VOLUME 113, ISSUE 74
Construction worker dies in accident
Death is second in three months
BY JENNY RUBY
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
A Hillsborough man was killed
early Thursday morning while
working near a campus construc
tion site.
According to University police
reports, David Roy Phillips, 58, an
employee of Chandler Concrete in
Burlington, parked his concrete
truck in the left lane of Pittsboro
“It’ll be a widespread area of tropical storm and hurricane-force winds.
I think it’s a pretty comprehensive threat.” rick smith, meteorologist
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THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS/ERICH SCHLEGEL
Mario Williams, 15, holds sisters DeShonna and Dazyre as they fill up with gas before heading to Victoria, Texas, to escape Hurricane Rita.
RITA MAKES APPROACH
BY ERIC JOHNSON
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Roadways along the Gulf Coast were jammed once
again Thursday as the second major hurricane in
less than a month forced evacuations from coastal
Texas and Louisiana.
The outermost bands of Hurricane Rita were brushing
the coast of Louisiana by Thursday afternoon as the massive
storm moved across the Gulf.
Forecasters expect Rita to make landfall early Saturday
morning somewhere between Galveston, Texas, and the Texas-
Louisiana border, and the storm isn’t likely to shift course.
Tuition policy gets green light
BY BRIAN HUDSON
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
The University’s Board of Trustees moved
forward Thursday on a plan to allow out-of
state students attending UNC-Chapel Hill on
full scholarships to pay in-state tuition rates.
In a unanimous vote, the trustees deferred
authority in implementing the campus’s
tuition plan to Chancellor James Moeser.
The resolution further mandates that
Moeser will report to the board annually
about the students who would benefit from
the program.
Opponents of the tuition policy say the
provision could allow schools to circumvent
the 18 percent cap on out-of-state student
enrollment.
But Moeser emphasized that the University
will not enroll fewer students from North
Carolina.
“No North Carolinian will be turned away
CORRECTION
Due to a reporting error,
Wednesday’s front page story,
“Protester’s NCSU visit leads
to campus spat,” incorrectly
identified chairman Adam
Downing as the vice chairman
of the N.C. State University
College Republicans.
The Daily Tar Heel apolo
gizes for the error.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
®lfr Hatty oar Med
Street to check his load.
He did not set the parking brake
or close the driver’s side door. The
truck began to roll backwards, and
the door caught Phillips, dragging
him 65 feet, reports state.
He died shortly after being pinned
between the truck and a fence at
the McCauley Street intersection.
Paramedics made unsuccessful
attempts to resuscitate Phillips,
who otherwise would have
been admitted to this
University,” Moeser said
during the meeting.
The nonresidents on
full scholarship will be
admitted in addition to
the University’s generally
admitted class.
Because the students will
be an unforeseen addition
to UNC-CH’s enrollment
plan, care must be taken
not to overburden the
University, Moeser said.
“This is absolutely critical that we not out
grow our capacity,” Moeser said. “This will be
careful growth.”
The trustees’ resolution was a reaction to a
provision in the N.C. budget that allows UNC
system schools’ boards of trustees to reclassify
online I daihtarheel.com
SOME WELL-NEEDED REST City
schools teachers Thursday morning saw
their first extended planning period
WHAT ELSE WE GOT? County weighs
service options at planned solid waste
center as they relate to land buffers
www.dallytarheel.com
who had worked with the company
for nine and a half years.
“Obviously, it’s a very sad day
for our company,” said Steve Jones,
director of human resources for
Chandler Concrete. “We’re very
shocked and saddened by the
tragedy.”
Construction on the nearby
Global Education Center came to a
halt Thursday but will resume this
morning, said Bob Beke, construc
tion manager for the center.
The incident occurred less than
“Our confidence is relatively
high with the path we’re look
ing at right now,” said Rick
Smith, a meteorologist for
the National Weather Service
southern regional headquar
ters in Fort Worth, Texas.
The storm is so large that res
idents well outside the storm’s
predicted track can expect to
feel its effects, Smith said.
“It’ll be a widespread area of
tropical storm and hurricane
force winds,” he said. “I think it’s
a pretty comprehensive threat”
Officials in Texas and
Trustees told
Chancellor
James Moeser
to implement
the proposal.
full-scholarship nonresidents as residents.
UNC-CH tuition costs $3,205 for under
graduate residents and $17,003 for under
graduate nonresidents.
The resolution is only the first step in estab
lishing the program, Moeser said, noting that
finer points will come later.
Now that the groundwork is in place,
enrollment officials will begin to hammer out
those details.
Administrators now are charged with find
ing a funding source for the support the stu
dents will require.
Based on this year’s freshmen class, officials
anticipate about 100 students will qualify for
the program next year, said Jerry Lucido, vice
provost for admissions and enrollment man
agement.
