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CAMPUS BRIEFS
University to create center
for natural disaster study
UNC will receive a grant from
the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security to engage in research
about natural disasters.
The University will pair with
other schools, government agen
cies and industries to study natural
disasters in coastal areas.
The money will be used to cre
ate a Center of Excellence for the
Study of Natural Disasters, Coastal
Infrastructure and Emergency
Management.
The grant will provide UNC
researchers with at least $2.5 mil
lion a year for the next six years. This
amount could increase as research
develops.
Undersecretary Jay Cohen of
the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, U.S. Rep. David Price
and Chancellor Holden Thorp
will announce the grant at a press
conference at 2 p.m. today at the
Carolina Inn.
Ramadan, a month-long
Muslim fast, begins today
Today is the first day of the month
of Ramadan, during which Muslims
fast from sunrise until sunset. The
daily fasting lasts until Sept. 30.
The Muslim Students Association
will hold its first Iftar —a communal
evening meal for breaking the daily
fast at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in
Student Union 3415 and a second
at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Student
Union 3206.
Muslims commemorate the
month because it was during this
time that the first verses of the
Quran were revealed.
The fast not only includes
refraining from food, but also sins
like lying, cheating and swearing.
MSA also offers a space for
daily prayer in room 3205 from
noon to 5 p.m.
See Thursday’s DTH for more
coverage of Ramadan and MSA’s
commemoration.
CITY BRIEFS
School of Medicine official
to head airport authority
A UNC School of Medicine
administrator will lead efforts to
establish anew Orange County
airport authority.
The 15-member airport author
ity will be led jointly by UNC-
Chapel Hill and the UNC Health
Care System, with representa
tion from Orange County and its
executive
associate dean for finance and
administration in the medical
school, was named by Chancellor
Holden Thorp and UNC School of
Medicine Dean Bill Roper to over
see the organization and initial
work of the authority.
A law recently enacted by the
General Assembly allowed UNC’s
Board of Governors to create an
airport authority, which will be
charged with locating and direct
ing construction of the replace
ment for Chapel Hill’s Horace
Williams Airport.
Board to discuss proposed
school site, development
Orange County’s Board of
County Commissioners will dis
cuss anew school site, solid waste
processing procedures and zoning
for a planned mall at a 7:30 p.m.
meeting today.
On the agenda for the meeting
in Hillsborough:
■ Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
Schools’ request that the former loca
tion of Northside Human Services
Center be used as the site for the
system’s 11th elementary school
■ Public hearing for zoning and
special-use permit applications
for the Buckhom Village planned
development. The commissioners’
review of the zoning application
will begin Sept. 16
■ An advisory board’s assess
ment of the feasibility of imple
menting alternative solid-waste
processing procedures. A consul
tant’s report indicates that alter
native technologies would not be
justified in Orange County.
STATE BRIEFS
Bowies voices objections to
lower drinking age efforts
UNC-system President Erskine
Bowles announced Friday his oppo
sition to efforts to lower the drinking
age. UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor
Holden Thorp is supporting the
decision.
Hie announcement comes aweek
after Duke University President
Richard Brodhead and more than
100 other university presidents
asked for reconsideration of the
drinking age.
The presidents are part of an
effort called the Amethyst Initiative,
which believes lowering the drink
ing age will decrease the preva
lence of binge drinking on college
campuses.
—From staff and wire reports
‘Secret’ stripped of UNC logo
BYANIKAANAND
STAFF WRITER
Chancellor Holden Thorp
decided not to renew the school’s
3-month-old contract with the
Victoria’s Secret Pink Collegiate
Collection because he said the com
pany’s portrayal of women conflicts
with the University’s values.
Pink, a brand of Victoria’s Secret
created in 2004, markets sleepwear,
loungewear and intimate apparel to
high school and college students.
The company launched its Pink
Collegiate Collection this spring,
which features college logos on
Pink apparel.
There are a total of 31 schools
nationwide participating in the
Collegiate Collection line, includ
ing the University of Maryland,
“Its all about balance. You have your academic, artistic and your practical.”
JOANNE ANDRUSCAVAGE, EMERSON WALDORF ADMINISTRATOR
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Virgilio Benoit, a teacher at Emerson WaldorfSchool, shows sixth Paniejte Sawyer and Jubhadra Auman •
how to saw a hickofy log. The students will Wofi< between now and'Feßruary td'lhake WOoden malfets to use in future shop classes.
MAKING THE CUT
Local students tested on woodworking skills
BY EMILY STEPHENSON
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOk
Twelve-year-old Bryn O’Mahoney wants
to build her own surfboard.
The sixth grader, who recently moved
to Chapel Hill with her family, said she
learned the basics of woodworking at her
old school.
