VOLUME 112, ISSUE 129
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— 1 n 1 1
DTH/BRANDON SMITH
N.C. Gov. Mike Easley is sworn in for his second term on Saturday
in Raleigh. He stands with his wife, Mary, and son, Michael Easley Jr.
Taxes
could
rise 10
percent
New town center
to add to burden
BY RYAN C. TUCK
CITY EDITOR
Although this year’s revaluation
of all the county’s real property
will cause the property tax rate to
decrease, Chapel Hill’s budget situa
tion will push the tax rate right back
up for its taxpayers.
At Thursday’s Town Council
planning retreat, Town Manager
Cal Horton told the council that it
might need to raise taxes by almost
10 percent to make up for this year’s
budget shortfalls.
TTie main reason is the yet-to
be-constructed Town Operations
Center on
Millhouse Road
where Chapel
Hill's Public
Works, Public
Housing and
Transportation
departments
eventually will
relocate.
The depart
ments have
operated on
University
owned land
on the Horace
Williams tract
Mayor
Kevin Foy
wants citizen
input on this
year's budget.
for about 20 years.
The town has paid $1 a year to
lease the land during that time.
“If you live somewhere rent-free
for 20 years and then suddenly get
evicted, it changes the financial pic
ture of your house,” said Chapel Hill
Mayor Kevin Foy.
Now, with the University want
ing the land in order to plan for its
future satellite campus, Carolina
North, the town will have to find $2
million a year to fund the center.
“It’s going to take a long time to
absorb all the costs,” Foy said. “T\vo
million is a lot of money.”
The lease from the University is
set to expire in 2006.
Additional budget challenges
include debt services from the issu
ance of general obligation bonds
authorized by voters in 2003,
projected potential increases in
employee medical costs and a slow
economy.
To help the town with its budget
situation, the council has autho
rized Horton to negotiate with
MAXIMUS, a Raleigh management
consulting firm.
“Maybe we are already doing
everything perfectly, but if not, these
are the guys to tell us,” Foy said.
At its Jan. 10 meeting, the coun
cil authorized Horton to negotiate
with MAXIMUS for a contract not
to exceed SBO,OOO.
The council also formed a citi
zens’ advisory committee to help
sort out the town's budget issues.
“We really want their help and
to look at our budget and say,
‘This is where you might increase
revenue or where you might save
money,’” Foy said.
SEE BUDGET, PAGE 5
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INSIDE
HOMECOMING
UNC student and soldier Emran Huda returns to
Chapel Hill after nine months spent in Iraq PAGE 3
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
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“There is no other day in the life of this country
that brings together so many people, justin coleman, intern, university united methodist church
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, . DTH/LAURA MORTON
Brenda Brown sings during a march down Franklin Street in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday morning. More than 100 people
participated in the event, which kicked off with speeches by town officials, local clergy and NAACP members and ended with a church service.
Town celebrates Rev. King
Local groups rally for civil rights
BY CATHERINE SHAROKY
STAFF WRITER
The recent decision to rename
Airport Road as Martin Luther King
Jr. Boulevard provided an added
level of significance to the celebra
tion of King’s birthday as members
of the community gathered Monday
to reflect on King’s life.
The event began at 9:30 a.m. out
side the Franklin Street post office,
with about 30 people who braved
the bitter cold to hear speakers com
Campaign breaches result in blanket warning
BY STEPHANIE NEWTON
STAFF WRITER
With pens and paper fly
ing, some candidates’ campaign
staffs already have overstepped
the boundaries of a fair fight dur
ing this year’s election-signature
fury.
Heather Sidden, chairwoman
of the Board of Elections, issued
Monday a warning to all candi
dates regarding two campaign
infractions that were witnessed
by both elections board members
and nonboard members at the
men’s basketball ticket distribu
tion Saturday.
One campaign worker was
heard yelling the name of his
candidate, an action that is not
allowed until 21 days before the
election.
Another was witnessed offering
a student a doughnut in exchange
for his signature.
“It’s a blanket warning,” Sidden
said, noting that she hopes the
message will serve as a reminder
of the regulations presented dur
www.dthonline.coin
Easley eyes the economy
INAUGURAL ADDRESS TARGETS
CHANGING FACE OF THE STATE
BY KAVITA PILLAI
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
If his inaugural speech is any
indication, Gov. Mike Easley’s
second term of office will focus
on educating North Carolinians
to survive in the state’s changing
economic situation.
At the turn of the century, North
Carolina faced challenges head on,
he said. And to survive its move from
memorate the legacy of King.
Within an hour, the crowd
swelled to more than 100 people as
town officials, local clergy and mem
bers of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
spoke of King’s message and its
impact on the community.
