VOLUME 116, ISSUE 16 Scandal impact maybe limited Democrats look beyond Wright BY DEVIN ROONEY ASSISTANT STATE ft NATIONAL EDITOR The N.C. Democratic Party hasn't been a stranger to scandal, but parts members are confident that the growing list of controver sies and bruised reputations won't be an issue in the May primary or the general election. The most recent blow to the parts came when former Wilmington legislator Thomas Wright, accused of mishandling nearly $340,000 in campaign and charitable donations, was expelled from the N.C. House of Representatives last week after ignoring repeated calls to resign. Chairman of the New Hanover County Democratic Party Jim Morgan said his constituents were surprised and dismayed that Wright refused to resign. Many Democrats said most of the allegations against Wright solely implicate him. differentiat ing his case from other challenges to the party’s credibility, such as last year’s botched special election in Mecklenburg county and Jim Black’s web of corruption that came to light in 2005. N.C. Rep. Rick Glazier, D- Cumberland, chairman of the eth ics committee that investigated Wright, said he doesn’t believe that the allegations against Wright and his subsequent expulsion, the first in North Carolina since 1880, will have consequences for the legislature. “1 don’t think that you’re going to see any fallout on any sitting legislator,” Glazier said. Because the allegations Wright faces were mostly independent actions, they are less damning for the legislature, Morgan said. ‘I think that it reflects only upon him and any of the others who have been involved in any wrongdoing," he said. ‘I do not think that it is hurting that it’s going to hurt the Democratic Party." Glazier said Black's miscon duct implicated the entire House because of Black s leadership role and the involvement of many other officials. “It certainly was an issue in the 2006 campaign,” he said. “I cer- SEE DEMOCRATS. PAGE 5 Candidates readying for N.C. battle BY CAROLINE DYE STAfF WRITER Barack Obama's presidential campaign has an early lead in set ting up campaign infrastructure for the May 6 N.C. primary. Obama's headquarters in Raleigh has been operating for about a week, said Katherine Lyons, a spokeswom an for the N.C. campaign. The N.C. headquarters is not yet open to the public, but will be within a week or two. A Chapel Hill office at 504 W. Franklin St officially opened Monday, Lyons said, and the Obama campaign intends to open more field offices. The Clinton campaign has yet to establish an N.C. base of operations, although in a March 17 press release the campaign named Averell “Ace” Smith the N.C. state director. Smith was involved in earlier victories in California and Texas. Heels for Hillary President Amanda Vaughn said her group will be canvassing and phone banking on behalf on Clinton and plans to coor CORRECTION Due to an editing error, Monday's front-page story, “UNC slaughters hogs,” incorrectly states the records of the two teams. North Carolina is 34-2; Arkansas is 23-12. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 01jr Sailu ®ar Mcrl Repeat offenders plague system BY SARA HARRIS STAFF WRITER Joe Buckner, chief judge of the Orange Count)- District Court, calls them “frequent flyers." They are the ones he sees in his courtroom most often repeat offenders who come through the system again and again. A lack of programs to help repeat offenders who struggle with substance abuse or mental illness es is a key reason why the same people keep coming before the UNC PROTECTS ITS ROOTS I J Cl UNC facilities Services defines heritage trees as "trees that have developed ■ ■ exceptional historic, cultural or aesthetic value." The University campus has more than 100 of these trees dotting the paths by which we walk daily. Type T ulip Poplar * r • • * Type r ulip Poplar Planted Unknown aA. kJ' Planted: 1993 rflfe Importance: * V.W • m Importance: The jß*^ E Davie was here jJR seed for Davie in ™ when the school Ajk jsHSE"' came from the * -Jj n K **was built iege r ■* • HU, §■ .._t. , says that UNC will fjOR t •* piarted • caserne I §. :j faH if Davie does HHHHI , other Davies fail. HHHHH • ■■ i . Type Tulip Poplar • Importance: The • tree comes from a f • graft of the * • • q original. Planted • jHV&jjl * m after the • • OidWei. • OaMC badly damaged HHHIHI • ■HnfflfTTTlTraßNk Avenue _ Type: American • Simmon "*>4 ■ ,iw Type: Water Oak •• Planted 19S0s # Murphey Importance: A • •* Mexican college vy ft g gave the tree as a ’ I—MYTYW—ri ££ to students P t - - _ eiipi i—iwi Planted Unknown P([ Importance • • * William Coker fSH • Heritage nee HR j planted them They * {HB - 1 • • region of the U.S. Hjjj SOURCE UNC TASK FORCE ON LANDSCAPE HERITAGE AND PLANT DIVERSIt i DUiMAEGAN WALKER PHOTOS BY SAM WARD dinate get-out-the-vote measures with other N .G student groups. “I don’t think (the Clinton cam paign) realized how important North Carolina is until the last couple of weeks,” she said. N.C. State University political science professor Steven Greene said he thinks that Clinton might be campaigning with less urgency to be able to say she w-asn’t putting in her full effort. “If you’re afraid you’re going to bomb on a test, you may go out and get drunk the night before," he said. He also said the large N.C. concentrations of black voters and white-collar professionals in the Triangle area seem to favor Obama. “Everybody has already put this state in the Obama column,” he said. “Winning in the primaries is very much an expectations game.” But a March 19 survey from Public Policy Polling said Clinton has cut into Obama's lead in North Carolina in recent weeks. City | page I CASE GOES TO GRAND JURY Demario James Atwater and Lawrence Alvin Lovette both waived their right to a probable cause hewing Monday. They will continue to be held on first-degree murder charges in Eve Carson's killing. www.dailytarheel.com