VOLUME 112, ISSUE 148 Board votes down in-state hikes LEGISLATURE NOW HAS FINAL SAY OVER TUITION INCREASES BY ERIC JOHNSON ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR WILMINGTON There was no discussion and no dissent as the UNC system’s governing body voted to reject any rise in next year’s tuition for in-state students. In unanimously adopting the recommendation of its Budget and Finance Committee, the Board of Governors elfectively left it to the N.C. General Assembly to meet the Unique plans might garner student votes Candidates stress tangible goals BY KATIE CLINE STAFF WRITER From establishing a student government group on Thefacebook to creating an on-campus farmer’s market, can didates for student body president are offering a combination of unusual promises to garner votes. With only two days left in their campaigns for student body president, candidates Seke Ballard and Seth Dearmin have posters and slogans displaying their campaign promises scat tered throughout campus in hopes of swaying voters. When students visit Student Central to vote in the runoff election Tuesday, they will decide between two unique plat forms and two unique visions. Ballard’s headliner proposal is to make a group specifically for student government on Thefacebook.com, a Web site devoted to connecting college stu dents within the University and at other schools. He said most students aren’t able to recognize student government officials on campus and hopes the group could solve that. “Why not utilize technology to make student government the most accessible it can be?” Ballard said. Ballard also is hoping to set up a pro gram to put student evaluations online in order to “make faculty more accountable” for their classes. Dearmin said the more standout issues addressed in his platform focus on promoting a healthy campus lifestyle. He hopes to establish an on-campus farmers’ market, to bring more workout equipment to the Student Recreation Center and to make condoms available in residence halls. “We have to realize we can make chang es, but also change things that can be more fun,” he said. But candidates and students alike said that this year’s election is driven more by major issues on campus. ■ SBP candidate Seke Ballard plans a group on Thefacebook for government. Fa SBP candidate Seth Dearmin wants condoms to be available in residences. “Students are definitely most concerned with tuition,” Ballard said. “Tuition, tuition, tuition.” Kristin Economo, a freshman international studies major, also said tuition issues will determine many votes. “It is better to have a stance to negotiate tuition rather than flat out reject tuition increases,” she said. Dearmin said he believes the issue that students are most concerned with is town relations. He is hoping to make the University’s campus a single vot ing precinct in order to allow students to have a larger voice SEE PLATFORMS, PAGE 4 Disputed races spark scrutiny of elections BY MARK PUENTE STAFF WRITER Two disputed contests on Election Day in North Carolina had all the flavor of the 2000 presidential race, featuring everything except the hanging chads. Now, with one of the races only recently decided and the other still up in the air, the par tisan nature of the State Board of Elections and North Carolina’s mechanisms for deciding close races have come under fire. Democrats hold a 3-2 edge over Republicans on the Board of Elections, which many say has led to partisan decision-making. And the prolonged legal wrangling ONLINE Local bloggers gather, study craft Speaker talks problems in Colombia Carrboro mulls new housing program Serving the students and the University comm unity since 1893 01>r Satin (Ear MM needs outlined by university chan cellors. “The significant needs of the university cannot be met and solved by tuition alone,” said BOG Chairman Brad Wilson. “We need to continue to work hard and part ner with the General Assembly ... to solve the root causes of the prob lems you saw (during chancellors’ presentations).” That doesn’t mean students will A MB Democrat Britt Cobb criticized the State Board of Elections for its handling of the agriculture race this year. has legislators calling for reforms to the system. “We ought to be able to see a clear winner,” said N.C. Rep. Doug Vinson, R-Mecklenburg. “It’s not fair to the voters or candidates.” The race for the commissioner of agriculture ended Feb. 4, three months after the votes were tab- SEE BOE, PAGE 4 Aldermen set priorities for 2005 Board shoots down yearround school For these stories, visit dthonline.com. www.dthonllne.coiii completely escape increased costs. Friday’s decision could put more pressure on the Board of Governors to consider rais ing tuition for nonresidents and graduate students, in addition to potential hikes in student fees. “I do think that the action of not raising in-state, undergradu ate tuition will bring sharper focus on the need for out-of-state tuition increases,” Wilson said. The gulf between resident and nonresident tuition at some schools could widen substantially if the board approves out-of-state increases next month. <• \ m,"': Wit M Bk V# N \ w - x •: • VaS ■ Ml