4
THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2005
(Historic airports
j Airport tied to town and University
: BY BRIANNA BISHOP
EDITOR
• Since its humble beginnings in
* the Horace Williams Airport
•“•has continually made its way into
tthe town spotlight.
“ With plans for Carolina North
- looming in the future, the tract is
* once again making local history.
And if N.C. Area Health
~ Education Centers program is
* relocated to the Raleigh-Durham
International Airport, anew chap
ter might begin in the story of the
site's history.
Doug Eyre, a former University
professor and local historian, said
the airport began as Martindale
Field when Charlie Martindale,
a local builder, purchased the 50
acre tract from Horace Williams
in 1928.
% At the onset of World War 11,
|snilitary preparedness was rec-
Jjrgnized as a necessity, and thus
GRADUATION
UTROM PAGE 1
f?an catapult you to greatness. Your
J -fulfillment extends far beyond your
person and into your community.”
|| Peter Gomes, professor and chap
- lain of Harvard University, parlayed
?these insights in his commencement
"'speech, “The End is Where We Start
* From,” beginning with his thoughts
- §mi public higher education.
*•' “(N.C. citizens) have invested in
you, as they have over 200 years,
Z presumably because they believe
Z that an educated citizenry is a good
* citizenry that education and vir
tue somehow go together,” he said.
Chancellor James Moeser said
1 this year’s class is equipped to
! show this noting the resilience
and strength the undergraduate
Cgroup displayed after the Sept.
11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which
occurred early during the gradu
ates’ freshman year.
; “Asa class they have gone
through the changes our coun
try has experienced, and they are
ready to enter a world that today
far less certain and much
more dangerous than it did (before
the attacks),” he said.
•* But the core of Gomes’ address
; daid in three pieces of advice,
i. With a voice only to come from
a life lived at the pulpit, Gomes
FREE
RENT
YOU COULD LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE
BUT NOBODY WOULD LIKE YOU
SIGN A LEASE NOW AND RECEIVE A
CALL TODAY
r with a twenty-four hour (yeah, that's right, twenty-four hour) computer lab, fitness center, ~
and game room, resort-style swimming pool, sand volleyball court, and basketball court"
it's almost like spring break all over again. Why would you want to live anywhere else?
the \7G-fG6 s.^SpelhTr l^
MANAGED BY RAM PARTNERS LLC 919-419-0440
WWW.VERGEAPARTMENTS.COM
| VOTED #1 PLACE TO LIVE BY UNC STUDENTS
a joint effort between UNC-CH,
N.C. State University and Duke
University was launched to build
an airport and encourage training
of civilian pilots, he said.
The 50-acre tract was purchased
by the University from Martindale,
and Williams willed his remaining
land which totaled close to 1,000
acres to the school.
“He wrote in his will that he
hoped the University would hold
his property instead of selling it,”
stated an article in the Chapel Hill
Weekly ffom Dec. 20,1940.
The airport, renamed the Horace
Williams Airport, became the sec
ond in the state to be formally rec
ognized by the federal government,
Eyre said, adding that it was also
the largest university-owned air
port in the United States.
“After the war, there was a big
interest in small aircraft owner
ship,” he said.
encouraged the new graduates to
cherish their failures.
“Cherish the things that have
not gone right for you,” he said.
“Why? Because my sense is that
most of us learn more from our
failures than our successes.”
The divinity scholar said con
sidering failures allows for reflec
tion. “Those are the occasions that
invite the kind of inner reflection
for which your education in this
great place has prepared you.”
Gomes also told the young adults
to redefine personal success. He said
he hopes they will do something
not because they are good at it or
because it pays well but because it
is worth doing.
Finally, acknowledging the
laughter and chattering from the
end zone where undergraduates
sat, Gomes said, “I want to suggest
that you all try a little happiness.”
“My advice to you is toss your balls
while you can,” he said as the beach
balls popped back into the air.