The policy will aid programs such as
SEE RESOLUTION, PAGE 4
city | page 6
PASSING OF A LEGEND
Former Town Council member
Joe Straley died Thursday at
N.C. Memorial Hospital. The
longtime Orange County
political activist was 90.
two months after the death of a
construction worker at the north
east chiller plant and parking
deck construction site, near Cobb
Residence Hall.
On Aug. 13, a man operating a
bulldozer at the site was spreading
fill material against one of the new
foundation walls when he backed
into another worker, killing him,
said Bruce Runberg, associate vice
chancellor for planning and con
struction.
Beke said the two fatalities are
Louisiana have given every
indication that they are tak
ing the threat seriously.
A massive evacuation
is under way from coastal
communities in Texas and
southwestern Louisiana as
hundreds of thousands of res
idents heed the call to evacu
ate inland. Highways leading
out of Houston were accept
ing only northbound traffic as
of Thursday afternoon, with
southbound lanes opened up
SEE RITA, PAGE 4
~,
not the indication of a trend.
“It’s just a coincidence,” he said.
“If you look back at all the con
struction on campus, you’re not
going to find many of these inci
dences. It’s not anything that I see
as a pattern.”
Jones said Chandler Concrete
and others are in the process of
investigating Thursday’s incident.
“Obviously, we are very con
cerned, and we want to know what
SEE ACCIDENT, PAGE 4
HURRICANE
KATRINA:
THE AFTERMATH
HOWTO HELP
The Red Cross
seeks volunteers and
donations. E-mail
occhapnc@intrex.net
for more info.
The Center for
Public Service
has full listings of
ways to help online at
www.unc.edu/cps.
FUNDRAISERS
Supplies fundraiser
The DTH will be in
the Pit from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. collecting new
socks and underwear;
w’e also have a drop
off box in Union Suite
2409, to collect sup
plies for areas in need.
We will continue until
the end of the month.
LOCAL EVENTS
Taste of relief
UNC’s Association for
India’s Development
will hold a food sale.
Tickets are $5.
Monday, the Pit
MULTIMEDIA
For a photo
slideshow of
the DTH’s
coverage from
I nnkiana and
LGBTQ. community
says change is needed
BY LINDSAY MICHEL
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
UNC’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Queer commu
nity is seemingly always in a state
of change.
After shock waves were sent
through the community by a hate
crime on a gay UNC student last
year, many were able to find stabil
ity in the LGBTQ Office.
But once again, the community is
forced to search for solid ground.
Stephanie Chang, former LGBTQ
Office coordinator, left UNC in early
September for a similar position at
the University of Califomia-Irvine.
And as officials reassess the
office’s programs and leadership,
Sports | page 9
AFTERNOON DELIGHT
North Carolina faces off
against N.C. State this
Saturday in perhaps the
biggest game of the season
for either of the ACC rivals.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
Work fatalities
Of the two deaths reported in
Orange County during the current
fiscal year, both occurred at UNC
construction sites.
ini’ t •
Reported in 0 0 2
Orange County
Construction- i 7 o 7
related 11 1
SOURCE: OSHA DTH/BOBBY SWEATT
Judge
sent on
to full
Senate
Roberts approved
13-5 by Judiciary
BY KRISTIN PRATT
STAFF WRITER
The Senate Judiciary Committee
voted 13 to 5 Thursday to approve
Judge John Roberts’ nomination as
chief justice of the United States,
a move experts said was generally
expected.
“They all knew from the begin-
ning that, in
the absence of
a smoking gun,
he would be
confirmed,” said
Jesse Choper,
professor of
public law at
the University
of California-
Berkeley
A vote by the
full Senate is
scheduled for
Monday, and
analysts said
John Roberts
was endorsed
by the Senate
Judiciary
Committee.
the body’s Republican majority
should ensure an easy approval
for Roberts.
Choper said Democrats will not
filibuster the nomination because
they realize a Republican majority
might attempt to ban the practice
and give the nod to Roberts any
way.
“The show was a prelude to the
inevitable that’s a yes vote,” said
Artemus Ward, professor of politi
cal science at Northern Illinois
University.
SEE ROBERTS, PAGE 4
some students say a re-evaluation
of the LGBTQ climate is in order.
The Princeton Review recently
published a list of campuses that
are most LGBTQ-accepting. UNC
didn’t make it into the top 20.
Tommy Rimbach, co-chair
man of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
Transgender-Straight Alliance,
said he thinks UNC has become
less welcoming to LGBTQ students
during his three years on campus.
“I’ve seen the classroom envi
ronment change into a place where
queer students are not afforded
the opportunity to safely be in
the classroom especially when
SEE CHANGES, PAGE 4
weather
Q
index
police log 2
calendar 2
crossword 6
sports 9
edit 10