2
THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2005
‘Project’ gives students a taste of UNC life
Encourages minorities to seek degrees
BY BECCA MOORE
SUMMER EDITOR
If you noticed a mass of high
school students on campus last
week and thought that it seemed a
bit early for C-TOPS to be kicking
off, you were right.
The students were participating
in a different kind of orientation
program— Project Uplift. Open
to high school juniors but focuses
on minorities, Project Uplift moti
vates students to pursue higher
education.
The all-expense-paid program
lasts two days and is packed with
educational and cultural events
that help to introduce students to
academics and social life on a col
lege campus.
Project Uplift was started in 1968
as a grass-roots effort by two stu
dents that felt the University wasn’t
targeting minority recruitment,
said Terri Houston, the director of
recruitment and support services for
the Office of Minority Affairs.
Houston said students who are
in the top 25 percent of their class
are nominated by their high school
Summer series heating up
Weekly festival
to launch June 15
BY BRIANNA BISHOP
CITY EDITOR
Locals looking for ways to pass
the time during the dog days of
summer soon will have a place to
go for music and entertainment
every Wednesday.
Beginning June 15, the Chapel
Hill Downtown Economic
Development Corporation will
host the Summer Concert and
Movie Festival every week at
McCorkle Place.
Movies will be shown June
15 and 29 and July 13 and 27.
Concerts will be hosted June 22,
July 3 and 20 and August 3.
A final concert will be held
August 13 at Hargraves Center.
The corporation hired a local
planner, Mary & Parrish Events,
to organize the programs.
Co-founder Mary Lindsley said
her firm decided to plan the event
because it agreed with the vision of
the corporation.
“We like the mission of the
organization, and we like the cel
ebration of the community getting
together,” Lindsley said.
With an estimated budget of
about $24,000, the company has
started to tentatively plan each
night.
“The Incredibles,” “Bend it Like
Beckham,” “Spirited Away” and
“Hitch” are four possible movie
selections.
Several local bands currently
Healthy Mexl
Always Fresh, Juicy, Big & Healthy
Cosmic Cantina: Party Fuel
MENU SAMPLING:
various menu items. $2
old school veggie burrito. 2
veggie burrito deluxe. 4
chicken burrito. 5
quesadilla 3
chicken quesadilla. 4
...and more plus...
all mexicait beers $2
HAITI. HILL: <)(><)- vr>")
litjlil across the slnvi
11 ■ I
i will].
DUKHAN:
on ( )th street ami jy l
GUARANTEED OPEN UNTIL 4am '
guidance counselors to participate in
the program. 1,200 have registered
to come to UNC for one of four ses
sions, which is up from about 1,000
last summer. “It’s been a very suc
cessful program, and we’re pleased
with the response,” she said.
Project Uplift is a unique oppor
tunity for high school students
that thrives on the participation
of dedicated UNC students.
Ada Wilson, a UNC senior and
Project Uplift coordinator, said she
runs the sessions with the help of a
staff of 50 to 55 student volunteers.
“The strong undergraduate
student influence says a lot about
Carolina,” Houston said.
Speaking on last weekend’s
session, Wilson said the students
learned vital information about
financial aid, academics and
campus life.
“They got a taste of Carolina,
and that lets them know that
they should pursue college as an
option,” she said.
“It’s a group of students eager to
learn and find out more about col
lege the academic classes, espe-
are being contracted for availabil
ity and fees: Liquid Pleasure, Lo-
K-Shun, Armand and Bluesology
and The Old Ceremony. Liquid
Pleasure will likely perform at the
final concert in August.
Lindsley said the firm tried to
find bands that have a draw in
Chapel Hill. Contracts for the
bands will be completed once the
budget is finalized.
To raise the necessary budget,
the corporation currently is look
ing for sponsors.
So far, more than $6,700 has
been raised, and according to a
report from the planners, if all
interested groups commit, the
corporation will have raised more
than $14,000.
“We need sponsors from wher
ever we can get them,” said Tom
Tucker, a corporation member and
chairman of the Summer Events
Advisory Committee.
Unlike previous years, which
have been hosted by the Downtown
Commission, both the concerts and
movies will be shown at McCorkle
Place.
During past summers, movies
have been shown on top of the
Wallace parking deck, located on
Rosemary Street.
