VOLUME 116, ISSUE 94
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Sports | page 10
SO CLOSE
UNC was just inches away
from a win against Virginia,
before the game went into
overtime and UVa. earned a
come-from-behind victory.
national | page 4
KANNAPOLIS OPENS
The N.C. Research Campus,
home to state-of-the-art
laboratory facilities, opens
today with a goal of promoting
nutrition and health research.
State | page 3
FAIR-LY ENTERTAINING
The N.C. State Fair isn't all
about the craziest rides and
the deepest-fried foods. Check
out a top-ten list of things to
do at the fair this year.
features | page 3
BACK TO SCHOOL
UNC employees can take three
free classes per year using a
tuition waiver program. This
semester, 500 of 11,700
employees are participating.
online | dailytarheel.com
FOOTBALL PHOTOS
View a slideshow of pictures
from UNC's loss to UVa.
LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM
Chapel Hill and Carrboro
consider rails to reduce traffic,
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Win at the Blue Ridge Open
was a team effort Friday.
this day in history
OCT. 20,1994...
The UNC women's soccer
team loses 3-2 to Duke for
the first home loss in the
team's history. The loss breaks
a 142 -win streak.
Today’s weather
•/'*<# Sunny
H 69, L 45
Tuesday’s weather
# Sunny
H 73, L 45
index
police log 2
calendar 2
nation/world 4
opinion 6
sports 9
crossword 9
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Hailu ®ar Merl
Halloween to end early
Festivities limited but will continue
BY MAX ROSE
CITY EDITOR
Cinderella will not be the only
one leaving Franklin Street when
the clock strikes midnight on
Halloween.
The town will end the party
early this year, just as crowds are
expected to reach peak level, offi
cios announced last week.
Discussions between the
University, town and student gov
ernment have led to changes which
might limit festivities while being
just as labor intensive.
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Jeannie Walsh (digital persona left, in person right) created her own virtual character to explore the Second Life universe. In her class
"Computers and Society," students build digital personas and then gauge how their looks affect the reaction of other Second Life users.
UNC Online By
The Numbers
The central portal for UNC
Online (online.northcarolina.
edu) launched July 1,2007.
It offers courses at all 16
system universities.
Growth in unique
monthly visitors:
11,345 to 22,254 from
January to July 2008
Growth in online
credit hours: 53,943 to
289,135 (536 percent) from
2002-03 to 2007-08
Degree or certificate
programs offered in
fall 2008: 173
Individual courses
offered in fall 2008:
1,300
Students participat
ing in UNC-system
distance education in
2008: 43,000
► If UNC Online was its
own campus, it would be
the seventh-largest of the
system's 16 universities.
Source: UNC-system General
Administration
Republicans rally in N.C.
BY SARA GREGORY
SENIOR WRITER
CONCORD This election has
U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C.,
singing “Get in line, brother.”
That gospel song about heaven
might better
apply to N.C.
Republicans’
efforts in a state
unexpectedly in
play.
election
2008
In two rallies last week,
Republican presidential candidate
John McCain and running mate
Sarah Palin courted middle class
voters, a crucial voting bloc for a
much-needed N.C. win.
“I’m gonna give you some hard
facts,” McCain said. “We have to
SEE BATTLEGROUND, PAGE 8
www.dailytarheel.com
Breaking up the crowd will be
difficult, Chapel Hill Police Chief
Brian Curran said. Officials are
banking on a publicity campaign in
the final two weeks to keep people
out and let partygoers know what
is happening.
“If you try to take the street before
people are ready, you’re going to run
into problems,” he said.
Past celebrations have ended at
about 2 a.m. At midnight this year,
loud speakers will announce it is
time to leave. The mounted horses
will walk from the west down the
COURTESY OF JEANNIE WALSH
UNC system looks to expand online
BY ELIZABETH DEORNELLAS
SENIOR WRITER
Even in a digital universe, the
Bell Tower chimes.
Its tones are one of the many
iconic aspects of UNC-Chapel Hill
captured in Second Life, a virtual
online world that allows people to
interact through digital represen
tations of themselves.
However, Chapel Hill admin
istrators and faculty remain con
vinced that their real campus
offers undergraduates an expe
rience unparalleled in even the
flashiest digital world.
As UNC-CH continues to focus
on a traditional undergradu
ate education, East Carolina
University and UNC-Greensboro
have emerged as leaders in the
UNC system’s effort to expand
online programs as a way to
increase enrollment while curb
ing construction costs.
ECU is pushing Second Life
fast becoming the next frontier of
distance education —and other
online programs, while UNC-G
is coordinating efforts to provide
online college courses to high
school students.
“ECU and UNC-G are way
ahead of the other campuses,” said
UNC-system President Erskine
Bowles at the September meeting
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DTH/ANDREW DYE
Supporters at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's rally
Thursday at Elon University crowded her in an effort to get an autograph.
street, and Curran said he thinks
people will get out of the way.
“I saw one guy try and fight
with one of the horses, and he
lost,” Curran said. “Biggest hockey
defenseman I’ve ever seen.”
Other finalized changes include:
■ All downtown bars will charge
a minimum of $5 to anyone not
attending a private event At 1 a.m.,
they will close their doors to new
patrons or stop selling alcohol.
