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8 MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2005 Students gather for homeless awareness BY STACEY CARLESS STAFF WRITER More than 60 students gath ered in the Pit on Friday evening to make a statement and raise awareness about homelessness in the United States. Projected rain showers deterred students from fulfill ing their plans of camping out to understand the homeless experi ence, but organizers said the mes sage of the event was not lost. About 600,000 people go home less each night in the United States, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The Campus Y Hunger and Homelessness Outreach Project and Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship planned the event to show that homeless people aren’t any different than people with homes, said Inter Varsity member James Jolley. “In a very small way, we are deny ing ourselves some of the privileges we inherited,” he said. Inter Varsity member Erin Somerville said that even though the camp-out did not occur, the message of the event still got out to students. “(Being) outside motivates you to think about what it must be like for the homeless all the time,” she said. Students congregated in the Pit from 10 p.m. until the wee hours of the morning and discussed how to pass on privileges to the less fortunate. The event also featured enter tainment by bands Sweater Weather and Placid Trip and speeches by Chapel Hill Town Council member Sally Greene and Inter-Faith Council Executive Director Chris Moran. “We’re going to have people just kind of hang around,” Jolley said. Let us help you move home for the summer. 15% OFF ALL PACKAGING AND SHIPPING SUPPLIES 1289 Fordham Blvd. Next to the Holiday Inn. 919.932.9117 M-F Bam-6:3opm, Sat 9am-2:3opm The UPS Store centers are independently owned and operated by licensed franchisees of Mail Boxes Etc., Inc., an indirect subsidiary of United Parcel Service of America, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Services and hours of operation may vary by location. ©2004 Mail Boxes Etc., Inc. Johanna Schoen will present her new book choice & coercion] birth control, sterilization, and abortion in public health and welfare (UNC Press) Tuesday, April sth at 3:30 p.m. in the BulTs Head Bookshop jyjL jp W | .IgS C3STJ j A JjS DTH/BRADY NASH Freshman Meredith Austin (right) and sophomore Erich Sechler listen to band Sweater Weather during Friday's homelessness awareness event. “As long as people feel like talking, we will be here.” Chad Winchester, a sophomore Spanish major and a member of Inter Varsity, said he attended the event to support the homeless people of Chapel Hill and across the United States. He said he was disappointed that participants didn’t have the chance to camp out. “It would have been a lot of fun to camp out,” he said, “just to dem onstrate how serious we are about the issue.” Jolley said he hopes the event makes students more aware about issues at the heart of homelessness and motivates them to take action. “It’s going out and speaking with people, making eye contact when it’s uncomfortable, and it’s listen ing to their stories,” Jolley said. “(The event) was about getting We offer VwsZ wflCli UPS' shipping News people together and talking about the issue so that someday, some how, we can find the answer.” Inter Varsity member Rachel Hylton said that although she was impressed with the turnout and the event, more steps must be taken to get tangible results. Local governments, including those in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, have signed on to a 10-year plan to end homelessness. But Hylton was more interested in actions. “We can sit in the Pit and talk about it, but it’s one of those things that you have to take action on,” she said. “This event helps. It raised my awareness and challenged me to do something and get involved in that type of outreach.” Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu. View Finders: an International Photography Reception Tuesday April sth 4:30 pm 223 E. Franklin St. www.ucis.unc.edu „ L Stop by to hear the stories behind the photographs! t UNC 4aaia UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES I SJkid t>o! “Speak Up Speak Out" I Mtn somebody. Silence hrx r*o roAr.” y ' : i . ' A Poetry Competition about Relationship Violence 10 poets will be heard. Free Pizza. Enlightenment. Tuesday, April 5 7:00 pm 3206 Student Union Co-sponsored by the Mu Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., the Black Student Movement, and the Center for Healthy Student Behaviors State bill aims to reduce alcohol-related problems BY CAROLYN SOROCK STAFF WRITER State legislators are considering a bill that would enact recommen dations from the governor’s task force on drunk driving that could decrease underage drinking and drunk driving. The recommendations were introduced on the House floor Tuesday by Rep. Joe Hackney, D- Orange, who sponsored the bill. “Increased checkpoints and increased enforcement procedures ... will serve to deter drunk driving,” Hackney said. “You have to increase the certainty of being caught.” Hackney said increased enforce ment of DWI laws could reduce the number of drunk drivers. The task force’s report emphasized reducing alcohol-related crashes. Almost one-fourth of all fatal crashes occurring in North Carolina in 2003 involved alcohol, accord ing to the UNC Highway Safety Research Center. But during the past decade, drunk-driving fatalities have been reduced by 22 percent. Jimmy