Lindsley said showing the
movies at McCorkle Place rath
er than the parking deck would
provide a better atmosphere for
families.
The location will allow groups
to bring picnics and will provide
a nice space to enjoy the summer
evenings, she said.
Lindsley said every Wednesday
dally. It gets them closer to reaching
their academic goals and lets them
know they have what it takes.”
Nathan Alexander, a UNC junior,
said this summer will be his second
with Project Uplift. As the Social
Committee chair, he said since the
students spend the majority of the
day involved with academic pro
grams, it’s the goal of the committee
to help them relax in the evening.
“We show the participants a
good time an experience beyond
just the academic.”
Alexander said the sessions
include a staff talent show on
Thursday night, followed by a
party on Friday that includes an
Apollo-style performance show for
students that are willing to show
case their talents.
The goal of the program is to
show high school students that
they can pursue a college education
even if they’ve felt in the past that it
wasn’t an option.
“We don’t want them to just
say, ‘Carolina is the best, go to
Carolina,’” Alexander said. “We just
want them to go to college.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
“We like the mission
of the organization,
and ...the celebra
tion of the commu
nity getting together.”
MARY LINDSLEY, LOCAL PLANNER
evening show will be suited for
children and families.
“It is family oriented for sure,”
she said.
Tucker said the shows will have
something for everyone, and he
hopes the evenings will attract
everyone from families to students
to merchants. “We want to get
everyone involved.”
The advisory committee peti
tioned the Chapel Hill Town
Council to change an ordinance so
that beer and wine could be sold at
the series.
After the council approved the
change last month, the committee
has decided to move plans forward
without alcohol sales.
Tucker said there were too
many logistics to be worked out
in a short amount of time, but the
committee will possibly consider
allowing alcohol consumption
during future summer concert
series.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
(jltjp Soily ®ar Hrrl
P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Becca Moore, Editor, 962-4086
Advertising & Business, 962-1163
News, Features, Sports, 962-0245
One copy per person; additional copies may be
purchased at The Daily Tar Heel for $.25 each.
© 2005 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved
Everything’s
on Sale!
It happens only once a year... and only at
A Southern Season. Yes, absolutely everything
in our Chapel Hill store is marked down to move.
Enjoy mouthwatering savings on all wines, teas,
chocolates, coffees, gift baskets, cheeses, nuts, and
gourmet groceries—plus every pot, plate, gadget,
and gizmo. Before inventory time, it’s ail gotta go!
Now through July 3rd, while supplies last.
Not valid for previous purchases.
A Southern Season-
UNIVERSITY MALL • 201 S. ESTES DR. • CHAPEL HILL
919 _ 929'7133 • www.southernseason.com
News
J M. L iSI m HI
&£ fe'llLuEi
DTH/ISAAC SANDLIN
UNC sophomore Kevin Fletcher (left), a Project Uplift student leader, talks with high school junior Nick Thomas
about campus life during a tour on Friday. The program is designed to help students pursue higher education.
House to debate capital
punishment moratorium
BY WHITNEY ISENHOWER
STAFF WRITER
Those on North Carolina’s death
row could gain anew breath of life
they’ve been hoping for.
A House committee gave a favor
able report to a bill proposing to
suspend all N.C. executions for two
years with a vote of 8-6 Tuesday.
The bill would halt executions so
the state’s death penalty system can
be studied.
Committee members argued the
pros and cons of the moratorium
before it could be put up for a vote
in the House. To move forward dur
ing this session, the bill must have
passed the House by the crossover
deadline today.
Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange,
one of the bill’s primary sponsors
and chairman of the committee,
said legislators should be concerned
about saving lives.
“If our system has produced inno
cent people getting convicted and
some of them are on death row, the
question is, “What are we going to do
about it?’” he said. “The answer as
legislators shouldn’t be, ‘Nothing.’”
Proponents of the bill also said it
could help straighten out a broken
N.C. death penalty system.
“The system is not fair,” said Rep.
Verla Insko, D-Orange, a bill spon
sor. “One of the greatest American
ideals is that everybody be created
equal under the law. We’re not
doing that.”
But some of the bill’s opponents
say they do not see the benefits of
anew study.
