Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 18, 2005, edition 1 / Page 3
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Soilg @ar Hrrl STATE S NATION BOG member charged with simple assault of 16-year-old Ben Ruffin, former chair man of the UNC system's Board of Governors, was arrested and charged with simple assault and battery Thursday in Beaufort County, S.C., for an incident that occurred July 28. According to police reports, a man wearing black pants, a black shirt and black sandals assaulted a 16-year-old girl in the elevator of the Hilton Head Marriott Beach and Golf Resort. Ruffin, who still sits on the BOG, was attending the National Conference for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education at the time of the incident, reports state. The girl told police that she was returning to her room wear ing a swimsuit and towel around her waist when a man entered the elevator. She said the man asked her several vulgar questions and then began rubbing her stomach and moving his hands toward her breasts, reports state. According to reports, she pressed the elevator button for the sixth or seventh floor, exited the elevator and returned to her room. Later that evening, she went to a presentation by Bill Cosby that was part of the conference, saw the man and notified security. According to police, Ruffin turned himself in Thursday morning. Microsoft recalls power cords for Xbox, citing fire concerns SEATTLE Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that it is recalling 14.1 million power cords for its Xbox because they can catch fire. The company said 30 customers have reported fire damage. Seven Xbox users burned their hands, while 23 reported smoke damage or damage to their carpets or enter tainment centers, Microsoft said. Peter Moore, a corporate vice president, said the company has known about the problem for some time and spent the last several months gearing up for the recall by producing more cords and making other arrangements. Everywhere except Europe, the recall affects Xboxes manufactured before Oct. 23, 2003. In Europe, it affects those manufactured before Jan. 13,2004. Overall, the recall affects about 70 percent of about 20 million con soles sold, Microsoft said. Customers can order a free replacement cord by going to http://www.xbox.com. Until a new cord is delivered, Xbox users should turn off their game players when not in use, Microsoft said. CITY BRIEFS Final concert for tsunami relief to be held Sunday The town of Carrboro will host a world music concert Sunday with proceeds to benefit the victims of the December tsunami. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Carrboro Century Center, bands such as Saludos Compay, Jaafar and Zindagi will take the stage. Admission is a suggested mini mum donation of $lO in either cash or a check made out to UNICEF or Mercy Corps. Carrboro resident Gerry Williams organized the concert with his wife, Janet Place. Sunday’s concert is the final one in the series of six. CAMPUS BRIEFS Backpack holding laptop stolen from campus library A backpack containing a laptop valued at $2,000 and a Nokia cell phone valued at $125 was reported missing from the Undergraduate Library on Wednesday afternoon, University police reports state. According to reports, the suspect was a 5-foot-8 white man with brown hair in his late 30s or early 40s. Student groups encourage participation in fund raiser Members of N.C. Hillel and Amnesty International are encour aging UNC students to fight poverty with the “Collegiate Click Drive.” With every visit to http://www. povertyfighters.com until March 31, the site’s sponsors will donate 25 cents in small loans to people in tsunami-affected areas. To sign up for a daily reminder, visit http://lists.unc.edu/read/ all_forums/subscribe?name=click drive2oos. CALENDAR Today The Carolina Women’s Center will host a brown-bag work shop on the book “He’s Just Not That Into You,” by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tbccillo, from noon to 1 p.m. The discussion will be held in the Mary Turner Lane Reading and Resource Room in the center, located at 134 E. Franklin-St. From staff and wire reports. Council to eye developers Will see shortened list for work on lots BY JENNIFER FAIR STAFF WRITER The last time the Chapel Hill Town Council committee on lots 2 and 5 saw the list of potential developers for the downtown revitalization project, six names were on it. Today, they will receive a list at least one name shorter. ~ bhv — V \ / wm \ / H m '*7” - \ I / Mm - "T'-tST u yi L— L~ : ||, , .j+t IjH kj H mBT \ ** * , ; enior Lauren Graye (center), sophomore Joe Lewis (left) and junior Damien Barnette (right) practice with Concept of Colors, a multicultural modeling organization at