VOLUME 115, ISSUE 159
Dance Marathon kicks
off its 10th year at UNC
BY AMANDA YOUNGER
STAFf WRITER
For 9 years UNC has celebrated
the best one-night stand of its life.
The traditional 24 hours of
gyrating bodies and group dances
will feature a record number of vol
unteers gathering in Fetzer Gym for
the 10th annual charity event
About 1,100 dancers and 300
moral-ers and other volunteers will
participate the first time dancer
participation has surpassed the
1,000-person mark. Last year 674
dancers attended; the first mara
thon had just 100 dancers.
Event leaders have spent the
year trying to avoid adolescent
growing pains.
“We worked for six months to
get enough food to feed 1,200 peo
ple," said senior Rob Sellers, overall
committee chairman.
Several area businesses includ
ing Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Harris
Teeter and several pizza shops will
be donating food for the event.
Ferrell’s tour
stops at UNC
BY ALEXANDRIA SHEALY
AND SETH WRIGHT
STAFF WRITERS
Will Ferrell will be seeing
empty seats for the first time in
the second-to-last performance of
his “Funny or Die Comedy Tour"
in the Smith Center today.
The show, which begins at
8 p.m. today, has sold 12,000
rickets at 943 each. The Smith
Center seats 21,750 for normal
operations.
Opening at
Kansas State
University
on Feb. 4,
the tour sold
out all eight
locations
except for its
UNC appear
ance. Other
venues host
ing the tour
have seated
between 7,657
and 20,000
individuals.
]
Tickets remain
for comedian
Will Ferrell’s
Smith Center
show tonight.
The “Funny or Die Comedy
Tour” is presented by “Semi-Pro,”
a basketball-themed movie star
ring Ferrell, which opens in the
aters Feb. 29- Comedians Zach
Galifianakis, Nick Swardson and
Demetri Martin will perform
alongside Ferrell.
"1 really wanted to go until 1
saw the ticket price," freshman
Andrew Ginn said. “Most of the
WATER WATCH
♦
OWASA draws from lessons of 2002 drought
Conservation practices have changed
BY JESSICA STRINGER
STAFF WRITER
The 2002 drought got so bad
that UNC students almost were
sent home.
‘lt wouldn’t have been too much
longer,' former Orange Water and
Sewer Authority board member
Mark Marcoplos said.
With water running out,
OWASA recommended a deal to
buy water from Durham.
The next day, it rained, kick
starting the drought recovery after
months of conservation efforts.
More than five yeafs later, the
area is looking to lessons OWASA
university | pagv 4
WAITING PAYS OFF
So far under the new basketball
ticket policy, everyone who has
used the standby line has been
admitted into games, including to
the one against rival Duke.
She latlu oar
And in past years, dancers
stayed within two of Fetzer s gym
nasiums. This year dancers will be
able to spread out into the hallways
-between the gyms to play board
games and read magazines.
“We just really tried to think
outside the box this year and to not
just follow previous standards from
past years," said senior Elisabeth
Cordell, publicity chairwoman.
“Because it is the 10th year,
there is an excitement on campus
that's really helped to increase par
ticipation from students to campus
performing groups to visitors to
special guests."
Organizers also have invited
alumni from event committees of
the past nine years to join in once
again in the festivities.
About 30 alumni are expected
to attend, and committee members
will be honored for their contribu
tions with a special hour.
Cordell said event coordinators
have planned a variety of special
ATTEND THE SHOW
Time: 8 p.m. today
Location: Smith Center
Info: www.livenation.com
other events we have are SlO or
$15."
Some schools participating in
the tour, such as Pennsylvania
State University, offered stu
dent tickets for S2O. Ohio State
University’s Ohio Union Activities
Board gave 12,000 free tickets to
students for Ferrell's appearance
in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 6.
But Tim Nichols, Student
Congress speaker pro-tem, said
the $45 UNC ticket price was
not an issue.
“It will be great to actually
see (Ferrell) in person," Nichols
said. “1 signed on the second they
allowed us to buy student tick
ets, so I have floor seats."
Although many tickets remain
unsold, some students said they
were enthusiastic for the event.
“(The price is) a little steep,
but it’s Will Ferrell," said Jenny
Stevens, who graduated in May
2007 and will return to Chapel
Hill for the event. “It’s kind of a
once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing."
Today’s audience can expect
to see Ferrell perform as familiar
characters in several skits.
According toGraham Beckwith,
SEE FERRELL, PAGE 11
learned to guide Chapel Hill and
Carrboro out of another drought.
University Lake, the Cane Creek
Reservoir and the Quarry Reservoir
contained 40.28 percent of their
capacity as ofThursday. But in late
summer 0f2002, the level reached
a low of 32 percent, OWASA
spokesman Greg Feller said.
It wasn’t until late that summer
that OWASA implemented manda
tory conservation measures, which
Bernadette Pelissier, OWASA
board chairwoman at the time, said
should have happened earlier.
After rain replenished the lakes,
OWASA looked back and pre-
SportS | page 10
WOMEN'S HOOPS
The Tar Heels defeated the Miami
Hurricanes Thursday night 79-61
in an away game. Also, this year's
squad has a different offensive
style than past final Four teams.
