VOLUME 114, ISSUE 96 BUNTING FACES THE MUSIC BY DANIEL MALLOY SENIOR WRITER Larry Edwards didn’t want to let go. As John Bunting left the news conference to announce his fir ing, Edwards embraced his coach and held on tight, whispering in Bunting’s ear —one linebacker to another. Bunting and his assistant coach- es had con soled the team Sunday night, after Athletics Director Dick Baddour told the coach he would remain for the final five games of the season but would not return in 2007- INSIDE Students and alumni react to the head coach's firing. Column: Blame also should be on Baddour's shoulders. PAGE 11 Monday morning, it was Edwards’ turn to console. “Coach Bunting and his staff helped us become better people that we are today,” Edwards said, flanked by fellow seniors Brian Chacos and Ronnie McGill. “Hearing the news they’re not going to be back next year, it really hurt me.” Bunting’s character was brought up repeatedly Monday by his play ers and Baddour. But in the end, the coach’s 25- 42 record, including 1-6 so far this season, was enough for Baddour to justify a regime change. Bunting repeatedly asserted this season that the program was going in the right direction cit ing improvements in recruiting and the fact that a great majority of the freshman class is red-shirting. But those reasons weren’t enough to keep his job. “Not everything do John and I agree on,” Baddour said. “We are a bit, or a lot, in a num bers game. Wins and losses and productivity and assessing where Early voting opens to unexpected crowd BY JESSICA SCHONBERG CITY EDITOR Many people visiting Morehead Planetarium on Franklin Street Monday weren’t there to stargaze. The planetarium is one of two early one-stop voting sta tions in Orange County that opened Monday. The station in Hillsborough opened Thursday. One-stop voting allows regis tered voters to cast their ballots before the Nov. 7 election. Anyone registered within the county can vote at any of the three voting sites, regardless of the precinct to which he or she SEE EARLY VOTING, PAGE 6 State fair ends on high note BY BRENDAN BROWN STAFF WRITER Oversized pumpkins, innovative fuel and a safe midway helped make this year’s state fair one of the most successful in its history. The fair, which closed Sunday, ran safely and successfully despite occasional poor weather, officials said. “We pride ourselves on being a family-friendly and safe feir, and we think we delivered that,” fair spokesman Brian Long said. Giant fruits and vegetables, OUT AT THE fried foods and oodles of Am attracted the fifth-larg est crowd in the fair’s history. “To get almost 786,000 people there despite two days of rain is pretty good,” Long said. The total attendance 0f785,956 fell just behind that of the 2005 feir, Long said. He predicted that total rev- SEE FAIR, PAGE 6 CORRECTION Due to a reporting error, the Sunday front-page story, “UNC fills finance position,” incor rectly stated that five candidates interviewed for the post About 12 total were interviewed, while five were chosen for on-campus interviews. The Daily Thr Heel apologizes for the error. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 tEhr Satin ®ar Serf ifitti I W f K ' 1 *7?" n 1,. ' 4 ' JSSk"f w ; W|k, BRSr tP- '; dfl Wt?.. PHk, Hk lH9r _ ■•to^PtoßPi % —i jjfy Hi DTH/AUCIA TOWLER North Carolina head coach John Bunting listens as Athletics Director Dick Baddour addresses the media concerning Bunting's dismissal, which will come at the end of the season. Bunting expressed gratitude toward his friends and players, and said he doesn't know if he'll coach another team. things are headed. To suffice it to say, I felt like we needed anew direction.” Though he was the only University official at the news con ference, Baddour consulted others when making the decision. Throughout the season, the ninth-year athletics director was in contact with Nelson Schwab, chair man of the Board of Trustees, as well as other trustees. Those conver sations intensified after Thursday’s 23-0 loss at Virginia, along with the outcry from fans and media. “There had been so much focus on the coaching position that it was to the detriment of the football On*Stop Voting Orano* County Board of Elections Office ► 110 E. King St, Hillsborough ► M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. * Phone: 245-2350 Fax:644-3318 Morohoad Planetarium ► 250 E. Franklin St, Chapel Hill ► Today-Nov. 3 M-F 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ► Saturday, Nov. 4 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Carrboro Town Hall ► 301 W. Main St, Carrboro ► Today-Nov. 3 DTH/MICHEUE KANAAR Chris Dupre, Ron Woodward and Tony Williams (left to right) pack up bumper cars at the state fairgrounds Monday afternoon. The feir dosed Sunday night after what organizers deemed a successful 10-day run. online | dailyUirhoel.com HOT OFF THE PRESS Newsweek senior editor delivers Rark lecture FORECASTING Former adviser to Colin Powell speaks on U.S. future RHYMING GAME UNC visiting poet to read selections from book www.dailytarheel.com program,” Schwab said in a phone interview Monday evening. “We felt the timing would give the program, the players and the coaches time to focus on the remainder of the season with some clarity.” But for the players, it makes the rest of the season difficult, playing with the additional distraction of a lame-duck coach. “Nobody really saw this happen ing right now during the middle of the season,” McGill said. “Prom the whole players’ standpoint, it’s just shocking and a little bit fhis trating that it happened now.” For many fans, though, the M-F 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ► Saturday-Nov. 4 M-F 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Important