scholarship grant.
SEE AWARDS, PAGE 4
Student’s
rights lie
at heart of
open case
BY BRIAN HUDSON
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
A UNC sophomore has opted to publicize
a case before the University Hearings Board,
marking the second time in recent weeks that
a student has opened an appeal of an Honor
Court decision.
Katherine Milan will appeal a decision at 3
p.m. Wednesday in 331 Rosenau Hall on the
grounds that she was denied basic rights dur
ing her hearing.
Before this month, four years had passed
without any students deciding to open a single
honor system proceeding.
University police were called to Milan’s room
in November 2003 and found marijuana after
receiving permission to conduct a search,
She was charged with an honor violation for
possessing marijuana and aiding others in pur
chasing it, said senior Glenna Goldis, Milan’s
defense counsel.
During an Oct. 27 hearing, the Honor Court
SEE HEARING, PAGE 4
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