So O’Mahoney helped out her classmates
at Emerson Waldorf School on Thursday by
sitting atop a large hickory log which was
almost as tall as she is —to hold it steady
while two others sawed off chunks of wood.
The sixth-grade class at the Chapel Hill
school began their practical-arts studies by
using two-man saws to start making tools
for future projects.
Emerson Waldorf has classes in weaving,
knitting and woodworking that are intended
Kumar goes to Chapel Hill
BY MEGAN HANNAY
STAFF WRITER
Actor Kal Penn famous as
Kumar in the “Harold and Kumar”
movies used to be fed up with
the political world.
His view was reinforced when
he heard that a friend’s only
option to afford college was a
stint driving a truck in Iraq for
Halliburton.
“Here we are in the richest coun
try in the world and our buddy had
only two options to go to college
either 90 grand in a war zone or
minimum wage,” he said.
Then he heard Democratic
presidential nominee Barack
Obama’s 2004 national conven
tion speech.
Penn related his political tran
sition from apathy to devotion
Sunday afternoon when he spoke
in the Pit in support of Obama.
Students gathered to hear the
31-year-old actor, who also starred
in “The Namesake” and “Epic
Movie,” talk about his reasons for
supporting the Democratic presi
dential nominee.
“I was surprised at how knowl
edgeable he was because we tend
to stereotype actors,” said junior
Sara Simmons. “It also seems like
he’s taking a lot of time out of his
acting career for campaigning.”
Sophomore Rumin Sarwar said
Top News
Boston College and the University
of Califomia-Los Angeles.
Thorp said UNC entered into
an agreement with the company to
allow the use of its logo on clothing
in June.
After Thorp became chancel
lor July 1, he found out about the
agreement and said he was con
cerned about the University’s con
nection to Victoria’s Secret.
“I saw the catalog they produced
and didn’t believe the images were
consistent with the values of the
University in terms of the way they
portray women,” Thorp said.
Thorp then asked the University’s
legal staff to not renew the agree
ment with Victoria’s Secret.
“We didn’t break any promises
we had made to Victoria’s Secret.
to help children develop practical skills and
guide mental and physical development.
“This sets my rhythm for the entire year,”
said Virgilio Benoit, Emerson Waldorf’s prac
tical-arts teacher. His sixth-grade students
will spend their weekly class time between
now and February making wooden mallets.
“It’s our first tool. They have to build it
for themselves.”
Benoit said the class eventually will use
axes and shaping tools such as planes, draw
knives, gouges and files to form their mal
lets.
Officials at the school say that leading
neurological researchers have confirmed
the benefits of children working with their
hands.
“It’s all about balance,” said Joanne
Andruscavage, Emerson Waldorf’s admin-
I la Er. -•
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DTH/ZACH GUTTERMAN
Kal Penn, famous for his character "Kumar,” speaks to students in the
Pit on Sunday about his support for presidential hopeful BaracbObama.
Penn was passionate about the
Obama campaign.
“It didn’t seem like he was just
supporting Obama for the hell of
it,” she said.
Penn travels to universities and
young professional events across
the country as a surrogate for the
Obama campaign. He also was set
to visit Elon University and Duke
University on Sunday. His visit to
UNC was supported by the Young
We just decided we didn’t want to
do it,” he said.
The collection includes logo
T-shirts, tote bags, hooded sweat
shirts, sweatpants, blankets, pillows,
underwear and stadium jackets.
Tonya Batts, a staff member at
the Victoria’s Secret at the Streets
at Southpoint mall in Durham, said
the UNC wear sold well in the days
before classes began.
She said the UNC gear will be
taken off the shelves in the next 30
days or so, though she said she was
unaware of the reasoning for UNC
discontinuing its contract.
Feminist Students United
Co-Chairwoman Amy Olsen, a senior,
agreed with the chancellor’s stance.
“I am not OK with UNC’s logo
being associated with Victoria’s
istrator the school’s term for a principal.
“You have your academic, artistic and your
practical.”
The school is the only one in North
Carolina to subscribe to these methods,
which were developed by Austrian philoso
pher Rudolf Steiner.
Thursday marked day one of woodwork
ing class for the dozen sixth graders
younger students aren’t allowed in the work
shop —and Benoit, who previously taught at
Waldorf schools in Germany and Africa.
The students used two-person saws that
are longer than many of the students are tall.
Benoit included multiple warnings against
severing limbs.
“It’s not something for fun,” he said. “We
help the brain develop to support what’s
happening in the classroom.”
Contact the City Editor
at dtydesk@unc.edu.
Democrats.