Dates Tuesday, October 31 ► Absentee ballot requests must be received by 5 p.m. Saturday, November 4 ► One-stop early voting ends at 1 p.m. for general election Mondey, November $ ► Completed absentee ballots must be receieved by 5 p.m. Tuesday, November 7 ► Election Day nation | pap h HEAD TO HEAD U.S. Congress candidates David Price and Steve Acuff face off on campus in their second debate, discussing issues including the war in Iraq. news was met with joy. “This should have been done a long time ago,” said Matt Gers, a 2005 graduate and co-founder of firebunting.com. And with site’s original aim now accomplished, Gers is contemplat ing directing his ire elsewhere. “I think Dick Baddour is floating on the line here,” he said. “We’ll see how the coaching search goes.” Baddour was vague Monday when asked about the search. “Together we will start focusing on the future,” Baddour said. “We will use the efforts of Chuck SEE BUNTING, PAGE 11 Center fights political tilt BY LINDSAY MICHEL SENIOR WRITER After catching wind that U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s running mate was hired by UNC to run a research center, Jon Sanders was skeptical. Sanders, a policy analyst and research editor for the John Locke Foundation, believes in the importance of nonpartisan research at public universities. And he is not certain that John Edwards, director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity and a former U.S. senator, has successfully fulfilled that mission. “My sus picion is that (Edwards) and the University of North Carolina are kind of using each other’s ..fojjtlcii Ofp if&sgf the poverty campaign **s9* names to help themselves,” he said. “And Senator Edwards is naturally running for president in 2008 and is in need of a pet issue.” As with many discussions concerning hot-button issues in America today, the poverty debate has become increasingly blue and red. That has led many to question whether the center can approach poverty in a nonpartisan way under Edwards’ leadership. That kind of criticism is not foreign to the center’s staff or to Edwards, who said he has not yet decided to run for president Attempting to put his opposi tion in its place, Edwards often spouts off what could be consid ered his new mantra: There is nothing partisan about poverty. ‘I have a fundamental belief that this is not a partisan issue,” he said. HportS | page 9 AN OPEN BOOK Tim Crothers is set to talk about his biography of UNC women's soccer head coach Anson Dorrance, ‘"The Man Watching,' today in Hamilton 100. ■ •! DTH/AUCIA TOWLER Senior offensive lineman Brian Chacos responds to questions about his embattled coach, saying he's disappointed that the team let Bunting down. Edwards said he hopes to bring scholars and practitioners from all political persuasions to fuel debate and fight for human rights. “What we want to do is marry all of these ideas,” he said. “That’s the way you’re credible when you’re trying to speak to the whole country in a bipartisan way.” Despite his criticism, Sanders said he thinks poverty can be approached objectively. UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity A variety of organizations and individuals have helped shape the poverty center and its programming. //m High-profile individuals || John Sweeney, President of AFL-CIO Jack Kemp, 1996 vice presidential candidate Bill Friday, former UNC-system president David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times William Julius Wilson, professor at Harvard University Katherine 800, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine and a New America senior fellow Kwame Asante, state director, Louisiana NAACP |j J Moauy E Michael Cucchiara and Marty Hayes s2 million donation Park Foundation grant from private funds for the U documentary film UNC School of Law private funds P UNC Office of Provost state appropriations for salaries S A mmmmmmmmmmmm 0 Harvard University MIT g, New York University Princeton University Northwestern University Washington University-St. Louis v UC-Santa Barbara Yale University \ Brandeis University University of Texas-Austin \ Brooklyn Law School University of D.C. School of Law V Brown University Fordham Law School \ | Columbia University Georgetown University flB \ Q Organizations vHF “ N.C. Housing Coalition Heritage Foundation Pew Partnership for Civic Change AFL-CIO Urban League Ministries in Raleigh The Los Angeles Times ■S Vll , New America Foundation The Buffalo News \ Center for Economic and Policy The New York Times Research The Wall Street Journal \v Home Builders Association of Brookings Institute Durham The Cleveland Plain- Georgetown Public Policy Institute Dealer Source: Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity DTH/ Lawson Parker this day in history OCT. 24,1919 The Carolina Playmakers holds its first ‘'caper,' making fun of a production from the previous year and topping off the event with a party. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2006 Bunting's time at UNC 2000 Dec 11: Named UNC's 24th head coach 2001 Dec. 31: Beats Auburn in Peach Bowl 2004 Oct. 30: Upsets Miami at Homecoming Nov. 20: Awarded two-year contract extension 2006 Sept. 23: Loses 52-7 at Clemson Oct. 19: Loses 23-0 at Virginia “I think certainly you can,” said Sanders, an economist by training. “That’s not an issue that either lends itself to Democrat or Republican, and it certainly is an issue that can and should be studied.” When Thomas Kaplan, associate director of programs and manage ment at the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of SEE POVERTY, PAGE 6 weather :‘'*V Sunny W H 54, L3l index police log 2 calendar 2 games 8 sports 11 opinion 12

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