“But all of your life has been a
mere prelude to the day after tomor
row,” Gomes said. “The day after
tomorrow it will hit you. You are no
longer a candidate for anything.
“Life has hit you full on and, by
God, you better live it or die.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
future uncertain
Out of that interest grew a small
commercial airport, and the Chapel
Hill Flying Club emerged providing
flying lessons and aircraft rental,
Eyre said.
As the town grew, so did fears
about the safety of airplanes flying
so close to residential areas.
“Gradually over the ’sos, ’6os
and ’7os in particular, there was
a big boom of suburban growth,”
Eyre said.
He explained that while the air
port once sat in isolation, it was
now in the midst of neighborhoods
and the relocated Chapel Hill High
School.
In April 2001, a member of the
Chapel Hill Flying Club was forced
to make an emergency landing at
the airport.
Two wereinvolved in the crash,
but no injuries were sustained.
According to an April 26, 2001
Daily Tkr Heel article, the airport
saw five crashes in three years.
“Some residents living nearby
the airport see the risk of another
MURDER
FROM PAGE 1
focus on our students.”
Students also met in their advi
sory classrooms Tuesday, where
they were given information about
the situation in an effort to keep all
the students on the same page and
reduce the spread of rumors.
“One of our goals in working
with our students is to reduce
speculation,” Holdsworth said.
The Chapel Hill Police
Department also has taken an
active role in communicating with
those close to the family.
After the bodies were found
Saturday, the crisis staff spoke
UNC SYSTEM
FROM PAGE 1
reportedly added after two weeks
of communication between UNC
CH lobbyists and the offices of
Senate President Pro Tern Marc
Basnight and Sen. Tony Rand, D-
Cumberland.
The senators’ staffs asked UNC
CH officials for feedback on drafts
of the proposal.
System officials first heard of the
provision long after UNC-CH offi
cials entered talks with the sena
tors. “It certainly was disappoint-
News
crash, especially a more destruc
tive one, as a cause for alarm,” the
article stated.
Asa result, the Chapel Hill
Flying Club was evicted from the
facility. Since then, AHEC has been
the only group to utilize the airport,
Eyre said.
AHEC continues to use the air
port to fly its six planes.
The program, which began in
the 19705, aims to impact the avail
ability of health care in the state
especially in more rural areas, said
AHEC director Tom Bacon.
A resolution in the state budget
would allow the University to close
the airport if AHEC is relocated to
the Raleigh-Durham International
Airport.
Concrete plans for Carolina
North, the University’s proposed
satellite campus, will remain
uncertain until the fate of the air
port is decided.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
with family members and notified
the next of kin, he said. The police
also have worked with officials in
the school to prepare for the stu
dents’ return.
As the school continues to
heal, Jarvies said police officials
will work to piece together what
might have sparked the incident.
Investigators are now focused on
establishing a time line for the
events leading up to and following
the shooting, he said.
This is the first homicide in
Chapel Hill since Demarcus Smith
was killed last June.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
ing,” said system President Molly
Broad of UNC-CH’s closed-door
communication with legislative
leaders.
Some board members men
tioned Friday the possibility of dif
ferentiated tuition plans for each
system school, recognizing that
schools such as UNC-CH and N.C.
State might have special needs.
Opponents of the Senate pro
vision hope distinction in tuition
decisions might make legislative
interference superfluous.
“Carolina is not trying to get out
of the system,” said BOG mem
ber Anne Cates. “I think the word
is frustration. Remember these
research universities, their govern
ment funds are being cut.”
The BOG also approved Friday a
motion against another last-minute
addition to the Senate’s budget that
would allow out-of-state students
with full scholarships to a system
school to be counted as in-state
students.
This would allow system schools
to admit more out-of-state students
than the 18 percent cap provides.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Mn. CIHTin. ...H. • CH...L Hill hh.U
ATTENTION
MUSIC
LOVERS!
Major Label
recruiting college Reps
to start Fall 05.
Go to
www.collegerepapplication.com
to apply.
