Shr Daily £ar Drrl
CORRECTION
Tuesday’s pg. 3 story “Eighth
annual improv festival begins
today" contained multiple report
ing errors.
Horatio Sanz did not perform at
last year's festival as he had emer
gency surgery, and comic Louis CK
performed in his place.
John Reitz’s title is director of
Chips.
Finally the Chips show at 8
p.m. Wednesday at DSI Comedy
Theater is not a Dirty South Improv
Festival 2008 Highlight Event as
the pullout suggests. There will be
an event featuring Chips and other
college groups at 8 p.m. Friday in
Hamilton 100 that is part of the
festival. The Daily Tar Heel apolo
gizes for the errors.
CAMPUS BRIEFS
UNC researcher wins lung
cancer grant for SIOO,OOO
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive
Cancer Center researcher Dr.
Albert Baldwin received a two-year
SIOO,OOO grant. Baldwin will study
how normal cells arc transformed
into cancer cells through molecular
changes with the grant money.
The grant, a LUNGevity
Foundation Research Grant, is
awarded by the National Lung
Cancer Partnership.
CAA seeking students for
2008-09 cabinet positions
Carolina Athletic Association
President-elect Andrew Coonin is
looking for students to serve on the
2008-09 Cabinet.
No previous experience is
required to serve.
The CAA is involved in deter
mining ticket distribution policy
for men’s basketball games and
hosting events such as “What
Would You Do For Dook Tickets?"
Applications are due Feb. 25.
Interviews will be held Feb. 26,27
and 28.
For more information visit
the CAA Web site at unc.edu/caa
or stop by the CAA office in the
Student Union, room 3508 C.
UNC home page undergoing
change; student input sought
The UNC home page has been
redesigned temporarily while the
Office of University Relations solic
its ideas for a new' site design.
Students can submit suggestions
online at www.une.edu/ssi/upda
teinfo.php.
CITY BRIEFS
Commissioners hear from
public on waste-transfer site
The question of where to locate
Orange County's new waste-transfer
station was at hand again Tuesday
night at an Orange County Board of
Commissioners work session.
This time the board heard pub
lic comment on preliminary exclu
sionary criteria for the transfer sta
tion’s site, first presented in a Feb.
11 meeting, which specify require
ments for site size and location.
Ed Shuffler of Olver lnc„ the
engineering and applied science
consulting company that developed
the criteria presented his work and
fielded comments from the public
and the board.
Members of the Rogers Road
community voiced their displeasure
with the criteria. Resident Neloa
Jones, a regular fixture in waste
transfer site discussions, questioned
why some sites were excluded before
the criteria were firmly in place.
Visit City News at www.daily
tarhecl.com for the full story.
New plaques will identify
historic Carrboro buildings
The mill houses on Weaver
Street in Carrboro might slip by
unnoticed. So might the Baptist
Church on North Greensboro
Street.
But the more than 150 historic
bungalows, churches, mill houses
and commercial buildings that date
from Carrboro’s distant past could
soon sport plaques as unique as the
houses themselves.
The Carrboro Appearances
Commission is holding a public com
petition for the design of the plaque,
which will denote buildings of his
torical and cultural significance.
Those interested in submitting
designs for the plaques have until
April 30.
Visit City News at www.daily
tarheel.com for the full story.
Grant given to Carrboro
Fire-Rescue for firefighters
The Carrboro Fire-Rescue
Departmentjeceived a Staffing
for Adequate Fire and Emergency-
Response grant totaling $314,262
to be distributed across the next
four years.
The SAFER grant will allow the
department to hire three new fire
fighters as Carrboro prepares to open
Fire Station 2 at 1411 Homestead
Road in summer 2009.
From staff and wire reports.
County to vote
Issue will be placed on May 6 ballot
BY EVAN ROSE
STAFF WRITER
Despite substantial public com
ment in favor of a quarter-cent sales
tax increase, the Orange County
Board of Commissioners voted
unanimously to put a land-transfer
tax increase on the May 6 ballot.
If approved by voters, the ref
erendum would increase the tax
owed by the seller of most land by
0.4 percent
Board members spoke of the
everyday burden a sales tax would
place on residents and the benefit
of being able to defer payment with
a land-transfer tax until their prop
erty is sold.
“People are going to be paying
the sales tax basically every time
they go to the store," Commissioner
Moses Carey Jr. said.
The commissioners said they plan
EAST TRIUMPHS IN
LOCAL RIVALRY
High schools’ 3rd
season matchup
BY GREGG FOUND
SENIOR WRITER
For its rubber match against
rival Chapel Hill High, East Chapel
Hill High wanted to use its speixl.
So the Wildcats, atypical of their
style, applied a constant full-court
press.