“There is no other day in the life of
this countiy that brings together so
many people,” said Justin Coleman,
a ministerial intern at the University
United Methodist Church.
ing Thursday’s mandatory meet
ing for those running for student
office.
Candidates have until
Thursday to submit petitions to
secure a position on the ballot.
So far, they are meeting the chal
lenge of acquiring hundreds of
signatures.
Those running for student
body president and Carolina
Athletic Association president
need 800 each, while other can
didates need anywhere from 20
to 350 signatures, depending on
the race.
“If you can’t get them, then
it ends right there,” said Mark
Longwill, a candidate for CAA
president.
All four student body president
candidates have registered their
campaigns as student organiza
tions, allowing them to obtain
student organization money and
to create promotional campaign
Web sites to run while soliciting
SEE CAMPAIGN, PAGE 5
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old industries to new, citizens need
to focus on new talents and skills.
“Our full attention must be
focused on the transition of our
economy consistent with the edu
cational demands of this global
era,” he said.
Easley was sworn in Saturday
during an inaugural ceremony
on the steps of the Archives and
History-State Library building in
King visited Chapel Hill on
May 8, 1960, when he spoke at
UNC’s Hill Hall and what is now
the Hargraves Community Center..
Almost a half-century later, the mix
of races, genders and ages repre
sented in the crowd gave truth to
Coleman’s words.
Parents brought their children,
tightly bundled in jackets and hats,
to hear the words of the speakers
and to join in the march.
Members of the local organiza
tion Elders for Peace held signs,
while local union workers and rep
resentatives held banners asking
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■ y ■
DTH/BRIAN CASSELLA
A campaign worker solicits signatures for a student body president candidate outside the Smith Center on
Saturday morning during ticket distribution. Candidates are scrambling to garner 800 signatures by Thursday.
SPORTS
BREAKING OUT
Tar Heel women’s basketball emerges from a close
match with N.C. State to trounce Miami PAGE 16
Raleigh. The 54-year-old former
attorney general and UNC gradu
ate was accompanied by his wife,
Mary, and son, Michael Easley Jr.
The crowd was subdued with tem
peratures near freezing, but Easley’s
remarks drew frequent applause.
The theme of his speech was
optimism. The state must let go
of its past and concentrate on the
tasks at hand, he said.
“Our people must have more
knowledge to prevail. We will offer
it,” he said. “Our state must expand
its creative talent. We will produce
it. And our people must have more
for better benefits and coverage.
“I grew up in Chapel Hill, and
I remember when people used to
demonstrate here,” said 58-year
old Carlyle Poteat. “I feel like so
many of the issues (King) spoke
about are so relevant today.”
As the march began, more signs
with words of peace and friend
ship including lines from King’s
speeches were handed out.
Marchers sang and clapped as
they weaved down Franklin Street
and along Rosemary Street, end-
SEE CELEBRATION, PAGE 5
WEATHER
TODAY Sunny, H 34, L 17
WEDNESDAY Rain/Snow, H 41, L 25
THURSDAY Showers, H 51, L 27
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2005
skill to compete. We will provide it.”
Those skills, he said, will aid
North Carolinians as industries
like tobacco and agriculture give
way to banking and information
technology.
Easley said globalization creates
a need for skilled labor, which will
drive the state’s economy.
His Council of State, which
remains mostly intact from his
previous term, also took oaths of
office Saturday morning.
After the ceremony, Attorney
SEE EASLEY, PAGE 5
Speakers
pursue a
powerful
message
Students honor
King on day off
BY STEPHANIE NOVAK
STAFF WRITER
Many UNC students took time
Monday to reinforce their beliefs
and to prove that Martin Luther
King Jr. did not die in vain.
Students demonstrated their
appreciation for the efforts of the
civil rights activist Monday eve
ning during the annual Martin
Luther King Jr. Oratorical
Contest, presented by the Kappa
Omicron chapter of Delta Sigma
Theta sorority Inc. Nine students
answered the question: “Are we
taking advantage of the promise
that our forefathers worked so
hard for?”
Judges for the event, including
a poet and a librarian at the Sonja
Haynes Stone Center for Black
Culture and History, named a
first-place winner and a runner
up based on creativity, delivery
and the impact of the message.
In their speeches, several stu
dents said that African Americans
have made progress but that there is
still much that needs to be done.
Mitch Baker, a senior commu
nication studies major, based his
first-place speech on a television
commercial by Budweiser that
asks, “What are you doing?”
In his speech, which won him
SIOO, Baker referred to Frederick
Douglass, who escaped from slav
ery and then took an active stance
against oppression, as well as
William Ellison, who bought his
freedom and at the end of his life
owned 63 slaves.
“What are you doing with that
freedom that you’ve been given?”
Baker asked his audience. “Are
/
SEE KING, PAGE 5
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