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VOLUME 115, ISSUE 120 Opera singer to speak at graduation BY KATY DOLL ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR Singer Jessye Norman will be the May 11 Commencement speaker, Chancellor James Moeser announced Tuesday. The soprano is a performing art ist known for her work in operas. “It is a fitting choice for a chan cellor whose legacy will be at least in part the performing arts at Carolina,” said Steve Allred, SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS Students research water shortage BY ANDREW DUNN FEATURES EDITOR In an unassuming office at the School of Public Health, two graduate students are trying to solve the state’s water supply problems. As North Carolina continues to reel from the drought that has plagued it for months, Casey Caldwell and Brian Kirsch analyze water supply data and make com puter models that could influence how local governments make deci sions about water use. “You can’t stop drinking water. You can’t stop showering,” Kirsch said. “Our research can give them information to make those deci sions.” Caldwell, who is working on a master’s degree, is the primary contact with Orange Water and Sewer Authority. He has gathered data on water amounts from the past 75 years and uses those numbers and pro jected demand to calculate the percent chance that Chapel Hill’s reservoirs will fail in a given year. Failure status for OWASA and for most townships is reached when water levels fall below 20 percent. The supply currently stands at about 47 percent. Kirsch, a Ph.D. student, is work ing on a project a little more aca demic than hands-on, he said. Though he helps Caldwell in his project as well, Kirsch is investi gating how pur chasing water on a free market and securing rights similar to stock options could help in the future. The two work under professor Greg Characklis, who has been studying water supply issues for six years. The main question he wants to answer: “How do we make sure every one has enough water when they turn on the tap?” he said. Caldwell and Kirsch’s models Chemical explosion evacuates lab BY SARA GREGORY SENIOR WRITER A chemical explosion at Morehead Labs sent two students to the hospital and closed part of South Road on Tuesday afternoon. Freshman Andrea Hall and junior Robert McKee were disposing of two chemi cals when the explosion occurred at about 3:50 p.m. The two were working on the first See dailytarheel. com for a video on the response to the accident. floor of the building. Department of Public Safety spokesman Randy Young said it was unclear how many people were in the build ing when the accident occurred, though one person was working in the room next door. online I (iailytarhwl.com UNDER ONE ROOF Five nonprofits that share a building held an open house. BUCKLE UP CHCCS district lr~ks into implementing seat belts on school buses. COMMENTARY The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman spoke in Durham. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Obr latln ®ar Mppl executive associate provost and chairman of the Commencement speaker advisory committee. This decision came a few months later in the semester than past years, but Allred said the timeline depends on the chancellor. “There’s always a number of vari ables, including confirming avail ability” he said. “There were some logistical com plications, but they were overcome.” 1 1 Jm SS ~ . i at a ■ JM LhBHI f An Hk El h| a i? JM M . BBT M > ■ ii ihhiwf 11 i" • ”-i,i Mi l "jsi h Wmmf 'lil Hi M / r~-'ifi r fm DTH/SARAH RANSOHOFF Master's student Casey Caldwell discusses his plans for water conservation on Tuesday with his project partner, doctoral student Brian Kirsch (not pictured). Caldwell and Kirsch are working with data-based computer models to help local governments make decisions about water shortages. track water from rainfall to reser voirs to treatment plants. With that data, the two try to develop solutions that will sat isfy the demands of central North Carolina for the next 20 to 30 years as the region’s population continues to grow. And those answers need to be both economically and politically feasible. “They’re looking to meet their needs in the least expensive way possible,” Kirsch said about town governments. Hall and McKee were trans ported to UNC Hospitals. McKee, who received a cut above his right eye, was sprayed down at the scene. Hall had no visible injuries at the scene, Young said. The two were treated and released. Young said the explosion was “very small.” “It’s essentially been contained, although they’re going up and doing a cleanup,” Young said. “We do not know that those two chemicals being combined is the cause of all this.” Ray Hackney, acting director of the Department of Environment, Health and Safety, which is inves tigating the incident, said it is unclear what kinds of chemicals caused the explosion. “Some containers of waste in a prep room in Morehead Laboratories exploded, probably due to incompatible chemicals,” Hackney said. opinion | pugvs <>-7 REPORT CARD MARKS Find out what the DTH Editorial Board thinks about the progress elected student officials have made so far this year toward fulfilling their platform promises. www.dailytarheel.com In past years, speakers have been entrepreneurs, professors or government officials. Norman, who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for Classical Music at the Grammy Awards in 2006, is the only perfor mance artist to serve as speaker in the past 10 years, Allred said. “The chancellor actually has met her and knows her,” he said. “I expect that the message this will Two UNC graduate students are looking to answer questions about North Carolina’s water supply problems. The cheapest way Caldwell said they have found is to utilize piping systems to bring water from