UNC. The group comprises students of various ethnicities and strives to promote Land battle stalls college plan BY GREGG FOUND STAFF WRITER An ongoing battle over a parcel of land could cause Orange County to miss out on a satellite campus for Durham Technical Community College. The heirs to Marvin Glenn and Doris Huckabee, who currently own the land south of Hillsborough, have been unable to come to terms on the price of the property with the Trump Group, a Florida-based developer hired by the Orange County Board of Commissioners to acquire it. At its Jan. 10 meeting, the Hillsborough Town Board heard a request from the Thump Group to exercise eminent domain, a policy in which the town can seize a piece of property for public use without the landowner’s consent. The town board decided Monday not to use its eminent domain rights yet. License bill could spur change in state policy BY INDIA AUTRY STAFF WRITER Federal legislation might force North Carolina to change its requirements for driver’s licenses, state lawmakers say. If the Real ID Act, a national security bill, passes the Senate, states will have to keep licenses out of the hands of illegal immigrants in order to have their licenses rec ognized by federal officials at air ports and courthouses. Congressmen say they drafted the bill because those responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks gained access to places such as airports and schools by using driver’s licenses as identification. Top News John Stainback, project consultant and managing partner of Stainback Public/ Private Real Estate LLC of Houston, will send the town a short list of three to five potential developers for the proposed re development of parking lots 2 and 5. Lot 2 is located behind Spanky’s restaurant and next to the Wallace deck on Rosemary Street. Lot 5 can be found across from University Square on Franklin Street. The lots are planned to be transformed into mixed-use facilities, with a transit transfer center located underneath the MADE FOR WALKIN’ DTH/CARTER MURPHY cross-cultural learning, appreciation and respect through fashion and design and aims to showcase the diversity that exists on campus. The organization plans to participate in the Masala show at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Great Hall of the Student Union. “We just felt like it was important for them to work it out instead of us,” Hillsborough Mayor Joe Phelps said. But the board did decide to prepare for the required 30-day waiting period for initiating the eminent domain process, so it could start that process at the Feb. 28 meeting if needed. “Any time during that period, the board can decide to pull out,” Town Manager Eric Peterson said during a joint meeting between the commissioners and the board Thursday. “But you’ve got to start that 30 days to get the process moving.” The land in question is not for the campus itself but for an access road to the campus from N.C. 86. The land for the campus must be purchased by the county before April 15. Members on both sides of the land dis pute have accused the other of excessive States would have three years to change their policies before their res idents’ licenses lose federal author ity, according to the legislation. The bill, introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., passed the House quickly by a vote of 261-161. The Senate has refused to vote on the bill, but a similar one probably will be introduced soon. President Bush agreed to back the bill in exchange for the passing of intelligence reform. State legislators expect the law to pass and foresee debate about changes that should be made at the local level, said N.C. Sen. Harry SEE LICENSES, PAGE 5 new facility at lot 2. The RBC Centura bank on Rosemary Street also will be relocated to the new facility at lot 5 and will be replaced by a parking garage. Wallace Deck will be expanded three levels as part of the project. Total construction is estimated to cost about SB2 million and to be completed in two distinct phases. Stainback said he used nine criteria to pare down the list of potential develop- SEE APPLICANTS, PAGE 5 greed, a disagreement that could ultimate ly lead Durham Tech to look elsewhere. “Both parties are still at a gridlock,” Peterson said at Thursday’s meeting. “Each party thinks that the other one is being completely unreasonable.” The standoff hasn’t had any effect on Durham Tech’s progress as of yet. “We still think that the land will close by April 15,” said Barbara Baker, dean of student services at Durham Tech. “We are currently reviewing proposals from designers and architects for the proposed campus. We’re getting the steps done.” Commissioners Chairman Moses Carey Jr. said he sees many opportunities in bringing a satellite campus