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Harold Thomas of St. Augustine's College in Raleigh steps with other
members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity Inc. in Memorial Hall on Thursday.
Greeks strut stuff
at annual contest
BY KATHRYN BALES
STAFF WRITER
Strobe lights, thumping bass,
suggestive gyrations, heated rou
tines and a lot of Greek pride
one thing’s for sure, this isn't your
mom’s step show.
Seven fraternities and sororities
strutted their stuff Thursday night
in this year’s UNC Homecoming
National Pan Hellenic Council
Step show.
First place in the competition was
shared by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
Inc. and Delta Sigma Theta sorority
Inc. Second place went to Phi Beta
Sigma fraternity, Inc. and Zeta Phi
Beta sorority, Inc.
“This was the best show since
I've been here my four years,” said
Chrystal Simmons, a senior.
All the organizations came
together to show people what they
can do.
“It’s a way of expressing,” senior
Danielle Benjamin said. “Black
people are coming together to
express themselves. It’s positive.”
Cheering, singing and dancing
were the orders of the evening.
“Greeks make some noise!” said
Suede, the night’s emcee.
After an opening performance by
Harmonyx, the contest got into full
swing with a dance club atmosphere
taking control between acts.
“We’re going to party,” Suede
said. “But we’re going to party with
peace and harmony.”
Each performance had a central
theme ranging from The Apprentice
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to a wedding reception.
The winning teams had two of
the most crowd-pleasing perfor
mances.
Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity Inc.
dedicated its performance to a
blue-collar cause.
“This step show is dedicated to
the workers at UNC going through
the struggle,” one stepper said
mid-step.
They banged the stage with
trash can lids and brooms and
even included a shoutout to Robert
Moore, who drives the U-route for
Chapel Hill Transit.
“Everybody is somebody,” they
chanted, noting his trademark
phrase.
Delta Sigma Theta sorority Inc.
recreated the scene of a football
halftime show complete with a
marching band and a cheering sec
tion with pom-poms.
An elephant mascot joined the
dancers at one point and danced
despite the hindrance of a massive
trunk.
All the teams had one thing in
common, a great deal of pride in
their Greek tradition.
“It’s about pride in our organiza
tion,” said Michelle Green, a Delta
member who graduated last year.
“Three hundred and sixty-five
days of the year we work on service,
but this is our chance to showcase
what we can do.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
News
Campus groups rally for earthquake victims
BY KATE SULLIVAN
STAFF WRITER
In the time of need for millions
in South Asia, a dozen student
groups have rallied together to
support the victims of the earth
quake that tore through India and
Pakistan last month, leaving more
than 70,000 people dead and 3
million homeless.
The Carolina Earthquake
Relief Coalition has been work
ing to promote awareness and
to raise money for victims of the
tragedy.
CERC was formed off the basis
of last year’s Triangle Tsunami
Relief Coalition which drew
together students from UNC-
UNC receives $4.5 million
to launch research center
BY NICOLE NORFLEET
STAFF WRITER
Campus leaders are taking
another stride toward the goal of
establishing the University as an
international hub for research.
UNC was awarded $4.5 million
by the Environmental Protection
Agency for the five-year devel
opment of the new Carolina
Environmental Bioinformatics
Research Center.
The center will create computa
tional methods and tools to be used
by the EPA and the rest of the sci
ence community.
An equal amount of money has
been awarded to the University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New
Jersey at Piscataway to establish a
similar bioinformatics center.
“It is a little bit different than a
grant that the EPA would give to a
school and then come back five years
later and ask, What did you do?”’ said
Robert Kavlock, the toxicology activ
ities director of the National Center
for Computational Toxicology. “It is
meant to be interactive.”
The centers and the EPA will
exchange information to advance
bioinformatics research.
They will merge computer sci
ence, biology and toxicology to
assess hazardous contaminants
and their effects in the environ
ment.
UNC had to apply to receive
the funds and was reviewed on
its scientific relevance. Both EPA
and campus leaders said they are
Chapel Hill, N.C. State University
and Duke University —and many
of the UNC-CH groups who par
ticipated before have joined forces
again to help the victims of this
natural disaster.
