VOLUME 116, ISSUE 42
MNHHMI
Sealed
records
protect
facts
Could confirm
witness accounts
BY ABBEY CALDWELL
CITY EDITOR
Records pertaining to the
March 5 killing of former Student
Body President Eve Carson still
are being sealed by authorities
despite a motion filed by The
(Raleigh) News & Observer to
release them.
Orange County District
Attorney Jim Woodall said the
sealed autopsy and search war
rant records could compromise
the investigation if released to
the public.
He said the autopsy report
contains information about the
cause and manner of Carson’s
death.
Woodall said Carson’s family
did not request that the records be
sealed. He said the autopsy report
is being sealed at his request, and
the search warrants are being
sealed at both his request and
the request of the defense attor
ney for the case.
He said if the records are
released, it might discredit the
reliability of the testimonies of wit
nesses who may come forward.
“The state has never alleged
that there were witnesses other
than the defendants," he said.
“A lot of the investigation has
been looking into people who
have said they have information
on it."
Keeping the records sealed can
help validate eyewitness accounts
in similar cases, Woodall said.
If a witness says he knows who
committed a crime and the exact
weapon used, authorities would
be able to confirm hLs testimony if
the weapon he described matched
that listed in the autopsy report.
“One of the ways you deter
mine whether they have infor
mation or whether they're just
saying they do is if they have the
facts," Woodall said.
He said the records are
being kept confidential until
SEE AUTOPSY, PAGE 7
Tar Heels set to host NCAA regional
BY T.P. LATIMER
SPORTS EDITOR
When No. 3 North Carolina
was granted the second overall
seed in the NCAA Tournament on
Monday afternoon, the room was
strangely quiet.
No histrionics. No one jumping
out of their seats. In fact, the room
was almost dead silent except for a
muttered comment from the back
of the room.
“Well OK, here we go."
Such is the attitude for a base
ball team that has played at the
highest collegiate stage the last
two years running: enough with
the celebrations, get down to busi
ness.
Even coach Mike Fox, who
made a beeline for a computer as
soon as UNC’s first-round oppo
nent, Mt St Maiy's, was revealed,
went straight into preparation
mode.
“We all expected we were gonna
be in (the tournament) and we all
expected to host," Fox said. “So it
was just a matter of *OK, who are
they gonna send us?”
announcement
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©lie lathj ®ar Heel
Industry expertise will aid Thorp
BY LINDSEY NAYLOR
INVESTIGATIVE TEAM CO-EOITOR
When Holden Thorp first
pitched an idea for a company to
his brother. Clay, they both were
cautiously optimistic.
It was the mid ‘9os, and nei
ther Thorp had ever started a
company. Holden had developed
a gene-based screening technol
ogy in his UNC lab, and the ques
tion was whether to license it to
an existing business or to spin off
one of their own.
“I didn’t know; neither of us
knew," Clay Thorp said. “If we
knew then what we know now,
we probably wouldn’t have done
anything as crazy as we did."
Holden founded the company,
Xanthon Inc. It had a promising
start and as many as 65 employees
before falling with the stock mar
ket in 2000. Thorp’s technology
was sold for debt, and Xanthon
filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcv in
2003.
CAFES BREW INTIMATE SHOWS
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DTH/PRACHAEI OEHRING
Bob Funck, an artist whose folkie acoustic tunes have long charmed local audiences, plays a set May 24 for coffee-goers at Caffe Driade. Artists
said that they find the intimate coffee shop gigs to be a great environment for making connections with fans and fellow artists.
DTH EILE/KATF NAPIER
UNC will host its third straight NCAA Tournament regional this weekend.
North Carolina was given the second overall seed in the tournament.
Who they have been sent is
a bracket with Mt. St. Mary’s
and local teams Elon and UNC-
Wilmington.
Mt St. Mary's, as Fox’s Google
search immediately revealed, is
one of the few teams in the tour
nament with a losing record. The
university | page y
TOP OF THE HEAP
The University placed in the top
25 in each of the nine
measures of the Lombardi
Rankings, including research
funding and SAT/ACT range.
www.dailytarheei.com
Pril/atP FlinHinn* Since Holden Thorp joined the University staff in 1993, he has
lllUip b rilVdlc rUMUIIiy. reived mostly private industry sponsorship for his research.
thorp founds Aideraan Diagnostics following market downturns that ended die Xanthon is sued for bankruptcy
Inc., which would become Xanthon chance of an IPO and damaged private fundrats-
Inc. to commeraaiae a gene-based mg, the company starts laying off employees and Thorp founds Viamet Pharma
screening technique developed in begins searching for new backers —or buyers ceubcals Inc. a therapeutic
his UNC-CH laboratory. company with a research focus
Motorola Inc acquires Xanthon technology for on metaftoenzymes
Tt* company, now with more than debt The technology is further developed for
60 employees and a product on -I commercialization by a Motorola company. J Osmetech gets FDA approval
the bnnk of commercialization. Clinical Micro Sensors, which is later acquired by for technology based on
considers an Initial Public Offering. Osmetech. Xanthon patents
SOURCES: UNC -CHAPEL Mill OFFICE Of SPONSORED RESEARCH; UNC-SYSTEM SPONSORED PROGRAMS AND RESEARCH COUNCIL DATA SYSTEM
It was “frustrating and certainly
painful," characterized former com
pany CEO Jim Skinner. “Eighteen
to 24 months of hell on wheels."
