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House to examine land laws
BY SAMUEL LAU
STAFF WRITER
The fallout from the U.S.
Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo
v. City of New London finally has
reached the Tar Heel state.
In response to the June ruling,
N.C. House Speaker Jim Black,
D-Mecklenburg, announced
Wednesday the creation of anew
House committee on eminent
domain powers.
Eminent domain, found in the
Fifth Amendment, traditionally
has allowed the government to take
private lands for public use, such as
new roads or schools, as long as it
provides just compensation to the
previous landowner.
The Supreme Court ruled that
local governments can use econom
ic development as a justification for
condemning or seizing land.
El Centro to town: Mi casa es sn casa
BY ERIC MARTIN
STAFF WRITER
Traveling from room to room,
community members learned
what services were available to the
area’s growing Latino population
Thursday.
The local nonprofit group
El Centro Latino co-hosted an
open house event to celebrate its
recent move to the Inter-Faith
Council building on Main Street
in Carrboro.
Currently headed by interim
executive director Ben Balderas,
El Centro Latino originally was
formed in 2000 to aid the rising
Latino population in Carrboro by
providing free programs such as
English lessons, job networking and
children’s day care facilities.
The group’s move comes on the
heels of what officials said were
hard times involving somewhat
diminishing program funds and
the unexpected resignation of
executive director Tina Siragusa
this summer.
El Centro now shares space with
three other Latino organizations
EI Future, Pa’lante and the IFC’s
Hispanic Outreach program.
Organizers from the groups
showed optimism at the arrival of
El Centro Latino during Thursday’s
open house.
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The new committee, which will
meet in the six months prior to the
start of the spring session in May,
comes on the heels of the U.S.
House passing the Private Property
Rights Protection Act of 2005 in
November.
The bill would take federal funds
away from state and local govern
ments that invoke eminent domain
to seize land for private economic
development.
“It was an alarming ruling,”
said Rep. Wilma Sherrill, R-
Buncombe, who will lead the com
mittee with Rep. Bruce Goforth,
D-Buncombe.
“I for one believe North Carolina
needs to take a very serious look at
its constitution to ensure that peo
ple’s private property rights cannot
be taken away under the guise of
economic development with no
“This is a great opportunity to col
laborate,” Balderas said. “(El Centro
Latino) is in a more visible location,
and we hope to bring in more flow
traffic from people visiting the other
organizations around us.”
This was the first opportunity
the groups had to collaborate on a
project.
“All coordination that’s taken
place has been done for tonight’s
open house,” Balderas said jok
ingly.
As far as further collaboration is
concerned, Balderas said that with
the recent move he has not found
time to plan any future projects
with El Future or Pa’lante.
But Laura Wenzel, director of
the quarterly publication Pa’lante,
said she particularly is interested in
coordinating.
“Pa’lante is in a time of extreme
financial uncertainty,” she said.
“We are looking for funds to
keep the rent here for the next few
months until we can work a pos
sible arrangement with El Centro
Latino.”
But regardless of the organiza
tions’ future plans, Thursday night
provided an opportunity for many
to come together and learn about
what these programs have to offer.
The offices were filled with vol
unteers and community members
just compensation.”
According to a press release
from Black’s office, the committee
specifically will study the effect the
Court’s ruling has on the imple
mentation of eminent domain
within the state and determine
when it should be allowed and
when it should be restricted.
It also will look at whether
property owners are given enough
power to defend their land and if
they are given just compensation
by the government.
The committee’s final job is to
decide whether there need to be
legislative changes made to the
state’s eminent domain laws.
Spencer Parris, partner at
Martin & Jones law firm, which is
part of the North Carolina Land
Law Center, said state residents
don’t need to worry about local
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Juana Delgadillo (left), 6, and Eloisa Sanchez, 5, play at El Centro Latino's
open house gathering, which was held to show the organization's sen/ices.
who came out of appreciation for
the organizations.
Surrounded by children who
regularly attend El Centro Latino’s
after-school program, volunteers
Amy Dietzen and Joanna Long
spoke of how they like to walk
regularly with the children to
Carrboro city parks.
Nancy Letteri, director of devel
opment for El Centro Latino, said
that even though the move came as
News
governments seizing their land for
economic reasons.
