VOLUME 115, ISSUE 39
Response to lead discovery criticized
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Professor Paul Hood pours himself some water from the coolers next to the unusable
water fountains in Chapman Hall. The building's water is contaminated with lead.
Students say
climate good
for writing
BY ALLISON NICHOLS
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
One of the seven stories Kyle
Fried submitted for his senior hon
ors fiction thesis follows three peo
ple as they navigate a post-apoca
lyptic world.
Americans
begin killing
each other for
possessions
such as guns,
food and water
after the coun
try converts to
communism.
A
The Aftermath
Fried said that although the
story’s violence bothered some
classmates, they offered construc
tive criticism rather than disgust.
“People focused on the aspect
of it being a story, and no one said,
'Why would you write this?’”
Students and faculty in UNC’s
creative writing program stressed
the importance of separating fic
tion from its creator after events
leading up to the Virginia Tech
shooting raised concerns nation
wide about creative license.
English major Seung-Hui Cho
had disturbed classmates and pro
fessors with his violent writings
months before the April 16 killing
of 32 on Va. Tech’s campus in the
deadliest shooting in U.S. history.
“When we, who are here, hear
about what we all heard about
last week, we’re just stunned and
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horrified, as much as anybody,”
said Bland Simpson director of the
UNC creative writing program.
“It’s so far beyond any of our
experiences at the University.”
Junior Daniel Cothran, who was
accepted to next year’s senior honors
poetry class, said UNC’s program is
strong because professors and class
mates get to know each other dur
ing the course of the semester.
“A lot of times we write about
subjects that are very intimate,”
he said. “When somebody writes
something that might be a little bit
disturbing, we have some knowl
edge of them beforehand, and we
can judge it with a grain of salt.”
Simpson attributed that approach
to the legacy of author and profes
sor Max Steele, who directed the
program from 1967-86.
“He just emphasized that his
students and all writers need to
understand the difference between
themselves and the text,” he said.
Ross White, poetry professor and
UNC alumnus, said it is important
not to infer too much from a person’s
writing, because knowing what the
writer hoped to accomplish is dif
ficult without proper context
“You have to be really diligent
about protecting the imagination.”
Fried said his story that describes
a materialistic America-turned
communist was an exercise in trying
SEE WRITING, PAGE 13
city | |w' 1
SEEKING SAFETY
Residents of Northside voice
concern to the Town Council
that there still is not enough
police presence in their
neighborhood.
www.dailytaiheel.com
Officials say affected
people were notified
BY KEVIN KILEY
STAFF WRITER
Today’s dedication of Caudill Labs will be
marred by its recently discovered lead-con
taminated water and the announcement of
a third campus building’s contamination.
The discovery Monday of lead in the
water supply of the new Information
Technology Services building on
Manning Drive follows the discovery of
lead in Caudill and Chapman Hall earlier
this month.
The combination of the new contami
nation and continued uncertainty about
the science building contaminations have
raised concerns about the University’s
communication to the campus commu
nity about the issue.
“All we need is a safe work environ
ment and our questions to be answered,”
said Leslie Sombers, a post-doctoral
research assistant in the Department of
Chemistry who spends up to 10 hours a
day in Caudill.
The contamination in Chapman and
Caudill was discovered after students and
faculty complained about an odd taste
and look to die drinking water.
The water was tested and showed ele
vated levels of lead in some cases 14
times a safe level.
These results were deemed inaccurate
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A sign hung above the water fountains warns
passersby of the danger of Chapman Hall's water.
Athletics costs outpace returns
BY LINDSAY MICHEL, BRIAN SOPP
AND MICHAELE STAFFORD
Contrary to popular belief, most Division I athlet
ics programs are not profitable.
Myles Brand, president of the NCAA, said that
during the last decade only six
institutions consistently had ath
letic revenue surpluses at the end
of the fiscal year.
“In fact, 52 percent of all
Division I-A programs require
The state of
athletics:
Part4of4 YN
subsidies greater than 5 percent every year,” Brand
said during his annual State of the Association
Address in January. “For these institutions, keeping
up with the pace means ever-in Creasing subsidies,
as well as institutional investments for facilities that
could have long-term financial impact.”
Even athletics programs that do not require large
subsidies often fail to generate the revenue that uni
versity administrators expect.
Depending on how financial data is reported, an
athletic department can appear more financially sue-
Fletcher juggles tasks on and off field
BY KRISTIN PRATT
SENIOR WRITER
Bond. James Bond.
No. 6 on the North Carolina
men’s lacrosse team garnered 007
status last summer while on his
Morehead Scholar travel study
program in India for running.
“The people ended up calling me
‘James Bond’ because they thought
that I was doing these secret mis
sions and going on all these crazy
adventures,” said Fletcher Gregory,
a junior defensive midfielder and
team captain.
For some, jetting to India to
intern for Wachovia and learn
about globalization and business
for six weeks might seem a little
intense especially after travel
ing to Japan with the UNC team
after students in the labs informed offi
cials that the system was flushed prior to
the testing.
“I guess one of the last days of March,
all the water started running all the time
with signs that said, ‘Do not turn off,’”
Sombers said.