to the county. “It’s a key positive for the economy and county as a whole,” he said. “Our job SEE DURHAM TECH, PAGE 5 Keg proposal raises eyebrows BY ADAM W. RHEW STAFF WRITER At least one local politician wants state legislators to give con sideration to an idea he says will help combat underage drinking. Chapel Hill Town Council member Jim Ward wants legisla tion requiring merchants to record information about, people who buy beer kegs added to the council’s legislative requests to the N.C. General Assembly. The proposal would require ven dors to tag kegs with the buyer’s name, address and driver’s license number, in hopes of making it harder for underage drinkers to gain access to alcohol. SEE KEGS, PAGE 5 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2005 16 MISSIONS, ONE VISION Part 10 of a 16-part series profiling the campuses of the UNC system. fIESH Charlotte gets boost from city BY KAVITA PILLAI ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR UNC-Charlotte is the only UNC-system school with in a 90-mile radius of the largest city in the Carolinas. And because of that, many of its best academic pro grams are geared toward Charlotte’s source of pros perity banking. Charlotte, the second-largest financial center in the United States, is home to Bank of America and Wachovia Corp. University officials have kept this tact in mind when designing or improving pro grams. “We must offer educational and research programs that reflect the needs of this region,” said Chancellor James Woodward. “And it’s not just business degrees. It’s account ing, information technology, human resources and so forth.” Woodward said the success of the accounting program can be seen in some of the school’s gradu ates. The chief executive officer, chief fiscal officer and general counsel of Lowe’s Companies Inc. all have undergraduate degrees in accounting from UNC-C. “That sort of gives you some indication of the qual ity of that program,” he said. Life learning The university recently revamped its undergradu ate core curriculum in an effort to better prepare its students for post-college life. “What we did over two years was start the debate by asking the question, ‘What are our goals for our graduates?’” Woodward said. “Once that was settled, how then do we package and offer courses and other educational experiences in a way to ensure that those goals are met?” He said the restructuring is an achievement of which he is most proud. “We want to assure the students who graduate can live life as a human being, participate as an active citi zen, as well as make a living in a chosen profession,” he said. UNC-C has added several academic programs dur ing the past decade, including some at the doctoral level, Woodward said. He added that many of the university’s freshman level courses are taught by senior professors, includ ing some endowed professors. “A student will walk into a class that will be taught by one of the most distinguished professors at UNC- Charlotte,” Woodward said. A large expansion Originally a center of learning for returning World War II soldiers, UNC-C became part of the UNC sys tem in 1965 and has grown into the fourth-largest school in the system. Director of Admissions Craig Fulton said he proj ects that enrollment at the university will continue to grow about 4 percent annually during the next few years. UNC-C has had one of the lowest ratios of aca demic space per student in the system. But Fulton said that as a result of the system’s 2000 bond referendum, UNC-C now has the capacity to take on more students. “The bond referendum was to provide increased access for citizens of North Carolina, so clearly we want to respond to that,” Fulton said. “We put all of the bond money here into new aca demic space and... renovating existing space.” Woodward said that almost S3OO million has been spent on construction that is recently complete, under way or in planning. Of that, $l9O million was funded by the state. In addition to seven or eight academic buildings, he said, the university is completing a $35 million sci ence and technology building. This spring, construc tion will begin on anew alumni center. And anew student union building is being designed. Smooth sailing UNC-C officials have been making an effort to improve student retention and graduation rates with the formation of an Office of Student Success and Retention in fall 2003. “I think you try to recruit a student who can be SEE CHARLOTTE, PAGE 5 s6®? - •^yVi DTH/GILUAN BOLSOVER Chapel Hill Town Council member Jim Ward wants to combat underage drinking by requiring merchants to record information about keg purchases. 3 TODAY: UNC-C
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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