Four quarters of nonstop
pressure later. East Chapel Hill
emerged with a 57-50 win against
Chapel Hill High in the first
round of the PAC-6 Conference
Tournament.
“That’s probably out of charac
ter for us," East Chapel Hill coach
Ray Hartsfield said of the press.
“But it was our game plan, and
the kids bought into it"
In front of a crowd mixed from
both schools that erupted after each
of the game's three dunks and that
came to see if the underdog Tigers
could topple the Wildcats, East
Chapel Hill roused from an early
slumber to dictate the game’s pace.
Students from both schools
jeered the referees and each team’s
cheerleaders steadily increased their
volume while ui-ging on the players
against their crosstown friends.
By virtue of its record. East had
earned the right to host the third
match of the season series though
home court was no advantage until
Tuesday night's game.
In the season’s previous two
contests, both Chapel Hill and
East Chapel Hill had won as the
visitor.
Tuesday looked to be much of
the same as the underdog Tigers
jumped to a four-point lead in the
first quarter behind six early points
from forward John Small.
Small relentlessly attacked the
basket and spent as much time
at the free throw line as TVler
Hansbrough, going 6-for-8 from
the stripe in the first half.
“They played harder than we did."
Hartsfield said.
As the press started to wear
down Chapel Hill in the second
quarter, East Chapel Hill’s TV
Alston broke open a knotted game
SEE BASKETBALL, PAGE 7
3 vie to be education dean
BY MEGAN HANNAY
STAFF WRITER
Out of 36 candidates, three
men remain in competition for the
next dean of the UNC School of
Education Leonard Abbeduto,
Bill McDiarmid and Jonathan
Plucker.
The dean search committee
Leonard
Abbeduto
Abbeduto
emphasized
the need for a
demographi
cally mixed
school.
He spoke of a school that
'respects individual differences in
talents, interests and pathways to
success.’
The University of Wisconsin-
Madison professor also mentioned
on his Feb. 5 visit that an educa
tion school should focus on a wide
range of strengths and not simply
on one or two.
He has researched developmen
tal disabilities in children and pub
lished many articles and books.
Top News
to educate residents through local
media about the land transfer tax.
The choice, however, was not
simple for the commissioners.
“There’s no way we can insulate
everybody from this tax." Carey
said.
Commissioner Alice Gordon
leaned back in her chair and
joked, “This is why w-e get paid so
much."
The board faced a petition with
more than 1,500 signatures calling
for the sales tax. in addition to signs
in the back of the meeting room
that said, “Stop the home tax."
Many residents said they were
concerned w-ith the specific bur
den of a land-transfer tax on people
selling their homes.
“A sales tax would be more or
less invisible." one resident said.
"But a person selling a $500,000
MB I yi
f i 4m V Jm . .' v.- ■fagamM
DTH/KATE NAPIER
Players from the East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill High School varsity basketball teams compete for
the ball Tuesday in the PAC-6 Conference Tournament. East Chapel Hill won the game 57-50.
hopes to make a recommendation
to Provost Bernadette Gray-Little
this week, but so far there is no pre
ferred candidate, said Jean Folkerts.
dean of the School of Journalism
and Mass Communication and the
committee's chairwoman.
The search has lasted for 10
months, since former dean Tom
Bill
McDiarmid
McDiarmid,
a UNC alum
nus, is a pro
fessor at the
University of
Washington.
During his Feb. 1 visit,
McDiarmid spoke about improv
ing early childhood education in
North Carolina.
He also mentioned the need for
a more diverse student and faculty
makeup within the education school.
He previously has worked with mid
dle school math and science teach
ers.
McDiarmid has won several edu
cator and research awards and pub
lished many books and articles.
on transfer tax
house would have to pay $3,000."
The land-transfer tax faced
opposition from the local real
estate industry.
"Our taxes on property are
already too high," said Mark
Zimmerman, president-elect of the
Greater Chapel Hill Association
of Realtors. "I find the attitude
patronizing that if voters could
just be educated they would sup
port this tax."
He said the tax unnecessarily
targets home sellers.
“We care about our clients and
our customers. Half are buying;
half are selling at any given time.
That means half will have to pay
this tax this year." he said.
Many residents at the meeting
were opposed to any form of tax
increase at all.
“Even my coffee is taxed," one
said. “Underwear is taxed. Now
we’re taxing intangible things.
Why not do the right thing and
James accepted a position at
Columbia University in April.
Jill Fitzgerald, senior associate
dean and professor of literacy in
the School of Education, has been
serving as interim dean since James
took his new position in July.
SEE EDUCATION. PAGE 7
Jonathan
Plucker
Plucker, the
third candidate
to present his
ideas, spoke
about clarify
ing the school’s
purpose by concentrating on spe
cific goals.