Ashe, sheriff - of Jackson County and a member of the task force, listed incarceration, vehicle Death sentence overturned THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GREENSBORO Almost 25 years after being sentenced to death for two slayings, a homeless drifter will get anew trial. A Superior Court judge has overturned the death sentence for Michael Edward Pinch, who was found guilty of two counts of first degree murder in 1980. A jury needed less than four hours to recommend the death seizure and ignition interlock sys tems, which prevent intoxicated drivers from starting their vehicles, as deterrents to drunk driving. He also emphasized the bill’s attacks on underage drinking. “There needs to be some types of restrictions, and one was keg regis tration, especially around the uni versity cities,” he said. “There needs to be a difference in the availability of alcohol to underage drinkers that involves education of vendors.” A House bill and Senate bill already have been introduced to mandate registration of beer kegs. If passed, every keg sold will bear a label listing the purchaser’s name, address and telephone number, and the location where the alcohol would be stored and consumed. Another deterrent is the pro posed increase to the alcohol tax. “(Revenue from) taxes on alcohol sales would go towards education and rehabilitation,” Ashe said. He said it also could pay for designat ed-driver programs and safe trans portation on university campuses. “The increase in sales tax on alcohol is a means to generate that revenue and put the burden on the penalty for Pinch, who was charged with the shotgun slayings of 19-year-old Freddie Pacheco and 18-year-old Tommie Ausley in October 1979- But in a 152-page ruling issued Wednesday, Judge Melzer Morgan overturned the sentence on six points errors such as evidence withheld by the prosecution and ineffective assistance of counsel that some experienced death penalty lawyers said is all too com mon in capital cases. “The case is symptomatic of what is wrong with the death penalty in North Carolina,” said Gretchen Engel, a lawyer for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham, which provides appeals lawyers for indigent defendants on death row. Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said prosecutors are study ing Morgan’s opinion and would • i w J> ' ir Bt J u~mi' j 1 1 j Do vou love Carolina athleticsP If so, then now is your chance to get more involved! The Carolina Athletic Association has applications available for the 2005-2006 Sports Marketing Committee and the 2005-2006 Carolina Fever Director positions. CAA Sports Marketing works closely with the UNC Athletic Department in promot ing all varsity sports at Carolina while Carolina Fever serves to improve spirit and student support at the games! Applications are available outside of the CAA office in Union room 3506-C and are due back by Monday, April 16th at spm. Students, Nominate an Outstanding Academic Advisor!!! Six Awards Are Available TheMickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award is a cash award given annually to three advisors in The Academic Advising Programs in the General College and the College of Arts Sfi Sciences The Class of 1996 Award for Advising Excellence is a cash award given to three academic advisors. Advisors in academic departments, undergraduate professional schools, and in the Academic Advising Programs in the General College and the College of Arts & Sciences are eligible for these awards. You May Make Your Nomination on the Web at: http://www.unc.edu/gform-links/advising/program/nomination.html NOMINATIONS DUE MONDAY. APRIL 4,2005 ioilg (Tar Hwl consumer, not the taxpayers,” Ashe said. But he is concerned that the tax increase was not given a promi nent position in the bill. Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, co-chairman of the task force, said the bill streamlines current legis lation, in addition to discouraging drunk driving. “We’re doing a lot of things that will do away with loopholes and get the law in a little better shape,” he said. Such streamlining includes stan dardizing community service as pun ishment for underage drinking and stressing the importance of enforc ing the .08 legal limit on the road. Cheryl Jones, media coordinator for Mothers Against Drunk Driving of North Carolina, expressed con cern about the enforcement of the bill, even if it is passed. Jones said some police chiefs ask officers to be lenient with drunk drivers, a tactic used to increase tourism. “The laws are only as good as the people who are enforc ing them, either on the streets or on the benches.” Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. have no comment on it. Guilford County District Attorney Stuart Albright said he expects the state to appeal Morgan’s ruling. Albright said he will probably retry the case if the ruling is upheld. Prosecution witnesses had testi fied that Pinch shot Pacheco in the chest at a biker party in a shack, then shot Ausley as he begged for his life. But Morgan found that jurors did not hear evidence that might have changed their perception of Pinch. Attorney Jim Cooney, who wrote the brief that prompted Morgan to order anew trial, found notes and other material withheld from Pinch’s lawyers that Morgan determined would have supported Pinch’s defense thj.t be was guilty of second degree murder or might have led to a life sentence.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 4, 2005, edition 1
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