Battg (Tor Hwl
CORRECTION
Due to an editing error, Tuesday’s
pg. 5 feature photo, “I’ve got to get
away,” incorrectly located Linville
Gorge at Grandfather Mountain.
Linville Gorge is actually south of
Grandfather Mountain. The Daily
Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
CAMPUS BRIEFS
Campus facilities to open
on special Fall Break hours
The following campus facilities
are operating on different hours for
Fall Break.
■ Davis Library: Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 5
p.m.; Saturday —lO a.m. to 5 p.m.;
Sunday ll a.m. to midnight
■ Undergraduate Library:
Wednesday closes at 5 p.m.;
Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. tos
p.m.; Saturday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.;
Sunday opens at 1 p.m.
■ Rams Head Dining Hall:
Wednesday 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.,
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Thursday,
Friday and Saturday; Sunday 5
p.m. to 8 p.m.
■ Top of Lenoir Dining Hall:
Wednesday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.;
closed Thursday, Friday and
Saturday; Sunday 5 p.m. to 8
p.m.
Since Fall Break is not an official
University holiday, students still
can receive citations for parking on
campus Thursday and Friday.
Congress committee OKs
smaller Concepts request
The finance committee cut back,
then approved, a scaled-down
funding request from Concepts
of Colors in the group’s second
appearance before the body.
Two weeks ago, the modeling
troupe was approved for $7,535.
But after allegations surfaced that
the request was inflated, TVeasurer
Shaniqua McClendon had to appear
before the ethics committee and
resubmit her request
She was cleared of any wrongdo
ing by the committee Sunday.
The new request was for only
$5,184.43, which was cut by the
committee to $4,278.42.
Concepts of Colors will meet again
with full body Congress at 7:30 p.m.
Ttiesday in Peabody Hall.
Subway under renovation,
will reopen after Fall Break
Students on Jared Fogle’s Subway
diet will have to wait until Monday
for their next $5 footlong.
The Subway at Lenoir Mainstreet
has been closed since Sunday for
renovations.
The renovations include updating
cosmetic finishings, replacing mold
ing on counters, installing a faster
oven and putting in a hood vent to
remove hot air, said Scott Myers,
director of food and vending.
Myers said this project has been
in the works for six months, and
that dining services does not plan
to renovate any other eateries on
Mainstreet soon.
Myers said the project was timed
to coincide with Fall Break.
CITY BRIEFS
Candidate for judge says
that he will not campaign
A candidate foralocal judicial seat
has conceded the election to a candi
date who won more than 60 percent
of the primary votes in May.
Glenn Gerding will not cam
paign against Page Vernon for the
seat of the 158 District Court Judge,
although his name will remain on
the ballot.
“Coming out of the primary, I
felt like it was pretty clear that Page
had won the election and there was
not anyway to overcome her lead,”
he said Tuesday.
Flag football game to raise
awareness of conservation
Freedom’s Drum Marketing and
Consulting, LLC will host its third
annual Touchdown to Freedom flag
football fundraiser Saturday.
Proceeds will go to the
Conservators’ Center Animal Facility,
a nonprofit breeding facility and
sanctuary that aims to educate the
public about the importance of con
servation and responsible breeding.
The event will begin at 12 p.m. at
Cedar Falls Park in Chapel Hill.
Aldermen receives plans for
future of Carrboro cycling
Already recognized as one of the
best towns in the state for biking,
Carrboro is one step closer to becom
ing even more bicycle-friendly.
With the help of Greenways Inc.,
Carrboro’s Bicycle Plan Advisory
Committee formulated a draft for
a bicycle transportation plan. The
draft was presented to the Board of
Aldermen at 'Riesday’s meeting.
After hearing feedback from the
board and the public, the committee
will revise the plan and present it as a
final draft in January or February.
For community reaction, visit
blogs.dailytaiheel.com.
—From staff and wire reports.
Group gets voter fraud charge
BY CLINT HANNAH
STAFF WRITER
A national organization that was
registering voters on campus last
week has been charged with voter
fraud in several states, including
North Carolina.
The Association of Community
Organizations
for Reform
Now, or
ACORN, is a
nonpartisan
group that
seeks to register voters, particularly
low-income voters.
The group has recently drawn
national attention for alledgedly
falsifying voter registration cards.
ACORN has also become a con
troversial campaign issue because
its political branch previously
endorsed Democratic presidential
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Republican B.J. Lawson (right) talks with RJ Yost, a first-year biology major from Chapel Hill, after a debate with U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C.,
on Tuesday organized by UNC's Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. Lawson is challenging Price for his N.C. 4th Congressional District seat.
DI-PHI HOSTS DEBATE
BY REBECCA PUTTERMAN
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., battled
Republican opponent B.J. Lawson in a stu
dent-run debate on campus Tuesday night
Four moderators and three fact-checkers
from UNC’s Dialectic and Philanthropic
Societies orchestrated the N.C. 4th
Congressional District
Debate, steered by stu
dent questions.
