VOLUME 115, ISSUE 4
Congress almost lifts CAA from Code
Allred leaves meeting prematurely in protest
BY MAC MOLLISON
SENIOR WRITER
Student Congress came within a hair
breadth of ejecting the Carolina Athletic
Association from the purview of student
government Ihesday night.
In a vote breaking an eight-to-eight tie,
Speaker Luke Farley chose to kill the bill
rather than accept an amendment that
would have salvaged student body elec
tions for the post of CAA president.
UNC black
faculty point
to progress
BY COM SUE MORRIS
STAFF WRITER
In 1966 Hortense McClinton
became the first black professor
at UNC. She taught in the School
of Social Work for 18 years.
Less than
30 years after
McClinton
arrived, the
University had
progressed so
Black
History
Month
much that it had the most blacks
holding endowed chaired professor
ships of any American university.
in April 1993 UNC had 11 out
of the country’s total 74 of these
professors, who taught a variety
of fields ranging from chemistry
to philosophy.
One of these professors was
Charles Daye, who still teaches in
GOP sifts through
governor’s budget
Want temporary
taxes to expire
BY ERIN FRANCE
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
RALEIGH The continuing
debate on the state budget cen
ters on more than just percent
age points and fund allocations;
it strikes at what legislators see as
the responsibility of the state.
Republicans argue that part
of that responsibility is to allow
two taxes, on sales and income, to
expire this year.
The taxes were passed as tempo
rary measures, but are renewed in
Gov. Mike Easley’s 2007-09 budget
in order to raise more than S3OO
million in revenue in a year’s time.
“I do not support continuing
those sales tax increases,” said Rep.
Cary Allred, R-Alamance, who is
on the appropriations committee.
“I believe the legislature should
Local rapper wants you to get your lyrical fix
BY DAVE PEARSON
STAFF WRITER
A lot of people try their best to fit in, but Billy
Sugarfix is looking for those who aren’t scared
to fly their freak flag at least in writing.
Sugarfix, whose real name is Bill McCormick,
announced a contest for weird poetry on his
blog, Surreal O’ Rama.
Sugarfix earned local notoriety with his
song-a-day for 100 days podcast and with the
“It’s Carrboro” rap, which spotlights local busi
nesses, that he created with Brian Risk
He said the Surreal O’ Rama Song Poem
Bizarre Lyrics Contest is a throwback to a 1970s
subculture fad during which advertising groups
charged people to set their poetry to music.
CORRECTION
Due to an editing error, the
left photo that ran with the
Itiesday front page story, “The
times have a-changed,” was
incorrectly attributed. It should
have read, “Copyright Don
Sturkey, 1969, North Carolina
Collection.” The Daily Thr Heel
apologizes for the error.
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The vote came shortly after Student
Body President James Allred left the meet
ing in protest. Congress adviser Jon Curtis
also left the meeting at the same time.
The bill was drafted in response to a
Student Supreme Court case brought
against Congress by CAA earlier this
month after representatives passed legisla
tion that revoked their access to privileged
tickets to varsity men’s basketball games.
CAA, which helps distribute basketball
the School of Law. Daye, who began
teaching in 1972, said he believes the
challenges he has faced throughout
his career have been no different
than those of other faculty.
Although Daye said he believes
there has been improvement in fac
ulty diversity through the years, he
said it has been hard to sustain.
“People come, and sometimes
they don’t stay, retire or pass
away,” he said.
Toiday UNC has 130 black facul
ty members, representing about 4.5
percent of UNC’s 2,885 total fac
ulty, according to the most recent
data from the Office of Institutional
Research and Assessment.
Black students make up about
9.9 percent of the University’s
SEE BLACK FACULTY, PAGE 5
keep its word to the people.”
Some source of funds will have
to be found to replace the nec
essary revenue if the taxes are
allowed to expire on time, said
Chris Fitzsimon, the director of
N.C. Policy Watch.
“It would be irresponsible to
not collect taxes in a year where
there are so many needs in our
state,” he said. “My position is that
fundamentally... we should assess
what we can reasonably do.”
And while education is a big
priority for the state and is prop
erly addressed, other needs are
not mentioned in the budget,
Fitzsimon said.
“No one that I know believes
there’s adequate resources for the
mental health system,” he said.
The state put a cap on the num
ber of mental health patients the
four state hospitals could admit this
month, sending the excess into local
SEE BUDGET, PAGE 5
Sugarfix said the campaign was a thinly
veiled scam, but some individuals saw it as an
opportunity to expose their weirdness by writ
ing truly strange poems just to find out what
they would sound like set to music.
Once a full-time elementary teacher, Sugarfix
also recently taught a music composition class for
children at The Arts Center in Carrboro. He said
his experience with the kids’ nonlinear approach
to music inspired him to create die contest.
“I wanted to see if I could get the same results
with people sending me whatever,” he said.
Sugarfix also works as a song composer for hire,
but said most commissions are rather straightfor
ward, and he wanted to do more creative work.
“I miss doing the strange songs and wanted
Online I dailytarheel.com
PREPPING FOR THE FUTURE Leaders
discuss entrepreneurship and education
SETTING AN ALLOWANCE Carrboro
holds a public hearing on the town budget
DTH MULTIMEDIA View a slideshow
with audio from Tuesday's protest story
www.dailytarheel.com
tickets and oversees Carolina Fever, won
the case, arguing that it derived its author
ity from the Department of Athletics rath
er than the student body.
“After close examination, I am of the
opinion that CAA, in its current form,
serves sometimes contradictory constit
uencies, and as such has no place in the
Student Code,” Chief Justice Matt Liles
wrote in the opinion of the Court.
Congress’ bill would have stricken Title
VII, which outlines rules concerning CAA,
and removed some other references to
CAA in the Code.
