VOLUME 114, ISSUE 76
UNC honored for affordability
Kiplinger ranking contrasts with recent report
BY ROBIN BURK
STAFF WRITER
UNC-Chapel Hill ranked as the best value
among public colleges and universities for
the sixth consecutive time in Kiplinger’s
Personal Finance magazine.
UNC-CH was among five N.C. schools
that appeared Monday in the magazine’s “50
Best Values in Public Colleges.”
N.C. State University was next on the list,
ranking 27th for out-of-state students.
Kimberly Lankford, a contributing editor
at Kiplinger’s, said the magazine considers
both value and academic strength in rank
Groups ready
for holy days
Jews, Muslims
aim for tolerance
BY ERIN FRANCE
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Today, for the first time in
three decades, Rosh Hashana and
Ramadan start on the same day.
It is a time for followers of Islam
and Judaism to cleanse their bod
ies and minds, focus on family and
celebrate life.
Campus groups are hosting their
own celebrations. The Muslim
Students Association is planning a
Fast-a-Thon and a relief donation
drive for Palestine and Lebanon.
N.C. Hillel and Chabad both are
set to hold services and meals.
In addition, the alignment of
the holidays provides a chance
for groups to come together. N.C.
Hillel is planning an event for
Muslims to break fast in a suk
kah, an outdoor Jewish dwelling
at which meals are eaten.
Relations between the MSA
and N.C. Hillel are close, said Ariel
Scheib, president of Sigma Rho
Lambda, a Jewish sorority.
“We’re really lucky on this cam
pus to have such as close relation
ship between the MSA and Hillel,”
she said.
There are still tensions on cam
pus between religious groups, she
said, especially after Mohammad
Taheri-Azar’s attempt to kill students
on campus to avenge the deaths of
Muslims across the world.
Scheid added that internation
al relations between the Muslim
state of Iran and Jewish state of
Israel have strained ties between
the groups internationally.
“It’s hard to comprehend how
there’s so much hatred,” she said.
Carrboro festival offers
music for the masses
BY KATHERINE LATSHAW
STAFF WRITER
What first began as an ambi
tious effort between a few individ
uals to share their love for music
has grown into the Carrboro Music
Festival.
The festival, which runs from 1
p.m. until midnight Sunday, will
be held at vari
ous sites along
Main, Weaver
and Greensboro
streets.
Gerry
Williams, event
coordinator for
the festival,
estimates that
10,000 people
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will attend this year’s free, all-day
festival.
Due to the interest generated
by the past eight festivals, an
increasingly large amount of art-
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ONE PEACE AT A TIME Event to
search for ways to spread peace
RAPID ACTION Play Slam! invites
playwrights to present short plays
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
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ing colleges.
“UNC just does an amazing job of really
just focusing on academics and also making
it affordable for students to attend.”
Kiplinger’s ranking was released less
than one month after the National Center
for Public Policy and Higher Education gave
North Carolina an “F” in affordability.
Since the release of the public policy
report, N.C. higher education officials have
discussed ways to improve access for lower
income students.
Shirley Ort, associate provost and director
of scholarships and student aid at UNC-CH,
What are we
celebrating?
Rosh Hashana A two-day
family-oriented holiday, celebrat
ing the new year. The occasion
celebrates life and is an opportu
nity to repent for actions during
the year. Traditional foods eaten
include raisins, apples with honey
and challah, a round-shaped
white bread made with eggs.
Ramadan A monthlong
holiday in which participants fast
during the day to concentrate
on cleansing the body and mind.
The occasion includes prayer and
reading the Koran. Traditional
foods eaten include a breakfast of
meat, rice and hoshaf, a cold dish
made with raisins and/or apricots.
“It’s difficult for me because I’m
very pro-Israel, but I’m very pro-
Muslim too.”
Stephen Gent, a professor of
political science at UNC, said ten
sions are high between Muslims
and Jews in the Middle East, espe
cially since the Iranian president
called the Holocaust a myth.
“It’s obviously a signal that there’s
still issues that are unresolved
between those communities.”
Gent said relations between the
countries could improve, but it
would take time. “There’s obviously
no formal relations between Israel
and Iran,” he said.
Although actions in the Middle
East might not directly affect many
Americans, he said, perceptions of
practitioners are affected.
“It affects the communities in
the United States inasmuch as they
SEE HOLIDAYS, PAGE 5
ists, ranging from hip-hop and
punk to jazz and country, applied
this year.
“I usually get 200 to 230 artist
applications,” Williams said. “This
year, we have 21 venues and 157
different performing groups.”
There also will be a train ride,
arts and crafts and inflatable
games for younger audiences.
But the festival was not always
of such magnitude and scope.
It originally started in 1998 as
the Fete de la Musique, a French
music festival celebrating the sum
mer solstice.
It was one of the few American
festivals to be officially recognized
by the Ministry of France, along
with larger cities such as San
Francisco and New York.
In the fifth year of its inception,
organizers moved the event to a
SEE FESTIVAL, PAGE 5
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www.dailytarheel.com
said the University makes significant efforts
to provide financial aid.
Ort said the low affordability grade could
be misleading.
“It boggles my mind,” she said. “When you
grade all 50 states, it’s hard to achieve data
comparability, and I think that one of the
problems is that they’re having to use data
that is three or four years old, as well.”
The UNC-system Board of Governors
released a statement on Sept 8 that refuted
the center’s grade for North Carolina.
