Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 28, 2005, edition 1 / Page 3
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She SmUj Sar CAMPUS BRIEFS Christian fraternity, UNC to work toward resolution A resolution to Alpha lota Omega s battle for University recognition could draw to a close today, six months after mem bers of the Christian fraternity filed a federal lawsuit against the University. Lawyers representing the frater nity and the University are sched uled to file a consent decree that would clarify UNC’s nondiscrimi nation policy and prevent the case from going to trial. U.S. District Court Judge Frank Bullock Jr. has urged lawyers to come to a compromise in the dis pute regarding the group’s official recognition and the nondiscrimi nation policy, required of all stu dent groups. If neither side can reach an agreement, Bullock has said, he will issue a ruling in the case. Alpha lota Omega gained national attention in the fall after members refused to sign the non discrimination policy and it was denied official recognition as a UNC student organization. Raleigh woman charged for driving while intoxicated A Raleigh resident was arrest ed at 3:23 a.m. Friday morn ing on South Columbia Street and charged with driving while impaired, according to University police reports. Allison Markey Bowden, an employee of Studio 2 Fitness, was charged with driving while intoxicated and facing the wrong way on a one-way street, reports estate. According to reports, an offi cer observed her vehicle stopped on the side of the road and upon his approach detected the scent of alcohol. After administering a roadside breath test, Bowden was taken to the police station, where she reg istered a .12 on the breath-alcohol test, reports state. Bowden was released on a writ ten promise to appear in court, according to reports. Applications available for 2006 senior class marshals Applications now are available for members of the class 0f2006 to be a senior marshal at http://www. unc.edu/seniors2oo6. Applications must be turned into room 3512 E of the Student Union by 9 p.m. March 11. For more information, contact Senior Class President-elect Bobby Whisnant Jr. at whisnabl@email. unc.edu or Senior Class Vice President-elect Jenny Peddycord at jenpeddy@email.unc.edu. CITY BRIEFS Local volunteer wins award for service in human rights Frances Finney, a volunteer for the Chapel of the Cross church and other local organizations, received the county’s Pauli Murray Award, an annual honor given to recognize local contributors to human rights and relations. Finney and other winners were recognized in a ceremony Sunday at New Hope Elementary School. Chance to name local group's tiger cubs to end today Today is the last day to suggest names for the male and female tiger cubs that will be moved in late March to the Carnivore Preservation Trust in Pittsboro. The cubs were found wandering on a road between Cleveland and Gaston counties in January. The top five names for each of the cubs will be selected by the trust’s staff and posted on its Web site by Tuesday. The public then will be able to vote for their favor ites between Tuesday and Sunday. Anyone may nominate names for the cubs by visiting http:// www.cptigers.org and clicking on the tiger cub rescue link, by send ing them to Name the Cubs c/o CPT, 1940 Hanks Chapel Road, Pittsboro, NC 27312, or by calling 542-4684. All nominations must be received by noon. Town Council to continue hearing on development The Chapel Hill Town Council will continue tonight its public hearing on the Wilson Assemblage, a proposed development off Erwin Road near U.S. 15-501. The public hearing, which has been continued three separate times, is on whether to grant the developers a special-use permit that would allow them to go for ward with plans for construction. The hearing is the first regular agenda item at tonight’s business meeting, which will begin at 7 P-m. in Town Hall. From staff reports. BOG to see fresh blood 16 of UNC-system boards seats up for grabs BYAMYEAGLEBURGER STAFF WRITER The governing body of the UNC system is ready for anew round of elections. A total of 16 seats on the Board of Governors will be up for election by the General Assembly, with 12 incumbents vying for their current positions. The exception in this year’s race is board member Addison Bell, who will step down - ■ 'vA. X .■•Sr-J.Av'rL- . / ■ ’ ■9 } _ Jlj* i f jrJjWHBMraMHf/ DTH/NICK CLARKE Truphenia Kelley, a dental hygienist at UNC, stands in front of her house Friday morning. Kelley is a single mother of three who has benefited from subsidized housing. Nonprofit organizations like EmPOWEßment Inc. seek to aid people like her. COSTS LIMIT LIVING CHOICES Town struggles with affordable housing BY CHRIS CARMICHAEL STAFF WRITER Truphenia Kelley’s kids are sick and tired of Hamburger Helper. But what their mother knows is that the inexpensive dinner solution is one way families can stretch their income to qualify for a subsidized home. This type of cost-cutting is a way of life for many Chapel Hill workers, for whom the cost of housing in the town is just out of reach. And with little developable land within the growth boundary remain ing, home prices continue to soar. Today in Chapel Hill, prospective homeowners are likely to spend up to $400,000 