But it was also just the beginning
of Holden Thorps forays into the
industry. He’s served as consultant
to companies across the country.
He’s a venture partner in his broth
Mount also holds the distinction
of being one of the hottest seeds in
the tournament, coming off four
upsets in the NEC Tournament to
clinch an automatic bid to the big
dance. By now, however, Fox and
his staff will have better scouting
reports than what Google search-
SMHRRhP
er s firm, which invests in local bio
tech companies. And in 2005 he
founded Viamet Pharmaceuticals
Inc., a therapeutic company that
targets metalloenzymes.
When Thorp becomes chancellor
July 1, he’ll bring along entrepre
neurial perspective, plus individual
relationships he's forged with the
2008 NCAA
CARY REGIONAL
SCHEDULE
Friday, May 30
► Game 1: #2 UNC-Wilmington
vs. #3 Eton, 2 p.m.
► Game 2: #1 North Carolina vs.
#4 Mount St. Mary's, 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 31
► Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs.
Loser Game 2,1 p.m.
► Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs.
Winner Game 3,5 p.m.
Sunday, June 1
► Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs.
Loser Game 4,1 p.m.
► Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs.
Winner Game 5,5 p.m.
ing can provide.
“I don’t know very much about
Mt. St. Mary’s, I’ll be honest with
you," Fox said following the selec
tion show. ‘l’ll know a lot more by
5 o'clock today... There will be no
SEE NCAAS, PAGE 7
City | page 4
DAY OF HONOR
The Orange County Peace
Coalition hosted a rally
commemorating war casualties
not just from the United States,
but around the world.
relatively small pool of people who
get N.C. research-based start-up
companies moving.
That background has people in
the University and the local biotech
industry wondering how Thorp
might boost support for UNC
researchers and prompt them to
broker more deals with area com-
Grant aims to double
size of Honors Program
Creates six new
faculty positions
BY KATIE ANDERSON
STATE WRITER
In his final meeting with the
UNC Board ofTrustees, Chancellor
James Moeser announced a gift
to benefit the University's Honors
Program— $6 million from the
William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable
Trust.
The grant, allocated for the
endowment of six new faculty
positions, has been matched
with an additional $3 million
from the North Carolina General
Assembly.
“The Kenan Thist wanted to do
something to honor the chancel
lor, and the Honors Program is
something he really cares about,’
said Richard Krasno, executive
director of the William R. Kenan
Jr. Charitable Thist.
this day in history
MAY 29 1953
Mount Everest was conquered as
Edmund Hillary, of New Zealand,
and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, of
Nepal, became the first climbers
to reach the summit.
THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2008
Percent of Industry-Sponsored
Research from 2004-2007
O
4%
I
UNC THORP
OTHIBIISS PIERCE
panies.
Thorp said he has yet to form
specific plans but looks forward
to working with the offices that
commercialize UNC research and
finding the money to expand their
reaches.
SEE BUSINESSES. PAGE 7
BY BENNETT CAMPBELL
SENIOR WRITER
Bob Funck wasn’t playing for a
sold-out crowd. As birds chirped
and the evening's last rays of sun
shone through the leaves sur
rounding him, Funck set up a
couple of microphones, an amp
and a chair and pulled out his
new Breedlove guitar in front of
a smattering of coffee drinkers at
Caffe Driade last Saturday.
Though the numbers in his audi
ence ebbed and flowed through
out the evening as cafe patrons
came and went, the atmosphere
at Driade and similar local coffee
shops provides for a different kind
of musical environment for musi
cians both local and otherwise.
“It's more intimate,’ Funck, a
Durham-based singer-songwriter,
said. “And that works well, because
I can converse with people. It’s a
chance to earn some new fans"
Funck said, for example, that he
met a teenage fan at an Apex coffee
shop whom he let come up and play
his guitar after the fan expressed
interest in Funck’s music.
But even in a small setting such as
the one at Carrboro’s Open Eye Cafe,
Montana-bom singer and guitarist
Lucy Langias said coffee shop gigs
can make playing more difficult
“It's harder to get in the zone,
so I close my eyes a lot in places
like this," said Langias. who played
SEE LOCAL MUSIC. PAGE 7
The gift is a large step along the
way of realizing Moeser’s goal of
doubling the Honors Program’s
acceptance rate from 5 percent of
incoming students to 10 percent.
Some members of the University
community are concerned that
limited opportunities for incom
ing students to join the program
act as a deterrent, discouraging
talented college applicants from
accepting admission to UNC.
“The hope has always been
for a significant expansion of the
program to be done on the same
model as the first-year seminars,"
professor Ritchie Kendall said.
Chancellor-elect Holden Thorp
shares Moeser’s vision for the
expansion of the program.
“(The Honors Program) is a
topic that goes right to the heart of
what we’re doing in the (College of
Arts and Sciences)," Thorp said.
The gift is also a show of sup-
SEE KENAN. PAGE 7
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a Sunny
H 76, L 58
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sports 7
games 9
opinion 10