VOLUME 113, ISSUE 77
BREAKING NEWS
December commencement
speaker revealed
It was discovered Tuesday that the fall
Commencement speaker will be Etta
Pisano, a radiology and biomedical
engineering professor at UNC.
Pisano also is director the University’s
Biomedical Research Imaging Center.
She recently received national attention
for her work in breast cancer research.
EITA PISANO
recently authored an article
on digital mammography
For the full story read
Thursday’s edition
of the Daily Tar Heel.
Tuition
talks to
involve
students
BY BRIAN HUDSON
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
As the Tuition Advisory Task
Force moves closer to drafting
a proposal for a campus-based
tuition increase, Student Body
President Seth Dearmin has taken
steps to directly involve his con
stituents in the process.
Student leaders will host a
forum at 8
p.m. Thursday
in Murphey
116 in an effort
to gauge the
student body’s
opinions on
tuition.
IF YOU GO
Date: Wed.
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location:
Bynum 104
Dearmin, who co-chairs the
tuition task force, said he hopes
the forum will familiarize students
with the progress made thus far in
tuition talks.
“More or less there’s a huge dis
connect between what members
of the task force have and what
your average students get to see,”
he said.
During the last three meet
ings task force members have
overwhelmingly agreed that the
campus is in need of the revenue a
tuition increase would bring.
Dearmin said he will relay that
sentiment to students that
tuition increases might be neces
sary to maintain UNC’s academic
excellence.
But he acknowledged that he
faces a potential conflict if an
overwhelming number of students
speak out against any campus
based tuition increases.
Asa representative of the stu
dent voice, he said he must reflect
student opinions.
But he added that he also is
SEE TUITION, PAGE 4
International TAs navigate the language barrier
In 2004 UNC had 968 international graduate students with most coming from Asia. Students in classes taught by TAs that do
not speak fluent English say that this creates a communication barrier that hinders the educational process.
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Online I dailytarheel.com
MORE THAN A SIMPLE CASE WHO
official warns of a rise in avian flu cases
ONE BIG DONATION The School of
Public Health presents $12,670 for relief
MA, LOOK WHAT I GOT Annual N.C.
report card friendly toward early education
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
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BROWN PASSES BUCK
FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR BLAMES LOUISIANA OFFICIALS
BY SETH PEAVEY
STAFF WRITER
Michael Brown, the former director
of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency who resigned in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina, shifted blame to local
and state officials while testifying before a
Congressional panel Tuesday.
He told the Republican-led special
House Committee that he made two
mistakes in responding to the storm:
not setting up a system of media brief
ings and being unable to persuade La.
Governor Kathleen Blanco and New
Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to coordinate
their responses.
“We were prepared but overwhelmed,”
Brown said.
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Mulbeny Silks and Fine Fabrics, a locally owned
store in Carrboro, works to retain a loyal clien
tele by offering sewing classes and encouraging
a lively communal atmosphere. Here, Nancy Quaintance
(back left) looks on as Maggie Simmons (front left) mea-
Campus takes baby steps
Officials start to
address diversity
BY ERIN ZUREICK
STAFF WRITER
Almost a year after a task force
met to assess the state of diversity
at UNC, University officials are
taking steps to create a campus
wide diversity plan.
Officials charged with over
seeing the changes say they are
gradually taking steps to imple
ment recommendations issued
campus I page 2
I CAN'T ACCEPT
The University task force on
donor regulation, formed in
response to a contentious gift
for Western culture studies,
meets for the first time.
www.dailytarheel.com
He also said his biggest mistake was fail
ing to realize soon enough that Louisiana
was “dysfunctional.”
Citing the need for an independent
commission and questioning the loyal
ties of congressional Republicans running
Tuesday’s hearing, the Democratic leader
ship refused to name any members to the
committee.
“Michael Brown’s appearance before the
sham committee proves that Republicans
are adept at staging photo opportunities,
not meaningful and rigorous oversight
of the Bush administration,” said House
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
in a press release.
Not all Democrats, however, boycot
ted the hearings. Reps. William Jefferson,
STICKING TOGETHER
last spring by the Chancellor’s
Task Force on Diversity.
Recommendations included set
ting a clearer definition of diversity,
promoting educational opportuni
ties and recruiting and retaining a
diverse faculty and student body.
An ad hoc committee will meet
soon to begin to refine priorities,
said Archie Ervin, associate pro
vost of the Office of Diversity and
Multicultural Affairs who served
as chairman of the task force.