for anew single-family home. Affordable housing advocates such as Susan Levy, executive director of Orange County Habitat for Humanity, say these prices make it difficult for even households of modest means to find reasonable housing. “There is need (for affordable housing) across the board,” she said. Levy said Habitat works with a wide range of families from teach ers and health-service employees to Businesses chew on cigarette tax hikes BY ALEX GRANADOS STAFF WRITER The war on smoking is hitting home in North Carolina. With Gov. Mike Easley aiming to raise the cigarette tax 45 cents dur ing the next two years, and some N.C. legislators rallying to hike it even higher, local businesses and smokers are caught in a political maelstrom that shows no signs of subsiding. The governor’s budget for 2005- 07 proposed a tax increase that, when added to the current 5 cent tax the second lowest in the country will bring taxes on cigarettes to 50 cents by 2007. And a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Ellie Kinnaira, D-Orange, could increase the tax on a pack of ciga rettes to 80 cents. “There is more support than ever,” Kinnaird said. “I think just about everybody really feels we are ready.” But the local businesses and smokers affected by this bill aren’t as prepared as the legislators for the tax hike. Walter McFall, general manager of TJ’s Campus Beverage & Tobacco on Franklin Street, said businesses Top News before his four-year term is over. “I am just ready to retire,” said Bell, a six-year member. “It’s been my pleasure to serve on the board. I’m sure they will have very fine candidates to select from.” New members also will be elected to fill seats vacated by members who have served the maximum of three consecutive four-year terms. Former Vice Chairman Irvin Aldridge those who, because of disability, have as little as $175 a month to spend on housing. Kelley, a dental hygienist at the UNC School of Dentistry, earns more than $40,000 a year. But without subsi dized housing, home ownership might well have been out of her reach. A 34-year-old single mother of three, Kelley said she struggled for years to keep up with bills after mak ing rent payments. “It was a huge amount of my income,” Kelley said. “I barely had anything left afterwards.” Jeff Caiola, co-director of EmPOWEßment Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing provider, said the problem is that wages trail area hous ing costs, especially in the service sec tor, where wages have stagnated. Since 1979, real wages for workers in the bottom fifth of the wage scale have increased by only 88 cents an hour, according to the N.C. Justice Center. “I think about people who make $8 an hour,” Kelley said. “How do you sur vive on $8 an hour with a family? Better find Jesus, I guess. If they don’t know him, they better know him now.” N.C. Gov. Mike Easley wants to raise the cigarette tax, possibly giving a burden to businesses. might falter or fail because of the tax. “It will detrimentally harm busi ness,” he said. “There is no question about that.” Although the overall decrease in income might not be that high, McFall said that even a small mar gin could damage a business. “Even if we have a... 10 percent reduction, that could be the differ ence between staying in business and going out of business,” McFall said. But some local businesses don’t see the tax as a problem. Doc Harvey, general manager of Dominic’s NC Sports Bar & Grill, said he has had experience with cigarette tax increases before and was not fazed by their impact. “I lived in California when they SEE CIGARETTES, PAGE 4 will be “termed out,” as will Jack Cecil and Bert Collins. In the past, people who wanted to be considered for the position had to be spon sored by a member of the legislature. “In many instances, you know the sponsors,” Cecil said. Once a sponsor is named, the candidates have to make themselves known to the other members of the chamber, he said. “Sometimes, you have to run a cam- SEE BOG ELECTIONS, PAGE 4 BY THE NUMBERS note: all figures in thousands 380 Mean price of 1-family home in Chapel Hill 56.5 Income needed for affordable housing One of the most popular survival strategies is commuting. Based on the 2004 Chapel Hill Databook, only 30 percent of town employees last year had Chapel Hill zip codes, creating a contingent of com muters from the county, where demand is lower and construction cheaper. University employees, at 40 per cent, are only slightly more likely to have town zip codes. The number of commuters has caught the attention of officials such as SEE HOUSING, PAGE 4 Ticket contest is a devil of a time Students weather marathon event BY HILARY DELBRIDGE STAFF WRITER Some UNC students will do just about anything for tickets to one of the season’s biggest rivalry games. At 3 p.m. Friday, 21 students placed one hand on an enlarged ticket in the middle of the Pit for a chance to win two riser tickets to Sunday’s North Carolina-Duke men’s basketball game. One by one, students who had been given strict instructions not to remove a hand from the ticket, lean on the table, or sit down dropped out of the competition. By 10 p.m. Sunday, two die-hard fans were still standing battling body aches, heavy eyelids and tem peratures that dropped as low as 23 degrees. “I had suspicions