6
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2006
BREAK A LEG
l
DTH/GALEN CLARKE
Freshman Emily Faircloth of Carolina Vibe stretches
in the art gallery of the Student Union before per
forming the lyrical dance “Ain’t No Sunshine” in the
Union auditorium Monday night. The show was held to raise
money to benefit Relay For Life in the fight against cancer.
Democrats change out leaders
Campus group fills leadership spots
BY COLIN CAMPBELL
STAFF WRITER
As they begin their first semester
in office, the new leaders of UNC’s
Young Democrats are looking to
influence politics both on and off
campus.
As the new co-presidents of
the group, senior Katie Tolliver
and sophomore David Beard said
one of their major responsibilities
will be planning for November’s
national midterm elections, when
several congressional seats will be
contested.
Tolliver and Beard said they
plan to continue the initiatives
of their predecessors specifi
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cally by focusing on improving
fundraising and increasing stu
dent involvement in the political
process.
“One of the things that’ll change
is that we’ll be a lot more focused on
campaign work,” Beard said, noting
that the large number of Democrats
competing in recent local elections
prevented major involvement by
Young Democrats.
The group’s constitution
prohibits involvement in local
elections when two or more
Democrats are competing for the
same seat.
Young Democrats will be most
involved with the more competi
County schools endorse switch to block scheduling; discuss reassignment plans
TIME FOR BLOCK
The Orange County Board of
Education unanimously approved a
switch to block scheduling for the dis
trict's two high schools Orange and
Cedar Ridge high schools Monday.
The members approved the switch
after feedback from two parent infor
mation sessions was categorized as
generally positive.
The schedule change is set to take
effect fall 2006.
The school board did not decide if it
will favor a straight or modified block,
but staff development opportunities
will be offered in either scenario.
[ CELEBRATING HISTORY
The school board heard plans for
the 50th anniversary celebration of
Republicans see transition
Zalaquett takes reins of UNC group
BY ERIN ZUREICK
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
After junior Jordan Selleck’s res
ignation Sunday night as chairman
of the College Republicans, new
leadership already is in place and
looking to infuse new energy into
the group.
Sophomore Amanda Zalaquett
stepped in to serve out the remain
der of Selleck’s term and led her
first meeting as interim chair
woman Monday night.
About 40 of the group’s 200
dues-paying members attended
sans Selleck, who said he was
unable to make the meeting due to
a busy workload.
“I’d like to see a continuation of
community service and campaign work”
BLAKELY WHILDEN, former co-president
tive national congressional races
in North Carolina come November,
such as those for the Bth and 11th
districts.
Despite taking stabs at state and
national politics, group members
said they still want to remain com
mitted to campus election cam
paigns.
“We’ll work hard to get progres
sive people in Student Congress,”
Beard said.
Former Young Democrats Co
s Blakely Whilden worked
with her successors last year and
News
Cameron Park Elementary School.
The April 22 celebration is being
organized by a committee of parents
and volunteers.
'lt's bringing awareness to the
great school that we have over there,
but it's also bringing together 50 years
of wonderful people who have come
through that school,* said parent
Shelli Yearsley, who is serving on the
planning committee.
The celebration will involve stu
dents, parents, teachers and alumni
and will aim to improve the school's
streetscape and to highlight its unique
cultural history and landscape.
[CLEANING UP THEIR ACT
The school board also discussed
the district's classified salary study
The group currently is in the
middle of a blitz to back conserva
tive students who are campaigning
for Student Congress seats in the
Feb. 14 campuswide election.
Congress Speaker Luke Farley, a
member of the organization, spoke
at the meeting, and said he would
like to see interest in the campus
legislative body invigorated.
“I think there’s been a general
apathy about Student Congress
lately,” he said.
“We have a diversity of opinion.
That’s why it’s important to get a
lot of voices.”
Zalaquett, who previously
served as the group’s executive
said she hopes they continue her
programs.
“I’d like to see a continuation of
community service and campaign
work,” she said. “They both will do
a great job.”
The group’s leadership is
rounded out by sophomore Uzma
Panjwani, vice president; fresh
man Cara Shewchuk, secretary;
and freshman Jake Anderson,
treasurer.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
and approved the study's move into
phase two. The second phase of the
study will include classifying the job
titles of maintenance and transporta
tion workers and making salary adjust
ments accordingly.
The school board agreed that work
ers involved in phase two should receive
retroactive salary compensation from
Dec. 1,2004, the date those involved
in phase one got their pay raises.
Three bus drivers attended the
meeting, and the school board
agreed that bus drivers should be
part of phase three of the study.
MOVING THE STUDENTS
Also Monday, George McFariey, asso
ciate superintendent for support services
and the facilitator of the committee
director, said she would like to
see a balance of ideas as well as
more fiscally conservative poli
cies in Congress.
