VOLUME 112, ISSUE 138
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DTH/LAURA MORTON
Maha Alattar, assistant professor of neurology at UNC, traveled to Washington, D.C., to exercise her right to vote Thursday in Iraq's Sunday election.
CITIZEN HOPES VOTE
FORGES NEW NATION
BY JULIA FURLONG STAFF WRITER
Maha Alattar waited a long time for Sunday, the official Election
Day in Iraq.
So long, in fact, that the assistant professor of neurology at
UNC cast her ballot three days early.
Alattar joined an estimated 9-2 million Iraqis in casting her ballot dur
ing the weekend, exercising her right to vote as a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen
Thursday in Washington, D.C. the closest of five polling places offered
in the United States.
“People that had been crushed by the previous regime now have voice,”
Alattar said Wednesday.
Alattar, who was forced to flee Baghdad
at the age of 10 in 1983 to escape eth
nic cleansing under Saddam Hussein’s
Baathist regime, has testified before
Congress and heads the Iraqi Forum for
Democracy.
Several of her relatives were deported
and imprisoned under the Baathist rule.
Alattar said she began to assume a more
public role in Iraqi politics when the Bush
administration began to show interest in
the region before the United States’ March
2003 invasion.
“This was an opportunity we did not want
to miss,” she said.
She calls her work advocating for the
“I learned to like a blank piece of paper.
I learned to like the challenge.” doug marlette , CARTOONIST
Cartoonist s talk spawns good humor
BY MEREDITH LEE MILLER
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
Political cartoons are intended to provoke laughter
—but sometimes, they spark outrage.
That’s what editorial cartoonist and writer Doug
Marlette said Friday, when he was in town for a Meet
the Author Tea. The Pulitzer Prize-winner told the
audience at the Chapel Hill Public Library that dur
ing his career, he’s become quite aware of the things
that upset people.
“I’ve never believed in restricting myself,” he said.
“I’ve always let other people restrict me.”
He cited an experience during his days at The
Charlotte Observer, when then-U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms,
R-N.C., refused to talk to that paper’s reporter because
he was offended by one of Marlette’s cartoons.
Marlette began creating political cartoons for The
Charlotte Observer in 1972.
Since then, his work has appeared in national
newspapers and publications such as Time and
Newsweek magazines.
The library’s meeting room was packed, and sev
eral people had to stand and lean against the walls
as they listened to Marlette talk about his favorite
cartoons and life experiences.
“I’m amazed so many people showed up,” he said
in an interview after his presentation.
SEE MARLETTE, PAGE 4
INSIDE
LIFT-OFF
Local historian gives a talk on the history behind a
town landmark the Horace Williams Airport PAGE 2
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
tThr laiht oar Hrrl
IRAQI ELECTIONS
establishment of democracy in Iraq her
second job, said Rebecca Torres, a physician
assistant who works with Alattar.
The cause takes up “pretty much all of
her free time,” and the voting that took place
Sunday was “a bit of a dream come true for
her,” Torres said.
Alattar’s energy has been directed toward
several different objectives. She said she has
worked on gathering support for the elec
tions, educating other Iraqis and recruiting
election volunteers.
She has testified before Congress on these
matters and was outspoken in condemning
Hussein’s regime.
SEE ALATTAR, PAGE 4
-'
& -via
DTH/BRANDON SMITH
Margaret Paulsen (left) and John Paulsen watch as Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Doug
Marlette shows slides of cartoons he has made over the years Friday at the town public library.
www.dthonline.cpin
Turnout large in
historic election
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq lraqis embraced democracy in
large numbers Sunday, standing in long lines to vote
in defiance of mortar attacks, suicide bombers and
boycott calls. Pushed in wheelchairs or carts if they
couldn’t walk, the elderly, the young and women in
veils cast ballots in Iraq’s first free election in a half
century.
“We broke a barrier of fear,” said Mijm Towirish,
an election official.
Uncertain Sunni turnout, a string of insurgent
attacks that killed 44 and the crash of a British mili
tary plane drove home the fact that chaos in Iraq isn’t
over yet.
Yet the mere fact that the vote went off seemed to
ricochet instantly around a world hoping for Arab
democracy and fearing Islamic extremism.
“I am doing this because I love my country, and I
love the sons of my nation,” said Shamal Hekeib, 53,
who walked with his wife 20 minutes to a polling sta
tion near his Baghdad home.
“We are Arabs, we are not scared and we are not
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 4
SPORTS
SYMPHONY OF DESTRUCTION
UNC ends a 5-year losing streak at Virginia, putting
game out of reach before end of the Ist half PAGE 12
MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005
University
could diverge
from system
Seeks unique status in tuition talks
BY KAVITA PILLAI
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Despite every indication from
the UNC system’s governing
body that campus-based tuition
increases will not be approved
this year, UNC-Chapel Hill offi
cials said the system’s flagship
institution deserves the hike and
needs it to remain competitive.
