12
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2007
Jordanian students visit UNC
BY KATY DOLL
STAFF WRITER
The word “America” has dif
ferent meanings for different
people, but for a group of visit
ing Jordanian students, it means
opportunity.
Thirteen students from the
Middle Eastern country of Jordan
visited campus Tuesday as part of
a three-week tour of the United
States.
“The purpose of their trip is to
teach them more about democ
racy and civic engagement,” said
UNC senior Stephen Lassiter, who
helped coordinate the event.
The students’ trip is sponsored
by the U.S. Department of State.
The group already has visited
California, Washington, D.C., and
Texas.
The tour continues through
North Carolina and ends March 3
Group discusses adding street vendors
BY SAM WINEKA
STAFF WRITER
Members of the Chapel Hill
Downtown Partnership opted
against the traditional meeting
Tuesday instead, they invited
residents to join them for their
morning cups of coffee.
The partnership met at Franklin
Street’s 3 Cups to hear feedback
from residents on the prospect of
allowing street vendors in down
town Chapel Hill.
“The Town Council asked our
organization to look at something
that may be beneficial for down
town,” said Liz Parham, executive
director of the partnership.
“We’re looking to gain more
feedback from business centers.”
Street vending in Chapel Hill
was banned in 1971 because some
vendors were selling drug para
phernalia.
Parham said the organization
is looking at allowing a market
around Parking Lot 5, across
Franklin Street from University
Square, when the current develop
ment project is completed. Another
option includes allowing vendors
anywhere on Franklin Street.
Parham said the partnership
also is considering recommending
to the council that Franklin Street
businesses be allowed to sell mer
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in New York City.
The students had been in the
United States for 18 days before
their visit to UNC.
“It’s a chance to know how
the political man is thinking and
how you can make diplomacy,”
said Samer Elmasry, a Jordanian
fourth-year student.
Elmasry said he hopes to some
day be prime minister of Jordan
and plans to use the skills he
learned in America to help his
country.
“I will go to any country if there’s
a chance to improve my skills,” he
said.
The group toured the Smith
Center in the morning, had
lunch with several members of
the Campus Y, attended the class
“Defining America” taught by
Professor Larry Griffin, held a
negotiation exercise about resolv
chandise on the sidewalks outside
their stores.
“I’m in favor of having an open
marketplace,” said Betty Maultsby,
who formerly owned the Chapel
Hill Leather Shop on Franklin
Street that was open from 1964 to
1983.
“I have responded to this issue
every time it has come up.”
Maultsby, who was once a street
vendor in New York City, said she
believes that having street vendors
in Chapel Hill will help local busi
nesses, even if businesses are afraid
it will hurt them by taking away
customers.
“It is an issue that recycles and
always gets shot down,” Maultsby
said.
Some residents did share mis
givings about the project.
“I have a hard time seeing how
street vending would help,” said
Mark Sperry, owner of TCBY in
Eastgate Shopping Center.
“I’m not against it. I’m just look
ing at it from both sides.”
Despite his concerns, Sperry said
that if street vendors were allowed,
he would take part.
“I’d be the first one to sign up,”
he said.
Residents at the meeting all
agreed that more should be done
to promote local business.
ing conflict and had dinner with
a group of Muslim and Jewish
students.
“Throughout this interaction,
we hope to create the opportunity
for dialogue and to form substan
tive relationships with people
who it would be more unlikely for
them to form relationships with,”
Lassiter said.
In the negotiation exercise,
Jordanian students were paired
up with UNC students and asked
to talk about their experience
with past conflicts and how they
resolved these.
“It’s always good to interact with
other people from different coun
tries and cultures,” UNC junior
Sam Dolbee said.
“It gives different perspectives
and helps you to think about dif
ferent things.”
Some Jordanian students said
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Betty Maultsby (right) gives her input on street vendors at an open
meeting Tuesday with the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership at 3 Cups.
“I think our concern should be
keeping people in this town from
going to Southpoint,” said Chris
Jones, manager of the BB&T
branch at 143 E. Rosemary St.
“I’d pay good money to be able
to walk outside of my building and
get a paper and a cup of coffee,” he
said.
There will be another meet
ing discussing this topic at 5:30
News
they saw this trip not only as an
opportunity to increase their skills,
but also to explore anew land.
“When I hear America, I hear
my dream come true,” said Eman
Arabyat, a Jordanian college fresh
man.
Arabyat said she knew America
through television and movies that
she had seen.
“I always saw Oprah and always
saw it through Oprah,” she said, “I
love Oprah.”
Arabyat said she was surprised
at how nice and safe everything
has been, especially after America’s
portrayal in many movies.
“It’s so secure here. I can leave
my bag and come back, and it’s still
there,” she said. “That’s a very rare
thing.”
Contact University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
p.m. March 5 at the Ackland Art
Museum.
Parham said no recommen
dation will be made to the Town
Council until after that meeting to
allow people who are unavailable
in the mornings to come speak
out.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
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Samer Elmasry lays down on the N.C. map on the Smith Center floor. He
and his fellow tour participants were amazed by the size of the building.
Greenbridge gets the
go-ahead from council
BY TOM HARTWELL
STAFF WRITER
The environmentally-friend
ly Greenbridge development
approved Monday by the Chapel
Hill Town Council will be some
thing new for North Carolina and
a benchmark for Chapel Hill.
But the “progressive” develop
ment might be a rign of things to
come in more ways than one.
The two condominium buildings’
sustainable design will make them
the first in the state to achieve Gold
Certification under the Leadership
in Energy and Environmental
Design.
And at 10 stories, one of the
buildings will be the tallest in
downtown Chapel Hill.
The vote granting a special use
permit to Greenbridge Developments
LLC, was unanimous.
But council member Bill Thorpe
cast an opposing vote on an earlier
measure considered during the
meeting to rezone the proposed
site between Merritt Mill Road and
South Graham Street.
Thorpe said he thinks allowing
the building to rise up to 10 sto
ries sets a bad precedent for future
projects.
“The project is a good project,”
Thorpe said. “It’s a good use of the
land. It’s just too high for that area.”
Thorpe likened making an excep
tion for Greenbridge to changing
ACC rules midway through a bas
ketball game.
“When they came in with the
Daily sar Hwl
request at the beginning, they knew
it wasn’t supposed to be that high.”
But like it or not, taller buildings
are in Chapel Hill’s future, council
member Cam Hill said.
“Chapel Hill is going to grow,” he
said. “And we can’t grow out, so we
have to grow up.”
The town’s ongoing plans for
the Lot 5 development on Franklin
Street involve nine-story buildings.
And in October, Chapel Hill
representatives pushed University
leaders to consider making taller
buildings a feature of UNC’s pro
posed satellite campus, Carolina
North, to better accommodate
employees who will work there.
“If it reduces the footprint by
increasing the height, then it’s
worth considering,” Hill said.
Greenbridge partner Tim Toben,
who heads up the project, said in
an interview earlier this month
that height and density also are
part of the philosophy behind
Greenbridge.
“What we don’t want to see is
suburban sprawl,” he said.
Resident reactions to the news
have been mixed.
In his Cingular Wireless store
across the street from the site, Red
Elagi said the project could benefit
the neighborhood.
“It will be good for the area,” he
said. “It will bring jobs and business,
and there will be more protection.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.