“The Measuring Up 2006 report... does
not appear to provide an accurate picture of
financial aid provided to needy students at
public universities in North Carolina.”
Although the state recently failed in
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Sufjan Stevens, a.critically acclaimed folk-pop troubadour, performs in a full Memorial,Hall on Thursday night. Tickets for the concert
were sold out the day they went on sale, leaving the 1,000-plus audience members anticipating the show for almost one month.
CAMPUS FEELS THE NOISE
BY MARGARET HAIR
SENIOR WRITER
Su§an Stevens, self-described majestic
songbird, played to a capacity Memorial
Hall crowd Thursday night.
Known for his highly orchestrated brand
of folk-pop and entire albums dedicated to
Midwestern states, Stevens took the stage
with 14 bandmates all colorfully costumed
as butterflies.
“I’m the majestic songbird, and this is my
magical Chinese butterfly brigade family,” he
said, rocking to flap the wings attached to
his back.
The concert, a collaboration between the
Carolina Union Activities Board and Cat’s
Cradle, marked the second time in a year the
Students protest military’s gay ban
Greensboro police cite demonstrators
BY SARAH WHITWORTH
STAFF WRITER
Four openly gay college students
wouldn’t take no for an answer
Thursday morning when they were
refused enlistment into the Army.
The students conducted a
sit-in at the Greensboro Army
Recruitment Center.
Three of the four, Matthew Comer,
Jessica Arvidson and Alexandria
Nini, were arrested and charged
with second-degree trespassing.
The fourth demonstrator, Stacey
Booe, left when the police threat
ened arrest.
“We cannot push anyone into
doing something that they are not
comfortable with,” said Comer,
Greensboro’s Soulforce organizer.
Soulforce is a national organiza
tion advocating the rights of lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people
through nonviolent resistance.
sports | page 7
LAST-MINUTE VICTORY
Heather O'Reilly scores a late
goal, her second of the game,
to defeat the No. 1 Florida
State Seminoles 2-1 Thursday
at Fetzer Field.
affordability, the Kiplinger’s high ranking of
the school came as no surprise to Jeff Davies,
chief of staff for UNC-system President
Erskine Bowles.
“The low tuition coupled with the high
quality education that Chapel Hill provides for
students makes it a clear best value,” he said.
He said the Carolina Covenant initiative
is one example of the University’s efforts to
ensure affordability.
“It’s the multi-pronged effort that insures
that students can have access to the institution,
and that once they do have access that they get
a high-quality education,” Davies said.
Along with UNC-CH’s high caliber of
SEE AFFORDABILITY, PAGE 5
duo has brought a big-name rock act to the
venue. Alt-country staple Wilco played two
consecutive shows in March.
Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty labelmate My
Brightest Diamond opened the show, with
a set of haunting, string-supported numbers
from her album Bring Me the Workhorse.
Student tickets for the concert went on
sale Aug. 24, and were gone by 6 p.m. that
day. Presale seats set aside for a Stevens fan
club also sold quickly.
The last time Stevens came to Chapel
Hill, he played to more than 600 people at
a sold-out show at Cat’s Cradle.
“We’re still kind of amazed about how
quickly it sold out,” said Robert Gurdian,
CUAB music chairman.
UNC-Greensboro students Leslie
Hughes, Jacquelyn Hernandez,
Alexander Barbato, Danielle
Hoffman and Caitlin Stroud, as
well as 62-year-old Cristy Elkins,
also were arrested and charged with
second-degree trespassing.
“They came in support of the
enlistees’ rights to serve openly
and honestly,” Comer said.
Those arrested were taken to a
Guilford County Magistrate, where
they were granted release on a
written promise to appear in court
on Oct. 23, Comer said.
Lieutenant Jane Allen of the
Greensboro Police Department
said Soulforce stood by its com
mitment to nonviolence.
“The whole demonstration was
passive. There were no incidents of
violence whatsoever.”
SEE PROTEST, PAGE 5
campus I page 9
NOT PRINTER-FRIENDLY
Teaching assistants say they
were unaware that they could
use department printing, and
many wasted their allotted
500 pages on their classes.
Alex Taylor, a sophomore communica
tion studies major, said she got her ticket
through the fan site. Taylor expressed vary
ing reasons for her anticipation of Stevens’
performance.
“I listen to his music,” she said. “The only
complaint that I have about him is that he’s a
little too attractive it’s intimidating.”
About 40 reserve tickets for the show
were advertised at Tuesday night’s Nickel
Creek concert, Gurdian said. Those sold
within two hours of becoming available,
filling the 1,434-seat hall.
Cat’s Cradle owner Frank Heath, who
attended the concert, said he was pleased
SEE STEVENS, PAGE 5
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GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD/LYNN HEY
Matt Hill Comer, a UNC-G student and organizer for the Right to Serve
campaign, is arrested Thursday morning after trying to enlist in the Army.
this day in history
SEPT 22,1966...
A South Carolina research firm
is hired to study the University's
parking situation and suggest
ways to alleviate
growing congestion.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 200 6
The process of
grading:
Kiplinger's Personal
Finance: Scored academic
quality including freshmen
retention rates and the student
to-faculty ratio. Schools were
then ranked on cost and finan
cial aid, using academic-qual
ity scores and average debt at
graduation to break ties.
The National Report Card
on Higher Education:
Scored affordability based on the
benchmark set by the noted
performance of the top five
affordable states in the 19905.
SOURCES: www.kiplinger.com,
measuringup.highereducation.org
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