VOLUME 115, ISSUE 140
Sapikowski will plead guilty
Plans to confess to parents’ murder
BY DAVE PEARSON
SENIOR WRITER
HILLSBOROUGH - Adam
Sapikowski pleaded guilty Friday
to the first of three charges against
him for the slaying of his parents
in 2005.
Ranks of reporters watched from
the back rows of the courthouse as
the next 40 to 50 years of the young
defendants life were decided.
Sapikowski stood, his head slight
ly bowed, as his sentence was told to
him: between 40.4 and 50 years for
all charges. He will not receive credit
for the time he has spent incarcer
ated since May 2005.
Those present were silent as they
strained to hear Sapikowski's quiet
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Ross McKinnon, aka Lothar, jams on his air guitar during UNC's first air guitar competition Friday in Gerrard Hall. He went on to win after
beating fellow students Juan Endholy and Tim Chang in the compulsory run-off set to' I Believe In A Thing Called Love,' by The Darkness.
CSU paper facing
Gannett takeover
BY REBECCA PUTTERMAN
ASSISTANT STATE A NATIONAL EDITOR
Students at Colorado State
University are up in arms in defense
of their First Amendment rights.
The prospect of their student
run newspaper becoming part of
an international media conglom
erate was discussed behind closed
doors last week triggered by
overtures made bv the university’s
president.
The deal on the table would
merge CSU’s The Rocky Mountain
Collegian with The Coloradoan, a
local paper owned by the media
giant Gannett
“This (paper) has been com
pletely student run for 117 years
we intend to keep it that way,'
said Jeremy Trujillo, The Rocky
Mountain Collegian newsroom
manager and a senior at CSU.
He said all 70 news staffers
support protests that began at
Online I dmlytarheel.com
DROPPING OUT N.C. General Assembly
grants target high school dropout rates.
SEGREGATION LESSON Students
see a documentary promoting tolerance.
NUCLEAR PLANTS Some worry about
low water levels affecting power plants.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
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voice as he spoke to the judge.
The hearing began with Orange
County Superior Court Judge Carl
Fox examining documents regard
ing Sapikowski's mental compe
tency to stand trial.
Sapikowski, now 20, was evalu
ated during 2006 and 2007 and
was found fit to stand trial.
He pleaded guilty to one count
of obstruction of justice Friday
for attempting to mislead family
members and authorities as to the
whereabouts of his parents after he
had killed them.
His lawyer, Rosemary Godwin,
announced Sapikowski's desire to
plead guilty to two separate charges
of second-degree murder for the
ROCKIN' ON AIR
Tuesday's meeting after they were
tipped off to the possible deal.
‘A lot of the discussion tak
ing place is behind closed doors
with no student input or over
sight, so that alone raises serious
alarm bells," said Mike Hiestand,
an attorney at the Student Press
Law Center, which advocates for
student free-press rights.
The possible merger comes in
the aftermath of a questionable
editorial published in September
by the student paper.
The editorial was in response to
the Tasing of a Florida University
student that read only: “Thser this
... F— Bush.'
Hiestand said the university
president, displeased with some
editorial decisions, appears to be
considering a buyout in the face of
laws protecting student press from
SEE NEWSPAPER, PAGE 6
artS | page 7
TOPDOG' AT UNC
The Pulitzer Prize-winning
play, put on by Playmakers
Repertory Company, will run
through March 2 at the Paul
Green Theatre.
www.dailytarheeLcom
deaths ofhis parents, Jim Sapikowski
and Alison Powell Sapikowski.
The plea arrangement means
Sapikowski won’t face first-degree
murder charges and instead will
accept the second-degree charges.
By pleading guilty to the first
charge separately, Sapikowski will,
in effect, have a prior record when
the court considers the subsequent
murder charges.
Family members released a writ
ten statement via their attorney,
Richard Glaser Jr., in which they
indicated their support for pleas.
Orange County District Attorney
Jim Woodall told Fox he supports
the plea arrangement.
If Sapikowski pleaded not guilty,
a trial would have been required
and his sentence likely would have
been much greater.
Style drives Obama win
DTH/JUUE TUWEWITZ
Sen. Barack Obama speaks at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention
Center after hearing that he won the Democratic South Carolina primary.
‘The thought of a trial, and
the reopening of wounds that are
still healing, was not inviting to
any family member," the family's
release states.
Jim Sapikowski was the UNC ice
hockey coach and owned the busi
ness J 5 Inc. Oil & Gas with his wife.