■ No park and ride buses.
■ Essentially no downtown
parking available.
■ Increasing the difficulty of
cars getting to downtown Chapel
Hill.
Ik sa.
of the system’s Board of Governors.
“This is the future.”
UNC-CH is participating in that
future in its own way, choosing to
cater online options to graduate
and professional students rather
than relocating undergraduate
education online.
The vision of Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill has developed a
split personality in response to the
system’s call to expand online edu
cation. UNC-CH graduate schools
are eager to reach out to mid-ca
reer professionals through online
courses, but the College of Arts
and Sciences remains reluctant to
alter its residential undergraduate
program.
“I think the University commu
nity is very concerned ... that the
degree awarded from Chapel Hill
has got the same value now that
it had 200 years ago, and we sure
wouldn’t want to do anything that
would change that,” said Bobbi
Owen, senior associate dean for
undergraduate education in the
College of Arts and Sciences.
Owen, a professor of dramatic
art, teaches about traditional
clothing forms in the theater.
SEE UNC ONLINE, PAGE 7
Curran has said repeatedly that
Halloween is an alcohol-fueled
event.
But charging bar patrons is
unlikely to cut down significantly
on alcohol use; the bars downtown
hold about 5,000 people and about
80,000 went downtown in 2007.
“We came to recognize the issue
isn’t people in the businesses,
it’s the amount of people on the
street,” said James Rippe, man
ager of Bub O’Malley’s on East
Rosemary Street.
Curran said there aren’t plans to
increase alcohol enforcement out-
SEE HALLOWEEN, PAGE 8
DTH/HANNAH SHARPE
UNC
Undergraduates
and Online Courses:
► Students can register for
online courses at
fridaycenter.unc.edu.
► No more than six
online courses or 18 credit
hours can count toward
a College of Arts and
Sciences degree.
► No more than two
online courses from one
department can count
toward a major, minor or
degree in the College of
Arts and Sciences.
► First-years need to get
permission from their
academic dean to take
an online course and may
only do so in 'exceptional
circumstances."
► Students must get the
permission of their aca
demic dean to enroll in a
self-paced online course,
and such courses only
count toward a College of
Arts and Sciences degree
in 'exceptional circum
stances."
Source: www.unc.edu/
ugradbulletin/proceduresl.
html#distanceleaming
Predictability buzz
5-year plan up
for discussion
BY ANDREW DUNN
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
The student body will get its
first look at next year’s tuition
when the Uiition and Fee Advisory
Task Force meets today.
But administrators also might
begin mapping out five consecu
tive years of hikes the first
movement on tuition predictabil
ity after several years of talk.
Administrators are slowly
developing a time frame for
increases meaty enough to
achieve newly enumerated goals
for faculty salaries and graduate
student financial aid.
“I don’t see any reason why we
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008
Taylor
to play
Obama
concert
Promotes early
voting awareness
BY KEVIN TURNER
ARTS EDITOR
He’s going to Carolina, but this
time it’s in support of Democratic
presidential candidate, Sen.
Barack Obama.
Chapel
Hill-native
and Rock and
Roll Hall of
Fame inductee
James Taylor
will play a free
concert at 7
p.m. today at
Fetzer Field.
Tickets
are available
at any of the
early voting
sites in Orange
County, start
ing at 9 a.m.
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James Taylor
will perform at
Fetzer Field in
support of early
voting today.
today.
Taylor’s visit to the University
is just one of five performances
the artist is playing across the
state to raise awareness about
early voting for the Obama cam
paign.
The event, sponsored by the
Obama campaign, was suggested
to the UNC Young Democrats just
last week.
“We feel so lucky to have
James Taylor’s support,” said
Vivek Chilukuri, co-president
of the UNC Young Democrats.
“But we’re also grateful for his
time and commitment to come to
UNC to come out to support
the campaign.”
Taylor’s N.C. concert series
comes just two weeks before
Election Day. The state is highly
contested.
“Since the beginning of the gen
eral election, Barack Obama has
taken North Carolina as a very
serious battleground,” said Raven
Moeslinger, head of Students for
Barack Obama. “The state is in a
SEE JAMES TAYLOR, PAGE 7
Get free tickets
near early voting
locations:
Morehead Planetarium
250 E. Franklin St.
Chapel Hill
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Carrboro Town Commons
301 W. Main St.
Carrboro
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Orange County Public
Library
300 W. Tryon St.
Hillsborough
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Attend the Show
Location: Fetzer Reid
Time: Gates open at 5 p.m.;
show starts at 7 pm.
ATTEND THE MEETING
Time: Noon today
Location: South Building 307
Info: provost.unc.edu/opportunities
can’t do that,” Trustee Paul Fulton
said. “It makes a lot of sense.”
Spelling out increases ahead of
time also could curb annual stu
dent protests that UNC’s afford
ability is slipping away.
No real headway had been made
in the past few years despite recur
ring discussions on how to make
tuition predictable.
But the consensus that UNC has
fallen behind peer institutions in
attracting top-caliber students and
faculty has given the debate more
traction this year.
SEE TUITION, PAGE 7