These students, who were not informed
that the flushing was conducted by the
contractor and therefore not related to
their complaints, said it worried them.
“When something like that happens,
and you’re not told why, it makes you ner
vous,” said Jelena Petrovic, who works in
the labs.
Though students and faculty with cours
es in the buildings have been notified, an
informational e-mail about the situation
has not been sent to the entire campus.
Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chan
cellor for campus services, said the
appropriate students and faculty were
told of the problem.
“We notified the people we thought
would be affected by what was found,” she
said. “If we find through our testingthat
other areas could be impacted, of course
we’ll notify the rest of those affected.”
While the results were deemed inac
curate, officials said they shut off water
fountains in the three sites and have post
ed signs informing people of the danger.
The signs were written in English,
leaving some Spanish-speaking employ
ees in the dark about the problem.
Elfland said that issue has been
addressed, as signs were posted in
cessful than it is, said Bill Friday, former UNC-system
president and founding co-chairman of the Knight
Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
“Taxpayer money goes into maintaining stadiums,
coliseums, all of these things,” he said. “And when
people just take gate receipts as against expenditure,
that doesn’t tell the story at all.”
Although the NCAA has found that Division I ath
letics programs are not profitable, the data reported to
the U.S. Department of Education under the Equity in
Athletics Disclosure Act shows a different picture.
During the 2004-05 school year 110 out of 120
Division I athletics programs broke even or made a
profit, according to the EADA data.
But there are discrepancies between the EADA
data and the NCAA data for individual schools, as
well as in the aggregate.
For example, the athletics department at N.C. State
University made about $250,000 in 2005, according
to the EADA reports. But N.C. State athletics ran a
SEE FINANCES, PAGE 13
ATTEND THE GAME
Time: 8:30 p.m. Friday
Location: Durham, Duke campus
Info: www.tarheelblue.com
to participate in the International
Lacrosse Friendship Games.
For Gregory, it was simply part
of meshing his roles as a varsity
athlete and a Morehead Scholar.
Gregory, also a member of Phi
Delta Theta fraternity, received the
Athletic Director’s Scholar-Athlete
Award for this year’s men’s lacrosse
team on Monday at the All-Sports
Banquet.
“He’s a complete person,” UNC
head coach John Haus said. “He’s
involved academically at the high-
SEE GREGORY, PAGE 13
dive | W 7
SONGS OF SUMMER
Diversions says farewell with
sentiment with "Summertime
Jamz," a tracklist to the
hypothetical mixtape we made
from the bottoms of our hearts.
lead contamination
► The most common cause of lead
poisoning is ingestion, and actual
poisoning levels vary from person
to person.
► Adults absorb about 20 percent of
lead in water, while children absorb
about 70 percent.
► A child experiences lead poison
ing when blood lead level is 10
micrograms per deciliter or greater.
SOURCE: N.C. Department of Health
and Human Services
DTH FILE/DAVID ENARSON
Junior Fletcher Gregory, carrying the ball down the field during UNC’s win
Saturday against Providence, is both a Morehead Scholar and team captain.
this day in history
APRIL 27,1990...
Trustees discuss plans to require
students to declare a major by
their seventh semester at UNC, on
penalty of having class registration
canceled until a major is chosen.
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2007
Spanish on Tuesday.
“We have communicated with each
housekeeping employee in the affected
buildings on a one-on-one basis,” she said.
Those concerned can get tested at
Campus Health Services for $lB. Free
testing is being offered to pregnant and
nursing mothers and children under six
years old who might have been exposed
to the contamination.
“Developing children are especially at
risk for the effects of lead,” N.C. toxicolo
gist Luanne Williams said.
Petrovic said she was turned away from
campus health when she approached offi
cials about getting tested.
“They told me that at this time, they
were only testing special groups,” she said.
Campus health officials said that such
a scenario was probably the result of mis
communication.
“Students would not be denied if
exposures and risks are reasonable, but
only certain groups were covered by the
University,” said Carol Kozel, director of
nursing for campus health. “That’s where
some of the confusion came in.”
With the results on the exact level of
contamination pending, UNC is working
to identify the cause of the problem.
Marc Edwards, professor of civil and
environmental engineering at Virginia
Tech, is working with UNC to uncover
the source of the contamination.
He said that lead contamination can
SEE LEAD, PAGE 13
►Effects are not seen in adults until
levels of 30 microgram/dL, with one
of the earliest effects being increased
blood pressure.
► By drinking half a liter of con
taminated water with lead level of
100 microgram/dL, a pregnant or
nursing woman can reach the child
effect level of lead poisoning.
► Half the lead present in blood
leaves the system after 28 days,
though it takes five years for lead
to leave completely.
Who makes what?
Annual institutional
head coach salaries
Duke University
Men’s teams: $170,432
Women's teams: $85,639
N.C. State University
Men's teams: $87,486
Women's teams: $67,148
UNC
Men's teams: $125,113
Women's teams: $86,210
Wake Forest University
Men's teams: $303,337
Women's teams: $79,062
SOURCE: 2005-06 data from U.S.
Department of Education and the
Office of Post Secondaiy Education
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