courts, Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall said. “There is just no community sup port for these people," he said. “The community thinks there is, but the programs out there are underfund ed and the mental health system is essentially nonoperational.” Both Lawrence Alvin Lovette and Demario James Atwater, the suspects charged with murder in the March 5 shooting of Student Body President Eve Carson, have previous criminal convictions. __ MM DTWHANNAH SHARPE Obama campaign volunteer David Tillery tells Chapel Hill resident Charles Sune how to get involved at the Chapel Hill campaign location. After leading by 4 percentage points in a March 5 poll, Obama now leads 44 percent to 43 per cent in a poll with a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points. Clinton is the establishment candidate, Greene said, and tends HI Without outside resources, repeat offenders fall into a cycle of continu ing criminal behavior, Woodall said before Carson's death. Of the individuals sentenced to jail time in Orange County, 85 per cent have a history of five or more convictions, Buckner said. , And each misdemeanor convic tion raises harshness of sentencing, said Caitlin Fenhagen. an assistant public defender in Orange Count)’. The offense levels range from one to three, with three being the to rely on top-down campaign ing through local Democratic forums. In contrast he said Obama is operating a grassroots campaign. SEE PREPARATIONS. PAGE 5 sports I page 7 NCAA TOURNAMENT The No. 1 seeded women's basketball team will play Georgia at 9 p.m. tonight in Norfolk, Va., for a chance at the Sweet 16. See dailytarheel.com/marchmadness. highest and receiving the more serious punishments. It takes four convictions to reach level three. "Almost all repeat offenders are a level three and are subject to the strictest consequences.” Fenhagen said. The increased sentencing is supposed to deter repeat crimi nals, w'ho often can’t overcome behaviors that lead to crimes in the first place, and community programs that would offer help are underfunded. Preservation guides growth plan BY ANDREW RYAN COSGROVE AND MEGHAN PRICHARD STAFF WRITERS Legend has it that William Davie, the principal founder of the University, chose the location of UNC’s campus at the site where the Davie Poplar now stands. If the tree falls, the legend states, the University of North Carolina system falls with it. From UNC’s establishment to the present, trees and land scaping have always played a prominent role at the University. Even as the University continues to grow, so too have the roots that connect the buildings and the landscaping. While construction disturbs landscaping and the Univ ersity expands. UNC officials are working to ensure that these his torical roots and an environmental focus are maintained. A historical perspective When Eleanor Morris attended UNC. the campus ended at South Road. Her father attended the University in the early 1,4205. and she followed in his footsteps, graduating in 1955. “I live in the same house where I grew up, which is about two blocks from the hospital," she said. “I walked to Kenan Stadium and classes through the woods.” Instead of gathering in the Pit. Morris and her friends spent time at the Y court, the current location of the Campus Y. But Morris said other features of the campus have remained the same. “1 think Rolk and McCorkle (places') haven’t changed that much." she said. “I do think they’ve done a wonderful job trying to maintain and preserve it even with construction." It is these two quads that contain many historic trees, said Tom Bvthell, University arborist. For example, a persimmon tree located on Polk Place is probably the remnant of a forest that once covered part of North Campus. Bvthell said he believes that the tree, which is out of line with the oak trees planted later, stood along with horse chest nut trees that students found useful. “They would’ve fostered the tree." Bvthell said. "The stu dents could’ve gone out there and picked fruit to eat." In the early 1900s, William Coker arrived, establishing the Botany Department and later. Coker Arboretum. Peter White, director of the N.C. Botanical Garden, said Coker might have used his personal funds to improve landscaping. “The turn of the century was a time when the South was beginning to assert its own identity." he said. “(Coker) was trying to demonstrate that the southeastern biodiversity that we have w as worthy of celebration." SEE TREES, PAGE 5 Professor’s research delves into addiction BY COLIN CAMPBELL STAFF WRITER A UNC psychologv professor is doing groundbreaking research on how addictions to alcohol and smoking affect the FOCUS brain. M QJI Charlotte Boettiger has iden- HH titled die neurolog ical abnormalities % that plague people with substance abuse disorders and make quitting difficult. The find- RESEARCK ings could lead to the development of drugs for alcoholics that would target those abnormalities. “The study focused on trying to identify- the brain circuits involved in deciding on small rewards now SEE ADDICTION, PAGE 5 this day in history MARCH 25,1999... Provost Richard Richardson misses a trustee presentation after having a heart attack the day before. The news is on top of Chancellor Michael Hooker’s cancer diagnosis. TUESDAY. MARCH 25, 2008 Special courts, like the drug treatment court and the resource court, also deal hands-on with the substance and mental health issues repeat criminals often face. The district courts use alterna tive sentencing, giving criminals the option of enrolling in a state-spon sored program for substance abuse or mental illness. Buckner said. But these programs rarely yield results, he said, because most crim- SEE OFFENDERS, PAGE 5 DTH/E LYSSA SHARP Psychology professor Charlotte Boettiger shows the lab area in Davie Hall where she does research on addictions. weather O Sunny H 59, L 40 index police log 2 calendar 2 sports 7 opinion 8 games :. 11