“This debate is
unique,” said Jeevan
Vittal, a Di-Phi member
who helped coordinate
the event in Carroll Hall,
election
2008
which about 250 people attended.
“In contrast to presidential debates which
are notorious for not answering questions,
we’re UNC we don’t stand for that stuff.
We want actual questions answered.”
Answer them the candidates did during
almost an hour and a half of debate that cov
ered domestic and foreign policy issues raised
in a Facebook group created for the event
Di-Phi chose from the group the questions
Council to execute timetable
Carolina North
uses new permit
BY KATY DOLL
SENIOR WRITER
A timeline for the large plan
which will determine development
in Carolina North is expected to be
endorsed by the Chapel Hill Town
Council today.
Developers for Carolina North,
the satellite research expansion of
UNC’s campus, have asked for a
development agreement.
This allows large-scale plan
reviews rather than the approval
of individual buildings, with a
target date of a final agreement
of June 2009.
David Owens, a faculty member
of the School of Government who
works with the joint staff of UNC
and the town on this project, said
this is an alternative framework for
review, compared to the traditional
land-use or special-use permit sys
tem.
“It would allow the University
and town to sit down and negoti
ate the scope and terms of approval
for all or some portion of Carolina
North,” Owens said.
He said it is not anew devel-
Top News
candidate Barack Obama.
Republican candidate John
McCain’s campaign has tried to
undermine Obama’s candidacy
by drawing connections between
Obama and ACORN.
Don Wright, general counsel for
the N.C. Board of Elections, said
ACORN registered roughly 28,000
voters in the state.
The first investigation into any
wrongdoings began three weeks
ago, when Durham County officials
turned in 120 questionable forms to
the N.C. Board of Elections.
Traci Reams, Orange County
Board of Elections director, said the
county has some registration forms
in question but can’t definitively tie
them to ACORN because the orga
nization doesn’t label the forms.
ACORN Communications
Director Charles Jackson said the
they thought best represented students.
“I like the format,” said UNC senior
Paige Michael-Shetley, a member of Tar
Heels for B.J. Lawson, which co-sponsored
the event with UNC Young Democrats.
“The Di-Phi moderators arejvery bright
individuals who will ask some good, chal
lenging questions.”
Through the debate, three Di-Phi mem
bers sat with their laptops to check facts
cited by the candidates.
“They’re Googling anything verifiable
that’s not common knowledge,” said sopho
more Di-Phi member Abhinav Komandur.
However, the candidates fact-checked
each other too.
Lawson accused 20-year congressional
veteran Price, a UNC and Di-Phi alumnus, of
renewing the USA Patriot Act and voting for
the war in Iraq, which Price refuted.
While Lawson railed against government
funding for corporate interest projects, Price
said repeatedly that Lawson believes that
the National Institutes of Health and the
National Science Foundation are unconsti
tutional.
Proposed timeline for Carolina North
development:
October 2008: UNC and
Town of Chapel Hill staff negoti
ate development agreement
University provides overall context
plan for Carolina North which is
sent to town staff.
November/December 2008:
Public meetings on proposed
amendment and development
agreement.
January 2009: University sub
mits formal zoning application;
development agreement submit
ted to council for formal review.
opment process, but it was not
approved for use in the state until
2005.
The proposed development
system would allow large-scale
review so the buildings are in
context of the entire project, not
in isolation.
Jack Evans, executive director of
Carolina North, said it’s too early to
think about reviewing specifics for
the whole project.
“We’re asking the council to con
sider a process in which the council
and trustees would meet on a reg-
organization reported the problems
first, after finding out that some
employees had falsified voter cards.
Jackson said he thinks the accu
sations are politically motivated
because most of the cards in ques
tion were reported this summer.
“Now all of the sudden we get
headlines about voter registration
questions three weeks before the
election,” he said.
Jackson also said the accusations
of voter fraud were false, since no
ballots are being cast.
“Voter fraud is a misnomer.
What is occurring is voter registra
tion errors,” he said.
Liz Gilliam, a junior internation
al studies major, said she updated
her registration through an ACORN
representative in the Pit last week.
“They seemed very responsible
and I did not have any second
Although Lawson has been referred to as
Libertarian, Price made sure to tie him to
Republicans after Lawson criticized corpo
rate giveaways, the war and the USA Patriot
Act.
“I’m not running away from my national
ticket. He would vote for the very Republican
leadership he has been criticizing tonight,”
Price said in his closing statement.
But Lawson, a strict constitutionalist,
tried to blur party lines with a return to the
Constitution as originally written.
“At some point we need to stop pretending
that the rule book doesn’t exist,” he said in his
closing statement. “The Constitution speci
fies a system of government that serves the
American individual.”
However, Price made it dear that he fdt that
approach to the Constitution is backwards.
“He’s trying to mark his personal, idiosyn
cratic view of the Constitution with anti-gov
ernment rhetoric,” Price said in an interview
with the Daily Tar Heel.