Officials say provision
doesn’t usurp system
BY JOSEPH R. SCHWARTZ
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Despite a public outcry about a
provision in the state budget that
would grant tuition autonomy to
UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State
University, officials maintain that
the move would not be destructive
to either the UNC system or tuition
debates.
Records indicate that UNC-CH
officials traded e-mails with Senate
leaders and reviewed the provision
line by line before it reached the
Senate floor.
Even so, Chancellor James Moeser
has declined to take a stance on the
provision and officials have main
tained that they looked at the legis
lation at the request of senators.
Both Moeser and Provost Robert
Shelton said allowing the UNC
Board of Trustees to set tuition
would not change the process.
“If that provision were to be
passed, I’m confident that the
Board of Trustees would exercise a
very responsible policy with regard
to tuition,” said Moeser.
Although he said the Board of
Governors would do the same, he
did say the body historically has
been more reluctant to improve
increases.
The reluctance was highlighted
this year when Brad Wilson, chair
man of the Board of Governors,
called for a freeze on in-state
tuition.
BOT members, who recom
mended a S2OO hike for in-state
students, expressed frustration
when the request was denied.
Moeser reiterated the concern
to UNC-system President Molly
Broad in an e-mail in April, alert
AIRPORT
FROM PAGE 1
Moeser’s wish would mean.
Members of the Aircraft Owners
and Pilots Association, based in
Maryland, have been e-mailing
Moeser protesting the potential
closing.
The group has almost 10,000
North Carolina members and has
been effective in lobbying state
officials to keep to airport open in
the past.
Despite these efforts, UNC offi
cials are wasting little time in mov
ing forward with Carolina North
discussions.
The provision puts a greater
spotlight on next Thursday’s Board
of Trustees meeting at which offi
cials will outline plans for Carolina
North for the first time in months.
Waldrop said he expects the
presentation to focus on the
importance of the development,
namely the need for space and the
ability to partner with companies
and boost the state economy.
The airport will be another key
topic of discussion.
Moeser said the group will
examine potential sites for the air
Shp SoiUj (Bar
ing her of the provision.
“As you know, there was wide
spread consternation on the BOT
over the decision of the BOG to
disregard the campus process and
BOT recommendation on tuition,”
he wrote.
Senate Majority Leader Tony
Rand, D-Cumberland, said claims
that the system would be irrevo
cably harmed if the provision is
passed are unfounded.
“One size does not fit all,” he said.
“I think trustees are the people
closest to the needs of the campus
and also closest to the feelings of
the students.”
Even if the trustees are granted
the final say, the BOG still would
have influence as they appoint eight
of the 12 members of the board.
Shelton said he feels strongly
that the system wouldn’t be dam
aged if its two major research
universities were granted tuition
freedom.
“Not everyone in the system has
to be the same has to be cut ffom
the same mold,” he said.
“In fact I would argue that
means you don’t have a system.”
Moeser and Shelton both
stressed that tuition is only one
component of funding costly
research and that corporate inter
action, outside funding and grants
can bolster efforts.
But the fundamental issue, they
say, is remaining competitive.
“It’s not about how to break up a
system,” Shelton said.
“It’s about how to fund research
universities.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
port and planners will explain the
entire process to the trustees.
Moeser said it took almost an
hour and a half for consultants to
show him their most recent work.
“This is going to be an intense
downloading of information and
discussion,” he said, noting that
trustees will be shown the “guts
and feathers.”
“I don’t think our board will
even be able to digest it fully in one
board meeting.”
The board is not scheduled to
take any action on the develop
ment at the meeting.
With the airport situation
becoming much clearer, Moeser
and Waldrop said it’s time to focus
on selling the concept for Carolina
North to the public.
“We can’t even get to first base
if we don’t make that fundamental
argument,” Moeser said.
Several questions still must be
ironed out before any construction.
Waldrop said the next key com
ponent is focusing on complex
zoning questions for the tract as
well as transportation issues.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.