“There are studies all the time,”
said Rep. J. Russell Capps, R-Wake.
“We don’t need a moratorium.”
Though moratorium legislation
“I don’t want to see anybody sitting on
death row as I was. It’s really disgusting
because with death, it’s final.”
ALAN GELL, acquitted death row inmate
has come up before in the N.C.
Senate it approved a morato
rium in 2003 the House has
never passed the measure.
Sen. Elbe Kinnaird, D-Orange,
said passage in the House could
give the moratorium and accom
panying study the push it needs.
“Without the authority of the
General Assembly, we’re never
going to convince people there’s a
problem,” she said.
Though organizations such as
the N.C. Fair Trial Initiative and
N.C. Coalition for a Moratorium
often conduct such studies, Insko
said a time limit could push legis
lators to conduct a more finalized,
cohesive study.
“If we had a moratorium, every
body would be pushing to get a lot
done in those two years,” she said.
Issues such as racial disparities
in death penalty sentences and
the conviction of innocent North
Carolinians have spurred the mor
atorium movement.
“We would’ve had two people
dead this year who didn’t commit
the crimes,” Kinnaird said.
Darryl Hunt and Alan Gell,
were released from their sentences
in February 2004. Hunt was con
victed of the 1984 rape and killing
of Deborah Sykes, but a DNA test
helped prove his innocence.
Gell was awarded anew trial
after a judge said the N.C. Attorney
Over 80,000 Gourmet Products on Sale, Including:
French Brie $3.99 lb
Fabiano Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1-Liter $6.99 ea
Tip of the Andes 1 -lb Buy One Get One Free
Vietri Everything (special orders, too!) 20-75% OFF
River Road Chardonnay ’O3 $7.60 ea
Belgian Chocolate Petites 50% OFF
Reggiano Parmesan $11.95 lb
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Tin 50% OFF
Brianna’s Salad Dressings $2.99 ea
Petite Bundt Cakes 50% OFF
Vanilla Cream Coffee 1-lb $4.97 ib
Smoked NC Turkeys and Turkey Breasts 30% OFF
Markham Sauvignon Blanc ’O3 $10.99 ea
NC and Tar Heel Shaped Cutting Boards 50% OFF
Prosciutto di Parma $16.95 Ib
Hundreds of Spices 20-90% OFF
Norman Zinfandel ’O3 $9.99 ea
Roasted NC Pecans 50% OFF
Decaf Moka Java ...$6.99 Ib
Hundreds of Loose Leaf Teas 15-50% OFF
Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ’Ol $6.50 ea
Savory Harvest Sesame Crackers ..$0.75 ea
Thousands of Gourmet Gift Baskets ....20-75% OFF
Macaw Creek Shiraz ’Ol $5.99 ea
Monumental Chocolate Truffle Assortment ~50% OFF
Riedel Ouverture Wine Glasses $4.99 ea
Dozens of Cheese Dips & Spreads 15-40% OFF
Italian Penne & Farfalle Pasta 1-lb $0.99 ea
Carolina Cupboard Preserves 10-oz 50% OFF
4-year-old Balsamic Vinegar 17-oz $2.99 ea
Qlljr laihj ®ar Hwl
General’s office had withheld evi
dence from the 1995 trial for the
murder of Allen Ray Jenkins. Gell
attended the committee meeting
Tuesday to push for its passage.
“I don’t want to see anybody sit
ting on death row as I was,” he said
afterward. “It’s really disgusting
because with death, it’s final.”
Despite supporters’ claims to
the contrary, some bill opponents
maintain that a moratorium is a
veiled attempt to abolish the death
penalty.
Rep. Debbie Clary, R-Cleveland,
questioned why the bill’s supporters
didn’t simply conduct a study while
trying to pass the legislation.
“Why in the name of God have
you not been studying instead of
lobbying?” she asked.
“I think the approach here spells
out the ultimate goal, and that is to
abolish the death penalty.”
But bill proponents said they
want to fix a flawed system, and
saving the lives of innocent people
should be the main concern.
Rep. W. Pete Cunningham, D-
Mecklenburg, said opponents don’t
have their priorities in order.
“If we’re first in flight, that’s
alright, but when it comes to
human beings we’re not really that
concerned.”
Contact the State £2 National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.