HLjj dm, F Mr 'Vk jp .'MS-' 1 l| ' UpF ■ V 5 HP* . V. . V . Actors retell the stories of women inter viewed by Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues,” during the stage production Saturday in Gerrard Hall. The monologues combined humorous performanc Law enforcement saw early diversity BY RYAN C. TUCK CITY EDITOR Fifty-three demonstrators arrested, doused with ammonia and laundry bleach. Sixteen arrested at sit-in, including staff ers from both UNC and Duke University. Fourteen of 45 demonstra tors from lie-in arrested. These excerpts from articles in The Chapel Hill Weekly in the years surrounding the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act might read like any others from the same period, but with one distinction: the color of the arresting hands. “There will always be a gap, and that gap is probably going to increase some,” said board member Ray Farris. “The question is, how much and when? I don’t think it ought to be as extreme as it has been.” UNC-system President Molly Broad said the board is statuto- SHOWTIME es with accounts of rape and violence commit ted against women. This year’s V-Day Spotlight focused on Iraqi women who have experienced rape and abduction throughout the current war. For full coverage of the event, see page 7- “In school, the black kids would give us stuff because he was a cop ... and white kids would give us stuff because we were black,” said David Caldwell Jr., whose father was one of the Chapel Hill Police Department’s first black officers. Chapel Hill was one of the most progressive areas in integrating its police department, said current police Chief Gregg Jarvies, who joined the force in 1976 with many of the arresting officers from the 1960s serving as his supervisors. Jeff Foushee was hired to the force in 1947- By the early 19505, two of the force’s 14 officers were black. According to a front-page picture of the police force in The Chapel Hill Weekly in 1952, “the two colored SEE LAW, PAGE 4 LOCAL BUCK HISTORY Today: Law Enforcement Tuesday: Business SPORTS JUNIOR COLLEGE McCants, Felton, May take over in 2nd half to help UNC gut out win against tall Huskies squad PAGE 12 BOG Chairman Brad Wilson said he thinks freezing in-state tuition will not add stress to nonresident hike discussions. rily obligated to keep nonresident tuition near the average for compa rable institutions. Still, Farris said, “I think some increase certainly will pass.” Many campus officials, includ ing UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser, said the board takes a risk by opting not to raise funds through tuition hikes. “They’ve closed off an option,” he said, in reference to the freeze on resident tuition. “I think it also raises the possibility that the legis lature will, in fact, raise tuition. I’m SEE BOG, PAGE 4 jSShH & m B W DTH FILE PHOTO David Caldwell (left) and Paul Minor (third from left), two of the first black officers in Chapel Hill, stand with the rest of the force in the early 19605, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2005 BOG’s choice upsets UNC Flagships officials fight for increases BY LINDSAY MICHEL AND EMILY STEEL SENIOR WRITERS Each of the 16 campuses in the University system had 15 minutes to make a case for tuition increas es to the UNC-system Board of Governors last week. Officials from UNC-Chapel Hill underscored the need to maintain quality at the state’s flagship insti tution, explaining that a S2OO resident increase and a $950 non resident increase would help to do just that. But the system’s governing board made one decision for all of the campuses. The board’s choice to veto all requests to increase in state tuition has left many UNC- Chapel Hill officials at wits’ end. “The challenges don’t go away because of the tuition not being passed,” said Richard “Stick” Williams, chairman of the UNC CH Board of Trustees. “We are really going to have to determine if there are any alternatives.” The campus-based tuition increase would have generated a total of about $7.4 million to fund top University priorities: 40 percent to fully cover need-based financial aid and 60 percent to retain the quality of the faculty and to improve graduate teaching assistant compensation. Officials now are calling the proposal to increase resident tuition at UNC-CH “dead,” but the possibility of hikes for out-of-state students remains almost certain. The Board of Governors has until its March meeting to pass campus-based tuition increases, which will then go before the N.C. General Assembly. Without in-state tuition increas es, the University would receive about $2 million in tuition rev enues, leaving about $1.2 million for faculty and teaching assistant priorities. Officials had called for $5 million to meet those needs. This is not the first time that the University has ventured into the coming year without an ideal budget. ‘You never have all the money you want or need,” said Nelson Schwab, vice chairman of UNC-CH’s govern ing board. You do the best you can with what you have.” Several officials at UNC-CH SEE UNC, PAGE 4 WEATHER TODAY Rain, H 56, L 45 TUESDAY Partly cloudy, H 68, L 45 WEDNESDAY Partly cloudy, H 66, L 33