Contact the State Cf National Editor
at stntdesk@unc.edu.
February/March 2009: Joint
staff of University and town hold
public information and education
al meetings on development.
April 2009: University and
Town submit additional proposed
amendments or revisions of the
development.
May 2009: Planning board
makes recommendation on the
project. Council holds formal pub
lic hearing
June 2009: Council takes action
on the development.
ATTEND THE MEETING
Time: 7 p.m. today
Location: Chapel Hill Town Hall
Info: townhall.townofchapelhill.org/
agendas
ular basis between now and June
‘09,” Evans said.
In addition to the development
process, the resolution up for
action would set a June 2009 date
for having the process in place and
would set the next joint work ses-
SEE DEVELOPMENT, PAGE 7
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2008
thoughts until I saw on the news
that they had been convicted nation
ally of voter fraud,” she said.
“I called the Orange County
Board of Elections and the woman
told me that she couldn’t find my
information.”
Gilliam said she doesn’t know
if her lost registration information
has any relation to her dealings
with ACORN.
Jackson said ACORN will con
tinue to register voters in order to
provide a voice to low- and moder
ate-income citizens.
“Voting is the basis of what defines
America as America. Registering
people to vote is the single most
patriotic act that you can do because
it gives people their voice.”
Contact the State National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Town to set process
for new appointment
BY EMILY STEPHENSON
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
For the first time in 10 years, the
Chapel Hill Town Council will alter
its own makeup.
The council will decide tonight
on a process for replacing 11-year
council member Bill Thorpe, who
died Sept. 27.
Mayor Kevin Foy has said that
the council might choose to appoint
a black person to fill the spot
Thorpe was the council’s only
black member.
“I think it’s important that we
have a strong liaison with the
African-American community, and
it’s been my experience that Bill
Thorpe did an excellent job of mak
ing sure that we heard from voices
in our community that we some
times don’t hear from,” Foy said.
Thorpe told voters during his
2005 town council campaign that
he would represent all Chapel Hill
citizens but would make a special
effort to communicate with the black
community during his tenure.
In the last several decades, the
council has consistently included at
least one black member.
Thorpe took his seat at the same
Joint
ticket
olan
loated
SBP, VP would
campaign as one
BY HILLARY ROSE OWENS
STAFF WRITER
Student body vice presidents
would be placed on the ballot if
a bill discussed by the rules and
judiciary committee of Student
Congress on Tuesday is passed.
Student government leaders
worry that move could turn the
election into a popularity con
test.
A similar idea was discussed
last year but never voted on. Rules
and judiciary committee Chairman
Ben Mickey reintroduced the idea
as a resolution Tuesday and said
he wanted good discussion about
it. He got it.
The proposed resolution would
create a joint presidential ticket
allowing students to vote on a pair
of their choice.
The presidential candidate
would choose a vice presidential
running mate, and the two would
campaign together.
Now, a selection committee
selects three nominees for vice
president from applications. Of
the three nominees, the student
body president chooses a partner
after elected.
Mickey said he is in favor of
opening the selection of the vice
president to students since it would
allow student input. But he also
said there could be risks associated
with such a decision.
“It turns into a popularity con
test,” Mickey said. “The quality of
the candidate may not be as good
under that election.”
Congress Speaker Pro Tern
Bryan Weynand and Student Body
President J. J. Raynor shared that
concern.
Weynand said the qualities of a
vice president include knowledge
of how student government works
and the ability to work within the
system.
“My chief concern is that those
qualities will not be looked at,”
Weynand said.
Raynor said if this bill passed,
presidential candidates could
choose a running mate that would
help win an election but might
not be fit for the job as vice presi
dent.
She said Congress knows what
they are looking for when picking
nominees for vice president. She
said they look for someone who
has the strengths the president is
lacking so a stronger student gov
ernment is created.
After about 20 minutes of
debate, the committee decided to
table to the proposal to allow for
more time to examine it.
Following the rules and judicia
ry committee meeting, the student
affairs committee met to discuss
two fee increases, but the increases
were withdrawn before discussion
because of some confusion in the
wording of the bills.
The two increases included an
increase for the student govern-
SEE CONGRESS, PAGE 7
How to apply:
> Applicants should submit their
names, addresses and signatures
to the town clerk. Applicants also
may submit additional information
supporting their application.
► Mayor Kevin Fay recommended
that the Town Council accept
applications until Oct 31.
time that Edith Wiggins retired.
Wiggins, an African-American,
was appointed in 1996 to replace
another black council member.
Wiggins said while the council
shouldn’t have to meet a quota of
minority representation, a black
council member could better address
the black community’s concerns.
“If you haven’t lived the African-
American life, the African-
American experience, there’s a limit
to your ability to understand,” she
said. “I think in a democracy, you
look forward to having all segments
of a community represented.”
But Ruby Sinreich, a Chapel Hill
blogger and political observer, said
SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 7
3