“I think that as a young actor,
Kal can speak the language of
our generation and has a good
perspective of the issues we care
about the most,” said Young
Democrats Co-President Vivek
Chilukuri.
“A lot of the people who follow
his career may not be into poli-
SEE PENN, PAGE 5
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
Secret,” she said in an e-mail.
First-year Jennifer Price agreed
that the chancellor has the right to
protect the University’s name, but
said she does not think the maga
zine degrades women.
“I wear Victoria’s Secret, but I
understand why the chancellor
doesn’t want the University asso
ciated with half-naked women,”
she said.
The University of Minnesota has
also decided not to renew its con
tract with Victoria’s Secret.
UNC-branded Collegiate
Collection clothing and accesso
ries currently can still be purchased
online.or in stores.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
Gyms crack down on
One Card violations
BY ELLY SCHOFIELD
STAFF WRITER
Visitors and students who use
their friends’ One Cards to go to
the gym could have, more to worry
about than finding an open tread
mill.
University officials are crack
ing down on people attempting
to get into campus buildings such
as Woollen.Gym and the Student
Recreation Center without their
own One Cards.
“We are trying to get the word
out to as many people as possible,”
said Paul Dunlop, director of facili
ties and operations for Campus
Recreation.
The University’s policy is that
only UNC students, faculty and
staff are allowed into recreational
buildings on campus. It is a viola
tion of the University Honor Code
to use someone else’s One Card.
If someone tried to use another’s
One Card, the card would be imme
diately revoked. The offender could
also be charged with trespassing.
‘lt depends on the situation, but
we reserve the right to call campus
police” Dunlop said.
Most problems are on weekends
when people bring in friends from
other universities, Dunlop said.
ASG:
Budget
talks a
success
Must allocate
S29BK this year
BY OLIVIA BOWLER
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
WILMINGTON - The UNC
system Association of Student
Governments started off its 37th
session this weekend the way it
ended its 36th —with a bang.
Last session ended with a con
troversial presidential election that
sowed uneasy feelings among some
delegates to the body charged with
representing UNC-system students
and their interests.
However, this weekend’s bang
was a triumphant one. The ASG
plowed through a revised constitu
tion, approved anew budget and
confirmed nine executive officers
all in one day.
“Even today, I’m still absolutely
stunned,” ASG President Greg
Doucette told The Daily Tar Heel
on Monday, after the meeting.
But the road leading up to the
weekend wasn’t exactly smooth.
The week before the meeting,
one committee officer resigned
and Doucette withdrew his nomi
nation for another. However, quali
fied replacements quickly filled the
vacancies, Doucette said.
“I don’t want to replace
(delegates), but if they screw
up, I will,” Doucette said.
“I think that was kind of the
implied message that came out this
weekend.”
The ASG has been widely criti
cized for inefficiency and corruption
in the past, and Doucette has made
transparency and accountability a
priority for his presidency.
The ASG budget has also been a
tripping point for the organization
in the past —but this year it passed
smoothly, even with the addition of
several new programs.
The organization is responsible
for allocating a recurring budget of
$199,000 that comes from student
fees and a $99,000 surplus from
previous years.
Jason Smith, the ASG chief
financial officer, stressed his dedi
cation to financial efficacy.
“I think any good budget has
to be a little bit flexible,” he said.
“I think that it will work well with
the kind of financial leadership
we have this year and the kind of
political leadership we have.”
Doucette said that he hopes the
new programs will put the student
fees to good use. In the past, ASG
has been accused of being wasteful
with student money.
The new budget includes fund
ing for the launch of UNC Today,
an Internet-based survey that will
let students give feedback to the
ASG, and various voter mobiliza
tion efforts that will receive a hefty
portion of the budget.
University campuses can apply for
a competitive grant, which will be
used to encourage voter participa
tion. Constituent high schools UNC
School of the Arts and N.C. School
of Science and Math will receive
SEE ASG, PAGE 5
Two years ago, the University
began enforcing the One Card
policy more strictly. Some dis
agreed with the move, saying it
made University facilities too
exclusive.
David Straight, a reseafch
assistant professor in the biol
ogy department, said he was upset
when community members with
out One Cards were barred from
Woollen Gym.
He said he plays basketball at
Woollen three days a week with a
mix of students and faculty. Chapel
Hill residents used to be a part of
the noon games every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday.
“The purpose of the University is
to serve the state. If the University
is not open to the community here,
it is unfortunate,” he said.
Russell Hailwood, a student
employee at Woollen Gym, said he
sees students try to use others’ One
Cards every day.
If someone hands him the wrong
One Card, he keeps it and gives it
to his boss.
Stricter enforcement of the
One Card policy was bolstered by
a 2005 management audit of the
SEE GYMS, PAGE 5
3