Playing an active role in the
Earthquake Relief Coalition are
groups including Campus Y com
mittees, the Muslim Students
Association, Young Democrats and
Sangam, UNC-CH’s South Asian
awareness organization.
“Essentially the biggest reason
behind (CERC) we saw there
wasn’t a lot of coverage about it
on campus,” said Sid Sheth, chair
man of the Campus Y committee
national organization for college
excited about the choice.
“This is a competitive office,”
Kavlock said. “(The centers) were
picked because they complemented
each other. They had strong but
different strengths.”
Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor
for research and economic devel
opment at UNC, said he is sure the
EPA’s choice of UNC as one of two
recipients of the $9 million EPA
grant was because of “the quality
of the proposal and of the people.”
“(The Bioinformatics Research
Center) is one of those projects that
will help research at the University
and the whole community,” he
said.
The center at UNC will be divid
ed into three research projects and
an administrative unit. The proj
ects will include analysis and devel
opment of biostatistics in compu
tational biology, chem-informatics
and computational infrastructure
for systems toxicology.
The EPA held an information
workshop Wednesday at its main
campus in Research Triangle Park
with representatives from the two
new centers to discuss the grants
and the EPA’s objective with the
centers.
“It was the explosion of technol
ogies in biology that made it neces
sary to do more research,” Kavlock
said. “We are happy to partner with
UNC.”
Contact the University Editor,
at udesk@unc.edu.
unsung
THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IS INVITED
to attend the dedication of the Unsung Founders
Memorial, the senior class gift for 2002.
Featured speakers will include Chancellor James
Moeser and Bernadette Gray-Little, dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences, as well as 2002 senior
class officers Ben Singer, president, and Byron
W ilson, vice president. The student a cappella
ensemble Harmonyx will sing, and refreshments
Will be served. Person Hall will serve as a rain site.
NOVEMBER sth, 2005
10 am
* MdCORKLE PLACE
THE UNIVERSITY
II II 0/'North Carolina
al CHAPEL HILL
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2005
ATTEND THE DANCE
Time: 7 p.m. to midnight
Date: Today
Location: Great Hall
Info: www.unc.edu/~srathie/ceqrc
placement.
Andrew Chen, a member of the
Campus Y’s executive board, said
he was shocked by the number
of people who are unaware about
the earthquake and its devastating
effects.
“The awareness thing is prob
ably the most important,” he said.
“When we ask formoney, we don’t
just ask for money.
“We try to tell them what’s going
on.”
The group is hoping to raise
more money through other planned
fundraising events.
“We’re trying to plan bigger
events for students to come out to,”
Chen said.
The group is sponsoring a tra
ditional Indian Garba dance event
from 7 p.m. to midnight tonight
in the Great Hall of the Student
Union. All proceeds are going to
benefit UNICEF relief efforts.
“The Garba event is our biggest
push to get people to come out,”
Chen said.
The group is hoping that the cul
tural fundraising event will bring
out a diverse group of people.
“We’re starting with dinner,
then we’re having a workshop,”
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said Shailika Shah, president of
Sangam.
She added that there also will be
an Indian band to provide authen
tic music.
“Hopefully that will draw a lot
of people.”
CERC was looking for a different
way to raise money, something that
would not only benefit its cause but
also be fun for students.
Students will have the oppor
tunity to learn and showcase their
Garba skills no partner required.
The night’s events also will include
a short presentation on the earth
quake.
So far, MSA has been the fore
runner in raising money by enlist
ing community groups to adopt
a child orphaned by the earth
quake.
Both the Chapel Hill commu
nity and several campus groups
have taken on the project, donating
SSOO to help support an orphaned
child for a year.
During the past several weeks,
CERC groups have raised more
than $20,000 through commu
nity and student donations, Chen
said.
“All the money we can get is .
useful, especially since all the |
areas affected are poor,” Sheth
said.
Contact the University Editor |
atudesk@unc.edu. .
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