“For each of the priorities
identified, we’ll ask this commit
tee of faculty and staff to develop
City | page 5
WOOING VOTERS
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board
of Education candidates are
grilled by area voters on
perennial issues such as the
minority achievement gap.
sures fabric with co-owner Cathy Heaton (front center).
Nancy Jackson (back right) and Peggy Abrams also dis
cuss fabric needs. The area chamber of commerce wants
to help small stores such as Mulberry through its “buy
local” campaign. Visit dailytarheel.com for the full story.
goals.,” Ervin said.
He said he hopes the commit
tee will conclude its work by the
end of the fall semester.
Once completed, a proposal will
outline a system for monitoring
and reporting the state of diversity
at UNC on a yearly basis.
And student leaders say they
are eagerly awaiting the much
needed reform.
“I still see certain cliques,” said
Emery Chen, president of the
Asian Students Association.
SEE DIVERSITY, PAGE 4
Lessons often lost in translation
Students can’t always understand TAs
BY ADAM RODMAN
STAFF WRITER
Senior chemistry major Bryan
Corey learned about international
communication the hard way in one
of his upper-level math classes.
His professor, an Asian gradu
ate student, had some communi
cation issues, to say the least.
“She had no concept of the
English language,” Corey says.
Corey managed to get a B,
though he says he thinks he would
have scored higher if some ideas
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2005
D-La., and Gene Taylor, D-Miss., both
showed up Tuesday to question Brown.
Lawmakers from both parties asked
Brown tough questions about FEMA’s
logistical and communication failures,
while the two Democrats disputed Brown’s
claims that state and local officials primar
ily were to blame.
The Republican-dominated committee
is markedly different from the indepen
dent bipartisan commission established
following Sept. 11.
Democrats had called for a similar com
mission to be established after Hurricane
Katrina.
“A Republican committee will go out
SEE HEARING, PAGE 4
DTH/SCARLETT MILLER
UNC diversity assessment
University officials are taking steps to create a campuswide diversity plan after
conducting a diversity survey of about 1,400 students and 400 faculty in February.
Students ■ Agree ■ Neutral Disagree Faculty ■ Agree ■ Neutral ■ Disagree
committed ;
to creating an
environment that
welcomes
diversity.
UNC adequately
addresses campus H
incidents that
might involve
racism.
UNC adequately ■■■■■■■■ ’White area
add "** denotes an
campus Incidents answer of
that involve | • not sure
homophobia.
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PERCENT
SOURCE: CHANCEUOR'S TASK FORCE ON DIVERSITY DTH/FEILDING CAGE
could have been explained better.
“She was very intelligent, but it’s
hard to teach when you don’t speak
the native language,” he says.
The number of international
graduate students at UNC has
been growing recently, and cam
pus officials have started taking
steps to ensure experiences like
Corey’s disappear.
Seventeen percent of America’s
1.4 million graduate students are
from other countries. In fields
like engineering, they make up
sports I page 8
ONWARD AND UPWARD
While the defense only
allowed 13 yards to N.C. State
last weekend, UNC will see
a different type of offense in
Utah this Saturday.
HURRICANE
RELIEF:
HOW TO HELP
The Red Cross seeks
volunteers and donations.
E-mail occhapnc@
intrex.net for more info.
Supplies fundraiser
The DTH is collecting new
socks and underwear for
victims in areas affected
by hurricanes Katrina and
Rita; bring them to the
dropbox in our office, in
Union Suite 2409.
Locals
combat
military
pitches
BY PAUL KIERNAN
STAFF WRITER
A clause in the No Child Left
Behind Act requiring high schools
to give military recruiters access to
students’ contact information has
brought little change to the way
N.C. school systems interact with
recruiters.
But in Chapel
Hill-Carrboro
City Schools, the
provision has
some parents
worried.
The infor-
ONLINE
Harvard allows
recruiters back
under threat of
funding loss
mation, which most schools have
provided to recruiters and colleg
es for years, includes a student’s
name, address and phone number.
Parents may contact their child’s
school if they do not want the
information disclosed.
SEE RECRUITMENT, PAGE 4
more than 50 percent of enroll
ment, according to the Council of
Graduate Schools.
In 2004, there were 968 inter
national graduate students at
UNC with 1,331 international stu
dents total, up from 1,047 the year
before, with most coming from
South and East Asia.
“Every international TA or fac
ulty member is aware of the fact
that it’s difficult to communicate
without their native tongue,” says
Ed Neal, the director of faculty
development at the Center for
SEE UNCLEAR, PAGE 4
weather
| vl \ Mostly Sunny
W H 83, L 62
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calendar 2
crossword 5
sports 7
edit 8