The University Board ofTrustees’
proposal of a S2OO increase for
resident tuition and $950 for non
resident students will be present
ed to the Board of Governors in
February. At that time, officials at
each campus will have the oppor
tunity to make their case.
UNC-CH officials have said the
University’s status as a research
institution and its need to main
tain competitive faculty salaries
means a campus-based increase
must pass, even if other system
schools are denied.
“Differentiation of missions is
critical for the success of all the
universities in the system,” Provost
Robert Shelton said last week. “In
the case of Chapel Hill, we have to
be among the top of the world.”
But while BOG members agree
that UNC-CH has a different mis
sion, they are hesitant to say it
requires special treatment.
“(UNC-CH) clearly is a
research-extensive university, and
some of the other schools are not,”
said BOG member Ray Farris.
“That doesn’t mean the increas
es are warranted, and it doesn’t
mean they’re not warranted.”
BOG Chairman Brad Wilson
said UNC-CH Chancellor James
Moeser’s argument is not anew
Grad students’
costs balloon
Leaders say they’re lost in shuffle
BY BRIAN HUDSON
SENIOR WRITER
Every year for the past five
years, University leaders have pro
posed campuswide tuition hikes.
And every year for the past
five years, the increases have
been discussed and debated
with little consideration for the
graduate student body at UNC,
says Jen Bushman, president of
the Graduate and Professional
Student Federation.
“To some degree you get used
to it as a graduate student, but
that doesn’t mean I don’t want to
change something,” she said.
Bushman said she works to
maintain dialogue with UNC
administrators, but when tuition
proposals go before the Board of
Trustees, the graduate student
voice often goes unheard.
On Thursday, the UNC Board
ofTrustees approved S2OO and
$950 tuition increases for in-,
state and out-of-state students,
respectively.
Only the 18 percent of the under
graduate population that hails from
outside the Tar Heel State might
pay a total of SI,OOO in increased
tuition and fees next year.
But about 40 percent of gradu
ate students could bear the bur
den of a $950 tuition hike and
a SSO athletic fee increase for
2005-06.
Bushman said she perceives
a trustee bias in favor of under
graduate students, but she does
not see it as intentional.
“Most (trustees) are under
graduate alumni,” Bushman said.
“So when they’re thinking about
Carolina, (they’re) automatically
thinking about (their) memory.
“The default is to think of the
WEATHER
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one. Every campus, he added, can
make a case for need.
Wilson has come out against
campus-based tuition increases.
“No one is disputing that the
University has economic needs.
That’s the way it’s always been;
that’s the way it always will be.
“I look at
this not as
an economic
need question,
but as an edu
cational policy
question.”
The BOG
is required by
law to review
campus-based
requests, and
Chairman
of the Board
of Trustees
Richard “Stick”
Williams said
; jßfe a
BOT leader
"Stick"
Williams
defends UNC's
tuition proposal.
it should take the University’s
request seriously. He said the work
done by UNC-CH’s Tuition Task
Force thoroughly examined the
school’s needs.
“I really do believe that
the members of the Board of
Governors will have to take some
serious consideration of the work
that was done,” Williams said.
He added that UNC-CH is in
danger of losing its place among
the top universities in the country.
“We have lost some valuable fac
ulty members over the past several
years, and current faculty members
are being approached by other uni
versities, especially the rich, private
SEE TUITION, PAGE 4
undergraduates first.”
Student voice on the
University’s governing board
already is limited to one seat held
by the student body president
historically an undergraduate.
This limited access leaves gradu
ate students out of discussions,
Bushman said.
Mike Brady, who is running
unopposed for
GPSF presi
dent, said the
best way to
present grad
uate interests
to trustees
short of vjing
for another
BOT seat is
to work close
ly with the
student body
president.
“What it
comes down
GPSF President
Jen Bushman
wants to fire
up dialogue
with top brass.
to is just assisting the student
body president in setting down
as clear and concise an argument
for graduate students’ interests as
possible,” Brady said.
Bushman said Student Body
President Matt Calabria has
aptly represented the graduate
student population this year, but
she noted that “not everyone by
far has been good as that.”
In an attempt to ensure that
trustees are aware and under
standing of graduate student
issues, Bushman has contacted
several trustees and discussed the
matter with them.
“We just need to change the
paradigm a little bit so we’re on
the forefront of their minds,” she
SEE GRAD STUDENTS, PAGE 4