“There’s a lot of spending for
organizations that don’t affect a lot
of people on campus,” she said.
Seven students who are running
for Congress seats also attended
the meeting.
Sophomore Layne Powers, who
is running in District 2 which
represents Middle Campus dorms
said she wants to see increased
political diversity at UNC.
“I think it’s important to get
more conservative representation
in Congress and more conserva
tive representation on campus in
general,” she said.
Zalaquett said increased partici
pation and membership are other
goals for her term.
She said she is eager to lead the
group through the rest of the term,
which she said wall end when the
group chooses new leadership in
March.
Gerhardt weighs in
on future of Alito
UNC professor says filibuster unlikely
BY JOE COLLEVECCHIO
STAFF WRITER
In ns little as five years Roe v.
Wade, the Supreme Court case
that legalized abortion, might be
dismantled to the point of render
ing it ineffective, said UNC law
professor Michael Gerhardt during
a meeting of the Young Democrats
on Monday night.
Gerhardt addressed a small
crowd in the Student Union
Cabaret about his recent role as
a witness in the Senate confirma
tion hearings for Judge Samuel
Alito, who is expected to replace
retiring justice Sandra Day
O’Connor on the Supreme Court
bench.
The confirmation of Alito, com
bined with the addition of Chief
Justice John Roberts to the bench
earlier this year, is expected to push
the nation’s highest court signifi
cantly to the right.
“When Roe goes down, and I
don’t really think anyone doubts
it will, it’s going to go down bit by
bit,” Gerhardt said.
“We’re probably talking four or
five years.”
Gerhardt also discussed the
possibility of Senate Republicans
using the “nuclear option,” a tac
tic to limit a possible - Democratic
filibuster of the nomination. The
oty? ®a% alar Brri
charged with reassigning students to the
district's new middle school, Gravelly Hill
presented the school board with the
reassignment plans he plans to share at
public hearings Jan. 26 and Feb. 2.
The school board gave McFariey a
nod of approval but debated the issue
of grandfathering giving older stu
dents at each school who were sup
posed to be reassigned the option of
staying at their old school.
The members decided that juniors
and seniors in high school should have
the opportunity to grandfather, as well
as fifth-graders in elementary school.
Eighth-graders would not have that
option because Gravelly Hill will not
have an eighth-grade its first year.
Students who choose to grandfa
ther would be required to provide their
own transportation.
. COMPILED BY JESSICA SCHONBERG
7J,
m
Sophomore
Amanda
Zalaquett
has assumed
control of
the College
Republicans
Farley said he thinks Zalaquett’s
transition will be a smooth one.
“I’m very pleased,” he said. “I
think she has a really good vision
for the organization.”
Selleck, who spent one-and-a
half terms leading the organiza
tion, said the time was right for
him to step down.
In his decision he cited a need to
focus more on academic work and
to get a job.
“I enjoyed it tremendously and
learned a lot of skills in terms of
running an organization and lead
ership skills.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
Professor
Michael
Gerhardt
discussed his
testimony at
the Samuel
Alito hearing
tactic would circumvent Senate
filibuster rules, which state that
the minority party can block a
judicial appointment through an
indefinite filibuster unless a 60
percent majority votes to contin
ue with the confirmation.
“They call it the nuclear option
because the (Senate) could melt
down,” Gerhardt joked. He stressed
that the option effectively could rob
the minority party of any involve
ment in the judicial selection pro
cess.
When asked about Senate
Democrats’ attempts to question
Alito, Gerhardt said he felt they did
an adequate job but were frustrat
ed by Republican efforts to deflect
“vigorous examination.”
Gerhardt described Senate
Republicans as using a “four-cor
ners offense” to try to run down
the clock and limit the number of
questions Democrats could ask
Alito.
He said that the approach could
force Democrats to filibuster the
judicial nomination hearings set
for today, but that in the long run
a filibuster probably would prove
ineffective at slowing or stopping
Alito’s confirmation.
He said a filibuster is an unlikely
scenario.
Gerhardt said he thinks both
judges Alito and Roberts are as
conservative, if not more so, than
right-wing justice Antonin Scalia,
and are likely to vote in a similar
fashion on issues such as abortion
and school prayer.
“I think that the good news is, in
most respects, things aren’t going
to get much worse,” Gerhardt
said.
David Beard, a sophomore polit
ical science major and co-president
of the Young Democrats, said the
group should help energize the
campus in the event of a filibuster.
“Republicans are manipulating
the judicial process for their own
benefit,” he said.
Sarah Grossblatt, a sophomore
public policy major, said the speech
was a “reality check.”
“It was more intense than I
expected,” Grossblatt said. “I didn’t
think things were going to be this
grim for the Democrats.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.