sur rounding towns. In Chapel Hill’s case, it would come through Cary from Jordan Lake. Another method would be to create regional surface water treat ment plants, so small towns that can’t afford their own can band together to tap previously unavail able water sources. Asa last resort, the state could look into creating more reservoirs Pul jj, ‘| I fl| NB& os , • '■‘y, '■waHfr *3aEr DTH/BRYAN REED Firefighters rinse junior Robert McKee after a chemical explosion in Morehead Labs on Tuesday. He was then taken to UNC Hospitals. University police closed South Road from South Columbia Street to Stadium Drive shortly after the explosion. Officers diverted traffic until the street reopened about 6:10 rm T * Jessye Norman is the only performance artist to serve as Commencement speaker in the past 10 years. send to graduates and their families is that it’s not just all about making money.” by using dams. That, however, is not desirable because of the money it would cost, Kirsch said. Characklis said the regional water-sharing plans are the best long-term solution. The tradition, he said, is for individual cities to develop their own water-supply policies. But banding together would be less expensive utilizing the benefits of the economy of scale —and could reduce the environ mental costs. p.m., University spokeswoman Lisa Katz said. A fire alarm was pulled to evacu- SEE EXPLOSION, PAGE 5 university I page; 4 HOMELESS AWARENESS Homelessness Awareness Day T-shirts are among the items sold in Polk Place at an event sponsored by campus groups to draw attention to homelessness. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2007 Reactions have been mixed, with several seniors saying they didn’t recognize her name. “I would have liked to have had someone like Madeleine Albright or a government speaker, but it should be interesting to see,” senior biology major Joe Newberg said, adding that he thinks Norman will bring a different perspective. Others said they weren’t famil iar with Norman but were excited And though Characklis said this year’s drought would have caused a pinch no matter what measures were in place, he said action will have to be taken as the region’s population increases. “There’s a need for communities to have a wide range of options,” he said. “If we don’t begin to think about water supply much more carefully, even less serious droughts will lead to shortages.” Contact the Features Editor atfeatures@unc.edu. Chapel Hill working toward finance reform BY ROSE ANNA LAUDICINA STAFF WRITER Chapel Hill town leaders met TViesday morning to discuss enact ing and drafting anew campaign finance ihitiative. Mayor Kevin Foy’s committee on finance reform is working on implementing legislati on passed by the N.C. General Assembly during the summer that will make Chapel Hill the first town in North Carolina to publicly finance elections. The legislation authorizes the town to publicly finance the 2009 and 2011 town elections. The committee decided that public input would be necessary during the drafting process. “All that Chapel Hill has received so far is the legislation to create the public finance program,” said Adam Sotak, the organizing direc tor of Democracy North Carolina, this clay in history NOV. 28,1959... Student Council denies a request to hold anew election for all candidates who won by a less than-50 vote majority, saying there are not sufficient grounds. to have an artist as a speaker. “I always like it when artists are Commencement speakers,” said senior Andrew Chan, an English and Chinese double major. Norman’s career doesn’t directly apply to all seniors, but Allred said her speech will be interesting. Still, some seniors said they think her experiences do not relate SEE NORMAN, PAGE 5 Input sought on new center Developers to talk innovation BY KAYLA CARRICK CITY EDITOR Representatives from the larg est lab developer in the Triangle will be on hand Thursday to receive community input on their plans to make UNC a leading destination for research scientists and venture capitalist firms. The high-profile Pasadena, Calif.-based developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. plans to partner with the University to build an 85,000-square-foot business incubator on the prop erty of Carolina North, UNC’s planned satellite campus. The project is slated for the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the former Municipal Drive. Early plans for the innovation center call for office and laboratory space, along with business experts and venture capital firms to invest in the adolescent companies, said Alexandria CEO Joel Marcus. University officials and Alexandria representatives have worked for more than a year to develop the model for the center. “It’s pretty much a done deal,” SEE INNOVATION, PAGE 5 ATTEND THE MEETING Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday Location: Robert and Pearl Seymour Center, 2551 Homestead Road Info: research.unc.edu/cn/ community.php which supports the public financ ing of local campaigns. “It is up to the members of the council, with public input that is good and workable for the city of Chapel Hill.” In order to develop a viable plan, Town Council members said that besides public input, they also need to look outside North Carolina to places such as Portland, Ore., and Albuquerque, N.M., for working models to guide their planning. “We aren’t seeking to be pio neers,” said council member Sally Greene, who is serving on the may or’s finance reform committee. “Although, it would be great if we become (a model) for others to look at.” Council member Mark Kleinschmidt, who might be SEE FINANCE, PAGE 5 weather Sunny H 59, L 37 index police log 2 calendar 2 sports 9 games 9 opinion 10
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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