6 THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 Farley defends missed meeting More than 10 others did not attend BY MAC MOLUSON SENIOR WRITER Luke Farley, speaker of Student Congress, defended Wednesday his decision to forgo the body’s first meeting of the semester for a Republican fundraiser. “It was a work-related event,” said Farley, who interned with a political group this summer. “I wanted to attend, and it was an opportunity to have dinner and get to know some people in North Carolina politics. Having worked with them I thought it would be a good idea, and I chose to go.” The Tuesday absence lined up with the Wednesday publication of a letter to The Daily Tar Heel prais ing Farleys dedication to the body. “Any criticism that Luke pushed a conservative agenda is base less,” wrote Congress veteran Kris Wampler. Farley, who claims never to have missed any previous Congress meetings, stood behind those state- Funding options for building schools on table N.C. officials meet to discuss issues BY ERIN FRANCE STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR About 100 representatives from 38 N.C. counties participated in a forum Wednesday to discuss non traditional funding alternatives for school construction. The officials met from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Exploris Museum in Raleigh. Paul Meyer, the assistant gener al counsel for the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, said the forum was not only about finding a solution to funding school construction but also talk ing about the experiences of some counties. THE POWER TO TEXT FREELY WITH SPRINT, New ultra-thin Katana” by Sanyo* camera Bluetooth* technology Get 300 free text messages a month for 12 months. In-store exclusive offer for students with a valid college ID. i . After 12 months, pay the regular monthly fee. 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SPRINT, the''Going Forvvard" - logo the NEXTEL name and logo the FOCUS ON DRMNG logo and roiertrademarte are trademarks of Sprint Nextel. All thirdparty product or service names are property of their respective owners. Ail r^itsresetved ments. He said he previewed Tuesday night’s legislation all of which was passed unanimously with little debate before deciding to allow Speaker Pro Tern Dustin Ingalls to conduct the meeting in his place. Rep. Tyson Grinstead, chair man of College Republicans, also missed Congress’ meeting to attend the Charlotte fundraiser for Hal Jordan, a Republican candidate for the N.C. House. He gave a different rationale for making the partisan fundraiser a priority. “I went down there to meet some state leaders that could probably add to the marketplace of ideas on campus, to see if I could bring them (to UNC-Chapel Hill) through College Republicans or some other group on campus,” he said. Farley and Grinstead’s absences were in accord with the rules of the body, said Megan Paul, chairwom an of the ethics committee. “The idea is to define the issues and the barriers,” he said. Sen. Vernon Malone, D-Wake, spoke about the N.C. General Assembly’s take on the issues of school construction. He said legislators would be willing to consider many sugges tions for funding schools but would likely not vote to raise taxes. “I know they are not moved toward significant tax increases,” he said. “There is very little taste for rais ing taxes.” Malone referred to a law that was passed during the last session that allows state schools to form Student Congress Speaker Luke Farley spent Tuesday night at a Republican fundraiser. “Congress members are allowed unexcused absences for reasons of their choosing,” she said. “They’ve got two unexcused absences, and whatever they want to do with those is fine. They both have political aspirations after college that have nothing to do with Congress.” She added that partisan involve ment in off-campus politics gener ally doesn’t conflict with the body’s activities. “Ninety percent of the issues we deal with are nonpartisan,” she said. “I’m sure everyone in Congress has some partisan tendencies, but I’m pretty sure most of the time it doesn’t play a part in what we do in Congress.” Besides Farley and Grinstead two other members missed the partnerships with private compa nies to construct schools. This might be one solution to the need for more schools, Malone said. “I can tell you there are certain school systems in the state that are struggling mightily,” he said. After lunch officials from five different counties presented their ideas on how to raise school funds outside of the public voting on a bond referendum. “We’ll be doing some sharing,” Meyer said. “You’ll probably hear about year-round school.” Wake County will be voting on a controversial bond referendum Nov. 7- Friends of Wake County, a steer ing committee for the referendum, News meeting Rep. Kate Thompson was sick, and Rep. Layne. Powers was excused because of a sorority commitment. Ingalls said more than 10 gradu ate students were missing, causing a delay in the meeting when a lack of members provided an obstacle to meeting quorum. Rep. BriEm Troutman, who is a first-year law student and didn’t go to the meeting, said many graduate students were too busy to attend. “There’s a period in every semes ter where you have to adjust to something, especially something new,” he said. “Right now we’re in a very fluid part of the year.” TYoutman said he plans to attend future Congress meetings —and to try to increase interest in the body among graduate students. Representatives said they expect quorum to begin to be met more easily in the ftiture as members of the body become acclimated to their new schedules. