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Professor courts readers, fans
BY RACHEL BRODY
STAFF WRITER
Die-hard Carolina fans who
paint their entire body a bright
shade of blue and scream until
their throats are raw rarely stop
and ask, “Why?”
But English professor Fred
Hobson has.
His recently published memoir,
“Off the Rim: Basketball and Other
Religions in a Carolina Childhood,”
looks at the phenomenon in the
context of growing up with basket
ball fever on Tobacco Road.
Hobson lectured on the mem
oir and the culture of basketball
Wednesday in Dey Hall. About a
dozen people showed up to hear
him describe his memoir, which
he did not read at the event.
He instead traced his lifelong
obsession with college basketball,
beginning during his youth in
Western North Carolina and devel
oping as a UNC professor.
He said he was inspired to exam
ine the basketball culture some years
ago after a painful North Carolina
loss to longtime-rival Duke.
The agony of defeat was impeding
his ability to prepare for the class he
was teaching, he said, and he asked
himself, “Why do I care so much?
“I have no financial advancement,
social gains or royalties if my team
wins. And I know that a lot of other
Machines offer easy iPod shopping
BY SAPNA MAHESHWARI
■STAFF WRITER
Vending machines usually quench
people’s thirst, and now they can sat
isfy people’s hunger for iPods.*'
Zoom Systems, a San Francisco
based company that specializes in
automated retail, is taking vending
machines to anew level by selling
more high-end products.
“Zoom Shops” are open 24
hours and sell a variety of products
including digital music players,
computer accessories, and prepaid
mobile phones from brands such
as Apple Computer Inc. and Sony.
“We’re creating anew channel of
distribution,” says Gower Smith, CEO
and founder of Zoom Systems.
“We’re placing the best brands
(and) most popular products
directly in front of consumers at
high-traffic locations. We’re just like
any retailer.”
More than 100 of the shops can
be found in aborts, hotels, con
vention centers and grocery stores.
Company officials say they hope to
increase the number of shops to
10,000 in the next five years.
The machines only accept credit
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people wonder the same thing.”
The memoir is another turn in
what is becoming a trend of writing
about the state’s favorite past time.
UNC alumnus Will Blythe’s
“To Hate Like This is to be
Happy Forever,” an account of the
Carolina-Duke rivalry, hit book
shelves earlier this year.
It stands at No. 7 on Amazon,
corn’s list of bestselling sports
books, as of press time.
English professor Marianne
Gingher, was there Wednesday to
purchase a copy of Hobson’s book.
“I wanted to buy it to pass it
around to my three brothers, who are
basketball fiends,” she said. “Also, I’m
interested in the aspect of basketball
as part of your childhood.”
Hobson has a long-standing
commitment to basketball, start
ing with his childhood love for the
game in a small town where “bas
ketball was everything,” he said.
Hobson went on to be a member
of UNC’s 1961-62 men’s basketball
freshman team.
But it is not merely the love of
the game that drives the story in
“Off the Rim”.
Hobson’s lecture was partially
what he dubbed “an argument for
the educational value of a sports
education.”
He described how his passion for
sports led him into academics.
and debit cards, and customers’
cards are not charged until the
machine recognizes that the prod
uct has been delivered.
San Francisco International
Airport is among the first places
Zoom Systems installed kiosks.
“They were installed about six
months ago,” says Mike McCarron,
a spokesman for the airport. “People
seem to enjoy them.
“Zoom seems to be very happy
with their sales, so we’re happy
with that.”
The stores only require 30 square
feet to 40 square feet of real estate,
Smith says, adding that Zoom
Shops’ revenue per square foot is as
high as that of other retail formats.
The company typically makes S2OO
to SSOO per square foot annually.
If customers have any problems,
there is a 1-800 number they can call
for assistance from Zoom, as well as
a 30-day return policy on products,
But McCarron says he hasn’t
heard any complaints yet.
“It’s like any other tenant. We
lease them space and they’re respon
sible for that space,” he says.
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Professor Fred Hobson talks about
his book "Off the Rim" a tribute to
his devotion to college basketball,
in a Dey Hall lounge Wednesday.
He read sports sections of the
newspaper. Feverishly studying
sports cards introduced him to dif
ferent races and nationalities.
“I would defend kids whose
parents think they are too sports
obsessed.”
Contact the AC}E Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Airport doesn’t have the machines,
and officials say they aren’t plan
ning to add them.
While the shops seem to have
been successful so far, the buying
experience is different from that of
an actual store.
Justin Schnettler, a Macintosh
specialist at the Streets at
Southpoint’s Apple store, says the
idea of buying an iPod from a vend
ing machine is odd.
“You’re missing out on explana
tions on how it works, what it can
do, the personal aspect,” he says.
“It’s not typical to buy something
that expensive that way.”
But Smith says that the vending
machines take away the pressure a
salesperson can put on customers to
buy and that they also offer shoppers
an impulse-buying opportunity.
“It’s a lot like what ATMs have
done with banking, a lot like what
airlines are doing with self-service
ticketing," he says. “There are lots
of good signs that consumers really
like this way of shopping.”