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Kathleen Barton (left) sits with Leila Fallahi, Sima Fallahi's daughter, as Leila explains what she will say to her mother when she
visits her in jail this weekend: "I love you." Sima Fallahi is awaiting a decision determining if she will be deported to her native Iran.
Carrboro resident faces deportation
BY SARA GREGORY
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
Sima Fallahi and her daughter
Leila haven’t hugged since Nov. 29.
Sunday, the two will be able to
meet outside the glass partition
that has separated them for the
past three months.
“I get to see my mom and touch
her and hug her,” 11-year-old Leila
said. “She took a parenting class,
and now we get to do activities
together when I visit.”
Detained by Chapel Hill police
last November after a routine back
ground check found an outstanding
warrant for her deportation, Fallahi
was confined at Mecklenburg
County Jail on Dec. 1.
Friends of Fallahi said an
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officer is scheduled
to make a decision today on the
status of her custody. His decision
will determine if she will be allowed
on a supervised release from jail.
to do some more weird stuff” he said.
The Surreal O’ Rama blog began as a place for
him to post his fiction writing, although he said
that lately the contest has taken over the site.
Sugarfix was able to bring in four respected
judges for the offbeat contest: underground rock
veteran Jad Fair of Half Japanese; Salon.com and
Village Voice music critic Franklin Bruno; Seth
Falkner of the popular Urban Coffee podcast; and
Large Hearted Boy blogger David Gutowski.
“Its like expecting the bronze and getting the
gold,” Sugarfix said, of confirming the judges.
The contest is open to anyone, anywhere until
March 10, when the judges will review all entries
SEE LYRICS, PAGE 5
campus I page 12
JORDAN COMES TO UNC
A gupup of students from
Jordan have been traveling
across the United States and
stopped Tuesday at UNC, visiting
spots such as the Smith Center.
“This legislation is just the bitter recogni
tion that we don’t have any authority over
them,” Farley said at Tuesday’s meeting.
But CAA President Rachel High circu
lated a letter strongly requesting that the
CAA remain in the Code for purposes of
student elections.
“The CAA president is, indeed, the voice
of the students when it comes to athlet
ics,” she wrote. “For that reason, the CAA
should remain in Title VI of the Code.”
Student affairs committee chairman Tiler
Younts said High’s request “baffled” him.
“In court they argued that their author
Police found a “final order for
removal” deportation orders for
the Iranian-born woman who has
lived in the United States since
1985 when Fallahi applied for
a street vendor permit Nov. 27.
When she returned to the police
station to pick up the permit Nov.
29, police arrested Fallahi and
took her to Orange County Jail.
There, Fallahi tried to reach
someone to take care of Leila
Fallahi was unsuccessful, and
Leila returned home from school
to an empty house and spent five
hours alone before friends of
Fallahi’s picked up the child.
Fallahi eventually would identify
Kathleen Barton and Bob Wright,
an engaged couple she introduced
to one another two years ago, as
Leila’s temporary guardians.
“We owe Sima one, and this is a
big one that we’re trying to pay her
back with,” said Wright, who lob
bied the Chapel Hill Town Council
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2007
ity came from the administration via the
athletic department, and therefore we
couldn’t regulate them,” he said.
Finance committee chairman Val
Tenyotkin introduced the amendment to
leave allowances for the election of the
CAA president in the Code.
Tenyotkin and other representatives
advocated working with the CAA in a delib
erative process to create anew Title VII
that would recognize that CAAs authority
is derived from University administrators
SEE CAA, PAGE 5
on Monday to offer aid to Fallahi.
The couple also found Fallahi’s
legal representation, and they are
footing many of the legal bills.
Coming to America
Fallahi entered the U.S. on a
student visa, but when it expired
in 1996, she failed to acquire a
nonstudent visa.
Staying permanently was never
Fallahi’s intent, but her conversion
to the Unitarian faith and Leila,
born out-of-wedlock, made her
reconsider returning to her native
Abadan, in southern Iran.
Barton said Fallahi’s religion
and single motherhood wouldn’t
be accepted in Iran.
Fallahi hired Greensboro attor
ney Manlin Chee to handle a 1999
application for political asylum,
but the request was denied after
Fallahi missed a hearing, said
Randall Stroud, who now is rep
resenting Fallahi. A judge issued
SEE SEPARATED, PAGE 5
Sample lyrics from a
"Song Poem"
My menthol scented nasal dialator
keeps me from snoring at night
I place it upon my septum
then I tuck myself in tight
I dream of Sasquatch's little brother
medium foot is his name
he dances with the loch ness monster
who happens to have the same
problem as me
restless sleep
but she cant count sheep
because she eats (them)
-Provided by Billy Sugarfix
this day in history
FEB. 28,1936...
An organized UNC alumni
movement to unseat University
President Frank Porter Graham
for being "too liberal* is
discovered.
Sima Fallahi's
time in the U.S.
1985
Sima Fallahi comes to
America from Iran on a
student visa
1996
Fallahi's student visa expires
1999
Fallahi files for political
asylum
1999
Fallahi's appeal for asylum is
denied
Nov. 29
Chapel Hill police arrest
Fallahi after discovering an
outstanding warrant for her
deportation
Today
An Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officer is
expected to make a decision
on her custody status
To enter the contest
► E-mail your lyrics to
billysugarfix@gmail.com with the
subject line "Bizarre Lyrics"
► Mail them to Billy Sugarfix, 104
Bim St. Carrboro, NC, 27510 with a
$1 handling fee.
► Submissions will be accepted
until March 10.
► Visit Sugarfix's blog for more
information:
http://billysugarfix.blogspot.com/
► If you missed the “It's Carrboro"
music video, check it out here:
itscarrboro.com/download-the-its
carrboro-rap-video/
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