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu. held a kickoff event at the Exploris Museum on Thesday. It was attended by former N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt, who came out in support of the bond referendum. In April 2006, Wake County proposed a school building pro gram worth $994 million. Malone said that while money from the N.C. Educational Lottery would assist in covering the costs of some school construction, there was no way it would cover the entire price tag. “The lottery is just another piece of the banking plan,” he said. “We never assumed we could raise all the money to pay for it.” Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. Student play gets ‘Closer’ to stage BY HARRY KAPLOWITZ ARTS EDITOR “Sometimes when you hold a mir ror up to people, they’re not going to like what they see, and this is very much a true mirror it’s ugly but true,” senior Katherine Canipe said. It’s not exactly the best sell for the Department of Dramatic Art’s first production of the season, “Closer,” which premieres Friday and runs through Monday. But the principle actors said the play, originally written for the stage by Patrick Marber, really sells itself. “In some ways I think it’s a very easy pitch because it’s a play Eibout four attractive people encoun tering various sexual escapades,” senior Alec Wells said. “It’s got all the classic things about storytelling that make it interesting.” Wells Eind Canipe —a real-life couple will play onstage couple Dsm and Alice in the production. They will be joined by seniors Kelly McCrann and Patrick Link, who will play couple Anna and Larry. The play, originally produced for the stage in 1999, enjoys a film adaptation starring Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. But the four student they feel the movie version won’t serve as a detriment to people com ing to see their production. “They changed the ending vastly in the movie,” Canipe said. “The play is completely different “I really respected and loved the movie, but the text of the play is very different. I don’t feel like any of the characters in our play Eire anything like the characters in the movie.” And Wells said the play experi ence is, in many respects, better than the movie experience because of the dramatic personalization the play affords. “You choose who you watch,” he said. “A lot of time in movies you’re fed what you’re supposed to watch, but in this you get to decide for yourself, which I think is the cool est difference between a movie ver sion of a play and a play.” Canipe agreed, saying that mov ies have tricks that help dictate the story. And she said one scene in par ticular proved challenging for her. the il she said. Shes hot dancing; you have to figure out what to do in a theater space for all that time. We don’t have close-ups to help us out. We don’t have clever camera angles. It’s just us.” “Closer,” which chronicles the infidelities and deceptions of two couples in modem London, is wide ly known for its candor and sense of voyeurism, which, McCrann said, makes the play both intrigu ing and difficult to take in. “I think the voyeuristic quality would make even the crudest and most insensitive soul shy away from Carolina performing arts i at Memorial Hall <N . |p 4 _ . '& ' K ▼ w > ■ ’ *?£ Arguably the hurst aronstirstring k ' ensemble today. -< (..< ~>o liii.nr..- ll o 919-843-3333 \v\v\v.earoll naperi o rnvingarts.org (Tl|f lothj Sar Jieri SEETHE PLAY Time: 8:15 p.m, Date: Friday Location: Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art Info: www.unc.edu/drama/closer. shtml If you liked "Closer/' you might like... "The Real Thing* Tom Stoppard The story of philandering cou ples in London and the nature of love, artistry and fidelity. *Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* Edward Albee Candid in its style, this play observes the deconstruction of a marriage through the eyes of a young couple. "Private Lives" Noel Coward What happens when a bro ken-up couple is reunited on their respective honeymoons? "The Shape of Things" Neil Labute A scathing look at beauty, attraction and the tolls relation ships take on people. it,” she said. “But at the end of the day, when we look ourselves in the mirror, we have the option to see that ugly part of ourselves.” But the personal, intimate qual ity the play is known for, Link said, makes it particularly interesting for audiences to take in. “A lot of people know the play and don’t like it because of the con tent or what the characters are like,” he said. “In fact it’s really a caution ary tale. There’s not much goodness in the play, but it’s the absence of the goodness that promotes it and makes it pure in its message.” Link also said the play’s humanis tic qualities make it a deceiving per formance for actors to undertake. “What’s hard is that it’s so Receptive because so easy way-it’s written. It L seeß&flka3:'s" natu r alts tic, but it’s neither,” he said. Despite their bravado the actors said they still wonder what their par ents will think of the production. “My dad’s a psychologist, and I said I was interested to know what his analysis of these people are. I’m really interested to hear what they have to say after the play,” Wells said. “I’m not nervous in terms of the dialogue, although they are seeing my girlfriend in lingerie, so that’s my newest worry.” “ Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edti.

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