that it could last this long,” said sophomore Cody Foster, one of the two remain ing contestants Sunday night. “I thought I would be the winner easily, but there are definitely some tough defenders here.” If the two students are still standing at 7 a.m. today, the con testants will be forced to stand on one leg, and the winner will be the 16 MISSIONS, ONE VISION Part 16 of a 16-part series profiling the campuses of the UNC system. ffpl TODAY: Ik UNC-CH UNC seeks balance in dual roles BY EMMA BURGIN STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR UNC-Chapel Hill, as the state’s flagship public uni versity, takes its role seriously. It strives to be the best within North Carolina’s pub lic university system, and it aims high at the national and international levels. The University ranked 29th out of all national col leges and universities in U.S. News & World Report’s list of the country’s top institutions. “Being the first university, it means that were often looked to as the pinnacle of public education in North Carolina,” said Matt Calabria, student body president. Chartered by the N.C. General Assembly in 1789, the nation’s first public university opened in 1795 with the goal of educating the residents of North Carolina. Since then, the “University of the People” has grown into more than a few buildings down the road from the small Anglican chapel that gave the town its name. And perhaps as a result of that growth, many question the future of UNC-CH’s role in the UNC system. “I think Chancellor (James) Moeser understands in a profound way the role of a public institution in doing public good,” said Hannah Gage, a member of the sys tem’s Board of Governors and a UNC-CH graduate. In fall 2003 the University admitted 16,144 under graduates, a 1.15 percent increase from the previous year. The school grew once more this fall, increasing its enrollment by 2.36 percent to 16,525 students. Leader of the pack Some— mostly legislators and UNC-system offi cials see the University as a guidepost for the rest of the system’s schools and the state. But UNC-CH’s status at the top of the heap has provoked some school administrators to lobby for individual consideration. Chancellor James Moeser, as recently as during the BOG’s February meeting, has said that UNC-CH’s spe cial needs must be met if the University is to maintain its quality education and compete on a national level. “UNC-Chapel Hill is in a unique position because we’re in a completely different peer group (than other UNC-system schools),” Calabria said. ,■-u -.n..* To maintain this standard, the University’s Board of Thistees backed Moeser and voted in January for a tuition increase of S2OO for residents and $950 for nonresidents for the coming year. Moeser also spearheaded a systemwide effort last academic year to raise the out-of-state enrollment cap from 18 percent to 22 percent, a move that he said would enhance the campus’s intellectual climate. The BOG, after serious debate, decided that the system wasn’t ready for such a change. Opponents argued that the raise would decrease system schools’ abilities to serve the residents of North Carolina. Surging ahead The question of whether UNC-CH is being held back by the 15 other campuses is one that both administrators and student officials are reluctant to address overtly. But tension is evident within the system as colleges and universities across the state set their priorities. Calabria said there is a legitimate case to be made for special treatment of the system’s flagship university. “The relationship with Chapel Hill and the UNC system is in a lot of ways like the relationship between the United States and United Nations,” he said. “You’d rather go your own way on various issues.” He said there’s often healthy disagreement between the University and the system because of that. “I think the beauty of the UNC system is the ongo ing tension that exists between the campuses as they SEE UNC, PAGE 4 69.8 Median income of the town's homeowners 250 Price of most popular homes in market Iget Hi. m S* . * Ip I JUI lEBHIHPiP JUI 819 'll4. Kfeteu* V. Jgm ' ' pp if | | ■ 1 DTH/BRANDON SMITH Freshman Phillip Barbee works on a lab report at a ticket contest in the Pit on Saturday. Participants had to keep one hand on a giant ticket at all times. last one standing. The students have consumed energy drinks, watched movies, played poker, stretched, jogged in place and talked on their cell phones in an attempt to stay awake during the competition sponsored by the student group Keeping Recreational Activities New and Creative. “I’ve actually faded off to sleep a couple of times,” said freshman David Grady one of the final four who resisted closing his eyelids as he spoke Sunday afternoon. “But MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2005 I’ve done stretches, had hot choco late and a lot of Mountain Dew.” The students, who were select ed for the competition through a mock ticket distribution, took a 10-minute bathroom break every two hours and a 15-minute break every six hours. The first student dropped out 30 minutes into the competition, and the numbers continued to dwindle throughout the weekend due to rule SEE TICKETS, PAGE 4 3
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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