Senring the students and the University community since 1893
www.dallytarheel.com
ATTEND DANCE MARATHON
Time: 6 pm. today to 6 pm. Saturday
Location: Fetzer Gym
Info: www.unonarathon.ofg
features for the marathon but would
not release details in order to main
tain surprise for the dancers.
Pennsylvania State University
started THON, a fundraiser similar
to UNC’s Dance Marathon, in 1973
to raise funds for pediatric can
cer patients. More than 80 college
campuses participate in marathons
affiliated with the Children's Miracle
Network.
In the past decade, the event,
started by UNC student Michael
Bucy in 1999. has contributed almost
$1.3 million to the For the Kids Fund,
which provides money to families at
N.C. Children’s Hospital that will pay
for expenses.
Last year’s marathon raised
nearly $237,000, the UNC event’s
record high.
to end q the t death penalty
Acclaimed anti death penalty author and speaker Sister Helen Prejean has visited more ATTEND THE LECTURE
than 70 communities in the continental U.S. the past year. See pg. 4 for the story. 2007-08 Hillard Gold '39 Lecture
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pared measures in case of another
drought.
"One of the main things we
learned was that we weren’t as
well prepared as we could have
been,’ Marcoplos said.
Pelissier, who is running for
the Orange County Board of
Commissioners, said the board
reviewed and reworked the con
servation measures.
They recommended surcharges
for water use exceeding the aver
age household use because “we
need to have a way to tell people
not to use more water than abso
lutely necessary during a drought,"
Pelissier said.
In June 2003, year-round
restrictions were implemented.
“There is an
excitement on
campus that's really
helped to increase
participation
ELISABETH CORDELL
DANCE MARATHON PUBLICITY CHAIRWOMAN
The generosity is what first
attracted sophomore Eric Johnson
to participate in the 24-hour event.
This is his second year dancing,
and he said he Ls excited to partici
pate once again.
"The ability- to be able to dance is
a sign of solidarity," Johnson said.
“To stand among all the dancers for
24 hours and to stand up, literally,
for a great cause, for the children's
hospital, is something I couldn't
pass up."
Contact the Features Editor
at features(a: unc.edu.
“We went to year-round water
restrictions, which no other
jurisdiction in the Triangle did,’
Marcoplos said.
Marcoplos said this early action
saved water and made it clear to
the community that water needs
to be conserved.
They advised requiring that res
taurants not serve water unless the
customer asks for some. Pelissier
said OWASA had a ’goal to com
municate to the public that water
should not be taken for granted."
Since 2002, residents have used
10 percent less water than OWASA
predicted they would based on
1990s trends. Feller said.
SEE DROUGHT, PAGE 11
DTH FILE PHOTO
Students walk under a tunnel of arms during UNC’s Dance Marathon last
year. The event, in its 10th year, is a fundraiser for N.C. Children's Hospital
OWASA
conservation
changes because of
2002 Drought:
► Surcharges during drought con
ditions for homes that have high
water use.
Year-round conservation,
including:
► Restaurants only serve water
upon request.
► Irrigation limited to three days a
week, only from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.
► Irrigation systems require
automatic controllers and rain or
moisture sensors.
► Hotels change bed linens only
upon customer’s request or every
five days.
this day in history
FEB. 22,2001 ...
Students for Economic Justice
gather at South Building to protest
UNC's relations with Nike. They
wanted a response about working
conditions at a Mexican factory.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 200K
Coach
surprises
critics in
first year
BY GRAY CALDWELL
SENIOR WRITER
When Wake Forest head coach
Skip Prosser died July 26. 2007.
then-assistant coach DinoGaudio
lost his best friend.
He had coached with Prosser for
17vears at both the high school and
college levels, five of them at Wake
Forest. Two weeks after Prosser's
death. Gaudio stepped up to a podi
um to announce he would take the
place of his longtime mentor.
“This is a very bittersweet
moment for me," Gaudio said at
the time.
“I love Wake Forest, and I love
the Atlantic Coast Conference.
But 1 also love Skip Prosser, and to
become the head coach under these
circumstances is
not what I had
envisioned,
“But I am
also thrilled
that I have
been entrusted
with the future
of Deacon bas
ketball."
And to the
surprise of
many, the future
has started a
little early in
Winston-Salem.
Picked by the
Wake Forest
coach Dino
Gaudio has led
the team to a
16-8 record.
ACC media to finish 11th in the con
ference this preseason. Gaudio has
led the surprising Demon Deacons
(16-8, 6-5 ACC) to fifth place in
the ACC, just a half-game back of
Clemson and Maryland for third.
Fresh off one of Wake Forest s
biggest wins in the past two seasons—
an 86-73 upset win against then-
No. 2 Duke on Sunday Gaudio has
his very young team primed to earn
its way into the NCAA Tournament
this March, a feat that seemed quite
a stretch just a few months ago.
“To try to motivate these kids
this season, we’ve talked a lot
about going to the tournament
and how important these games
are," Gaudio said during Monday’s
ACC teleconference.
“We talk a lot about it because
it’s their goal and our goal right
SEE COACH. PAGE 11
weather
jWA'a. Rainy
H 40.140
index
police log 2
calendar 2
sports "... 10
games 13
opinion ......14