He mentioned Morehead
Planetarium and Science Center and
other campus groups as learning labs
for the next teaching generation.
Faculty and staff retention was
also an area he said would need
attention in the next 10 wars.
Plucker is a professor at Indiana
University. His research covers
education policy, as well as talent
development.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2008
don’t tax?"
Mark Hertzog, principal of
Hertzog Research, whom the board
hired to look into public opinion on
the tax, presented the results of a
survey of the county voters.
“It is statistically a tie," he said.
Hertzog reported that 48 per
cent of those surveyed said they
would support a sales tax while 43
would support a land-transfer tax.
The study has a 5 percent sampling
error.
Those who preferred the land
transfer tax in the survey either
cited that taxes are already too high
or were concerned with the regres
sive burden a sales tax would have
on lower-income families.
Hertzog told the board that
those surveyed who preferred the
sales tax stressed that sellers were
being unduly burdened.
Contact the City Editor
at citydexk@ unc.edu.
School of Public Health
utilizes Facebook tools
Aims to reach
more students
BY MARY COLE ALLEN
STAFF WRITER
When students feel like taking a
break or just plain procrastinating.
“Facebooking" is usually the first
plan of action. Now the School of
Public Health is taking advantage
of the time-killing tool.
The school launched a Facebook
fan page two weeks ago in an effort
to connect to its students, answer
questions and respond to concerns.
"Students are able to share
information with a broader group
of people," said Felicia Mebane,
assistant dean of students in the
School of Public Health.
Students easily can access and
become a “fan" of the school by
searching “UNC School of Public
Health" on Facebook.
Chelsea Thomas, who is apply
ing for the master’s program in
nutrition in the School of Public
Health, is one of its fans.
Schools
avoid
recalled
meat
Bad Calif, beef
was distributed
BY ROBERT C. GUNST JR.
STAFF WRITER
Meat that was part of a large
scale national recall never reached
local school cafeterias.
Nearly 126,000 pounds of beef
from the Westland/Hallmark
Meat Cos. were delivered to 25
school districts in North Carolina,
i said Jennifer Nixon, a public
information officer with the N.C.
Department of Agriculture and
i Consumer Services.
One of the 25 districts was Chapel
Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
“The children have not been
endangered," said Stephanie Knott
spokeswoman for the school dis
trict. “All the meat is in our ware
houses and has not been consumed
; by any students."
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Food Safety and
Inspection Service suspended the
company’s operations Feb. 4 after
allegations of inhumane treatment
; of cattle.
The plant allegedly did not
i follow proper inspection pro
| cedure, said Donald Delozier,
a TA Coordinator in the N.C.
Department of Agriculture’s Meat
and Poultry Division.
The USDA still is investigating
the California meat packing plant's
inspection procedures.
“There are safety measures in
[ place to assure that a downer does
not enter the human food chain,"
! Delozier said.
A downer refers to an animal
that is down on the ground and
cannot get up. It is then subject
to an inspection by a veterinar
ian who determines whether the
I animal is clear to be slaughtered,
i Delozier said.
1 Veterinarians at the California
| plant did not have a chance to
inspect the downers before the
| plant slaughtered them and sent
• them to packaging. Delozier
i said.
The main concern is that cattle
could be affected with bovine spon
giform encephalopathy, a pathogen
known as “mad cow disease."
The company decided to recall
the meat after USDA began to
investigate the plant’s inspection
procedure.
CHCCS sends all meat to pro
cessing plants to make patties, taco
beef and spaghetti sauce, Knott
I said.
The extra time that the district
puts into further processing the
meat kept the meat out of students’
stomachs.
“We incur more costs by pro
cessing our meat," Knott said.
District warehouses are await
ing further instruction from the
USDA for the destruction of the
affected meat.
The district has a contract with
the USDA in conjunction with the
National School Lunch Program,
which chooses manufacturers.
This leaves little room for the
district to pick where it gets its
meat, Knott said.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
“I received an e-mail inviting
me to join the group that gave me
instructions on how to find it on
Facebook," Thomas said.
The school has more than 480
fans listed on its page, and the
number continues to grow.
Mebane said prospective students
are a key audience for the page.
“Many of our prospective students
use Facebook, so it makes sense for
us to be where they are," she said.
The Facebook page went live
two weeks ago, and Mebane plans
to keep it indefinitely.
The page includes photo albums
of events, videos, contact informa
tion for staff, event information,
a discussion board and the easily
recognizable Facebook wall.
Students can post questions per
taining to the school and get them
answered promptly.
Thomas said that she posted a
question about decision dates for
the masters program in nutrition,
and that the administrators of the
page answered within 24 hours.
SEE FACEBOOK. PAGE 7
3