Contact the Features Editor
atfeatures@unc.edu.
News
Local music scene to make waves
BY LAUREN STREIB
STAFF WRITER
Rock the Boat is set to roll.
The annual benefit concert that
aims to create a fan base for Chapel
Hill-Carrboro music will take place
from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. today at The
Library.
The event directly supports
103.5 WCOM-FM, a grassroots
community radio station that oper
ates out of Carrboro.
Rock the Boat also aims to pub
licize the local music scene, which
many of the event’s organizers
feel is underappreciated by the
University’s student body.
“It helps to draw the town and
the students together,” said Jake
Baldridge, last year’s event presi
dent.
Baldridge has been involved
with Rock the Boat since the
original benefit concert two years
ago.
“Getting students out to the local
clubs definitely helps the relation
ship with the town,” he said.
A $5 admission fee provides
access to four musical acts, all of
which are composed of University
students.
Each of the acts is new to the
Rock the Boat lineup.
THE Daily Commuter Puzzle Edited by Wayne Robert Williams
ACROSS
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5 Beta (Diphda)
9 Ababa, Eth.
14 Lawman Wyatt
15 Yemen port
16 Missionary Junipero
17 Clan chart
18 Metallic sound
19 Authority to decide
20 1994 Dana Delany
movie
23 Took off
25 Lobbyists, of a sort
26 Leaky PA reactor
29 Oak's cousin
30 Miscalculate
31 At the stern
32 That girl
33 Open positions
35 ''The Tempest" charac
ter
37 Ditty
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41 Bill Clinton, e.g.
43 Paavo the
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44 Service charge
45 Rower's need
46 Tango team
48 Shoe width
49 Young fish
50 Frigate, e.g.
52 Dem. of the
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WINCS. BEER. SPORTS.
Ml THE essentials:
Featuring
Big Screens & Satellite TV
Award-Winning Wings
14 Signature Sauces
The Hottest Sports Action
Full Menu
Daily Drink Specials
FREE Buzztime® Trivia
35 < Wing Tuesdays
50< Leg Wednesdays
50< Boneless Wing Thursdays
Dine-ln or Takeout!
The night will open with
Shannon McArthur, a freshman
singer-songwriter, followed by the
bands Mowgli and Policy.
Headlining this year’s concert is
local favorite Sweater Weather.
Caroline Hunter, president of
the Rock the Boat club, said the
club wanted a collective group of
bands that would bring people
together and encourage audience
interest.
The concert traditionally has
been a fundraiser for the UNC
Sailing Team.
But as of this year, the event
is not officially affiliated with the
team organizers from previous
years wanted to focus solely on
creating support for local music,
which led to the creation of the
Rock the Boat club.
Kristina Ferrari, who’s charge of
publicity for the club, said the most
important thing this year is making
the event increasingly accessible to
students.
Ferrari said that in her experi
ence, a large concert “is the most
apropos way of getting people
involved.”
The event has historically
attracted a large crowd. As for this
year, Ferrari said that the group
58 Merlot or claret
59 Melodramatic lament
62 Droops laxly
63 Even once
64 Storage tower
65 Stances
66 Charlie Brown's exple
tive
67 Beatles movie
DOWN
1 Tennis do-over
2 Golf norm
3 Long-tailed African pri
mate
4 High point
5 Hostage taker
6 Newspaper boss
7 Choir member
8 Johansson and
Stenmark
9 Complies
10 College VIP
11 Arid
12 Tax grp.
13 _ Paulo, Brazil
21 March 15th
22 Crusoe creator
23 Hire new employees
24 Temptress
26 Mary Astor film
27 "Carmen" writer
28 Twists of fate
34 Earl Grey or pekoe
35 Trick of the tongue
36 City near Lourdes
38 Author Asimov
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THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2006
ATTEND THE SHOW
Time: 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Date: Today
Location: The Library, 120 E.
Franklin St.
Info: Call the venue at 968-6004
hopes to pack in as many people as
they can.
Though music might take the
main stage, one of the most popu
lar aspects of the event is the T
shirt sale.
“A lot of people who can’t even
attend the event buy the shirts,”
Hunter said.
Baldridge echoed her sentiment,
citing that the $lO Rock the Boat
T-shirts are a celebrated fashion
item on campus.
“Whenever I see people around
campus wearing the shirts from
previous years, I get a kick out of
it,” Baldridge said.
Apart from all the commendable
efforts of the event, in the end it all
comes down to the music.
As Baldridge put it, the best part
about the concert is always, “kick
ing back and watching it go off.”
Contact the AdE Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(C)2006 Tribune Media Services. Inc.
All rights reserved.
39 More cramped
42 Present quality
43 Yup's antonym
46 Bullock thriller
47 Electricians, at times
51 Vishnu's partner
53 Wight or Dogs
54 Writer Ogden
55 European peak
56 Shout to surprise
57 Martino and Pacino
60 of the above
61 Soak (up)
A
www.buffalowildwings.com
Chapel Hill
206 West Franklin
919.933.W1LD
13