“While there is some unclear
areas of the law ... it doesn’t seem
to give the condemning authority
those rights,” he said.
Sherrill said the study should
clarify those issues for the com
mittee, though she said she doesn’t
know what its eventual recommen
dations will be.
But she said she does believe that
governments in her county already
have used economic interests to
justify the use of eminent domain
despite their denial of such actions.
“If they don’t do that, then they
shouldn’t have any problem with us
tightening the verbiage to ensure
that they can’t do it in the future.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
a surprise, in the end it has worked
out for the best.
“The move wasn’t planned and
there were some funding problems,
but it ended up being a positive
thing. The space has been great,”
she said.
“The new location is working
out fabulously.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2005
Wikipedia issue
arouses debate
Elicits concern for Internet anonymity
BY KYLE CHORPENING
STAFF WRITER
Following the discovery of a
defamatory biography on the
popular research site Wikipedia,
org, alternative media might face
increased scrutiny from policymak
ers and media watchdogs.
The Wikipedia entry for John
Seigenthaler Sr., former editor
of The Tennessean and once an
administrative assistant for Robert
Kennedy, stated that Seigenthaler
was suspected of involvement in
both Kennedy assassinations. The
false information was available on
the site from May 26 to Oct. 5.
Seigenthaler, who served as a pall
bearer for Robert Kennedy, said he
was shocked by the charges posted
as fact on the Web site, a free, online
encyclopedia that can be easily and
anonymously edited by any user.
He contacted Jimmy Wales,
the founder of Wikipedia, who
removed the misinformation and
provided Seigenthaler with the IP
address for the computer used to
make the entry.
“I’m not interested in suing
anybody, especially Wikipedia,”
Seigenthaler said. “I just want to find
this person so I can confront them.”
Beyond his own ordeal,
Seigenthaler said he is worried
about the wider repercussions of the
anonymity that Wikipedia offers.
“If things stay like they are, this
is just going to happen to other
people,” he said. “Next year is a
campaign year, and political figures
are going to be in the spotlight.”
If the kind of online defamation
experienced by Seigenthaler were
to involve policymakers, he said, it
could prompt legislation to constrain
the anonymity and freedom of all
forms of Internet journalism, such
as blogs and personal Web sites.
But Wales said he isn’t con
cerned about the possibility of
Wikipedia’s spurring widespread
change in online regulations.
“This is an absolutely absurd
argument,” he said. “The problem
here is that the article was very
obscure and small. I’m not sure if
it even got reviewed.”
Wikipedia has a staff of more than
600 administrators who patrol the
millions of Wikipedia entries on a
daily basis looking for inaccuracies.
“It just fell through the cracks
of our editing processes,” he said.
“Despite that, we’re astonished that
it could last so long on the site.”
Though he doesn’t expect
tighter regulations to stem from
Seigenthaler’s incident, Wales said
Wikipedia and many other sites
would not survive under more
stringent controls.
“It would destroy it,” he said. “It
would be the end of Wikipedia, the
end of your blogs, the end of mail
ing lists, your home page.”
Cathy Packer, a media law profes
sor at UNC, said she doubts policy
makers could limit Internet media.
“There certainly are times when
Congress wants to tighten control,”
she said. “Often, it turns out that
the control is unconstitutional.”
With all the opportunities made
available by the Internet, some prob
lems are fated to arise, she said.
“There is a world of anonymity
that is wonderful, but with every
thing that is wonderful, there is a
downside,” Packer said.
Paul Jones, a journalism profes
sor at UNC, said people should be
held accountable for content but
can’t reasonably be restricted from
publishing it.
“What are you going to do?
Make people get an Internet driv
er’s license?” he said.
As Wikipedia has grown in popu
larity and reliability, students often
are using it as a source for research,
especially for term papers.
“I use it for general ideas, but not
for specifics,” said freshman Russell
Johnson. “It gives me a comfortable
understanding of the topic.”
Jones said Wikipedia is use
ful for directing students to good
information but should comple
ment other sources.
“Last semester, I returned a paper
that was comprised almost solely of
Wikipedia entries,” he said. “I think
by the time you’re in college, you
should be using primary sources.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
5