In Woodall's account of the events
Friday, Sapikowski killed his par
ents with a shotgun the morning of
April 29, 2005. though the district
attorney pointed out that evidence
suggests the killings took place ear
lier. Sapikowski told friends, family
members and employees ofhis par
ents that the couple had left town
suddenly, Woodall said.
Friends who visited the house at
29 Whitley Drive in Chapel Hill said
SEE SAPIKOWSKI. PAGE 6
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PROTEST FOR PALESTINE
About 45 people gather at the
Franklin Street post office to
protest Palestinian human rights
violations and the United States'
support of the Israeli government.
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DTH/ANKIT GUPTA
Adam Sapikowski stands trial for the murder of his parents, Alison and
Jim Sapikowski. He will be sentenced within the next few weeks.
Student contestants square off in
UNC’s first air guitar competition
BY BENNETT CAMPBELL
ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR
As Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” blared through the speak
ers, 11 competitors entered Gerrard Hall sporting pink bandanas,
skin-tight jeans and studded belts.
Their friends followed in tow. raising homemade signs and
chanting the performers' stage names, steadily filling the balcony
and polluting the air with palpable enthusiasm.
Participants in UNC's first air guitar championship, presented
by Carolina Union Activities Board, transformed the recently
renovated building into a rampage of aimess Friday night, pol
ishing off ear-piercing riffs and crowd-pleasing gyrations.
“This is a lot bigger than 1 expected." said sophomore Brady
Mcßevnolds, aka Mystery Meat, donning a form-fitting Pikachu
T-shirt from Hot Topic to compliment his red-and-black striped
wristbands and gelled, spiked hair.
ONLINE “Your costume says a lot, though, so right
now there are only two or three guys I’m wor-
See a video of tied about.’
the ads and As Mcßevnolds and the other contestants
vote for your gathered on the main floor, the event's master
favorite at daily of ceremonies. Dan Crane, or Bjorn Turoque.
tarheel.com. as he is known in air guitar circles, began the
competition Black Sabbath's “War Pigs."
Crane then introduced the judges Student Body President
Eve Carson, The Daily Tar Heel Diversions Editor Brvan Reed
and CUAB music chairman Tom Allin —and explained the judg
ing process, based on a 4.0 to 6.0 Olympic figure skating scale.
“Keep in mind now, I’m a professional,’ Crane said. “So you
might not see something like that again tonight. But I have high
hopes for Chapel Hill."
Judging by the audience's response for the next hour and a
half, Cranes hopes were met.
Sophomore Luke Lin, stage name Air China, hopped, skipped
and moonwalked his way into one judge’s good graces with the
Red Hot Chili Peppers' “Suck My Kiss."
“Any performance that has that much thrusting is going to do
well," Carson said after the song ended.
But when it came to actual scores, two contestants distanced
themselves from the field.
Ross “Lothar" McKinnon dazzled the crowd and judges with
SEE AIR GUITAR, PAGE 6
BY ELIZABETH DEORNELLAS
STATE A NATIONAL EDITOR
COLUMBIA, S.C. - There’s
nothing like a tuba to emphasize
a victory.
Barack Obama s brassy celebra
tion Saturday night featured a full
marching band, as well as the
throngs of cheering supporters
who have become his campaign's
signature.
The South Carolina Democratic
primary, in which Obama captured
55 percent of the vote, came down
to a question of style.
In a race in which all three major
candidates rallied around the same
issues, those focused on policy
nuances found little to separate
the field, leaving South Carolinians
to decide which candidate had the
most moving personal appeal.
For an audio slideshow from the weekend and
for profiles of 2008 presidential candidates,
visit dailytarheel.com/electionoß.
this day in history
JAN. 28,2002 ...
Five hundred Duke tickets remain
after a low student turnout at
distribution. CAA officials hand out
tickets to students with One Cards
on a first-come, first-serve basis.
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008
S.C. Democratic
primary, Jan. 2€
Vote totals:
► Barack Obama: 55 percent
► Hillary Clinton: 27 percent
► John Edwards: 18 percent
SOURCE: www.cnn.com
The power of hope
“For me it’s magic his words
and the meaning behind them rever
berate so deeply for me," said Florida
resident Andrew Gillum at Obama's
Columbia rally Friday night.
While not an official Obama vol
unteer, Gillum said he was so dis-
SEE DEMOCRATS. PAGE 6
weather
O Sunny
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index
police log 2
calendar 2
opinion 8
games 11
sports 12