VOLUME 116, ISSUE 112
diversions | page 5
MUSICAL CHAIRS
Student musicians have to
juggle school work and band
duties like writing music,
practicing songs and performing
in order to stay out on top.
city I pages
COURAGE TO LEAD
Former Chapel Hill Mayor
Howard Lee releases a
memoir about the challenges
he faced as the first black
mayor of a predominantly
white town in the South.
■H
sports | page 10
'EXTREMELY DOUBTFUL'
Men's basketball coach Roy
Williams said senior Tyler
Hansbrough most likely will
not play against Pennsylvania
in the season opener Saturday.
features | page 12
CAROLINA RINGS
A General Alumni Association
committee spent months
designing a class ring meant
to encompass school symbols
such as Davie Poplar, the Old
Well and the University seal.
online | ilflilytarhpel.com
BAILOUT DISCUSSION
Mike Munger discusses the
federal bailout package.
UNC-C SCHOLARSHIP
A scholarship is created for
nontraditional students.
this day in history
NOV. 13.1926...
William Rand Kenan Jr.
announces a $275,000 gift for
the construction of Kenan
Memorial Stadium in his
parents' honor.
Today’s weather
Rainy
H 61, L 55
Friday’s weather
T-Storms
H 74, L 64
index
police log. 2
calendar 2
nation/world 4
sports 10
crossword 13
opinion 14
©lff latlu (Far lUrrl
Kidnapping trial begins
Football players
bound, robbed
BY MAX ROSE
CITY EDITOR
HILLSBOROUGH- The man
accused of tying up and robbing
two UNC football players during
Winter Break last year saw his first
day in court Wednesday.
The attorneys picked a jury and
the state began its case against
Michael Troy Lewis, 33, who faces
several felony counts and at least
eight years in prison if convicted.
The prosecution says that three
football players were celebrating a
21st birthday early Dec. 16 when
one of the players met Lewis
and two women, Tnikia Monta
Washington and Monique Jenice
Taylor, at a Franklin Street bar.
The player then invited the three
to his apartment, where prosecutors
say the robbery and kidnappings
took place.
The victims have testified that
at the apartment, Lewis, a Durham
resident, tied two of the football
players up and put a sharp object,
possibly a knife, to their neck.
Events that night remain
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
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■L Jp f .agj||-#■
DTH/NUSHMIA KHAN
Scott Wilson and James Howard sit at a table outside of Lenoir Dining Hall between classes Oct. 30. The students are part of a larger group
of gay students who sit together for lunch at the same table outside of Lenoir so regularly that they have begun to call it the "gayble.”
Spot offers gay students acceptance
BY CAITLYN GREENE
STAFF WRITER
Not until his sophomore year
in college did Scott Wilson get to
know a gay student.
“I grew up in a really small town,”
said the Whiteville native. “You have
these presumptions that gay people
are tiffs way... and they’re not”
Wilson’s presumptions shattered
when three gay students joined his
club gymnastics team last year.
“It kind of made me see that it’s
not bad; it just is,” Wilson said.
He came out in May.
Prassing leads ACC streak
BY BEN BADEN
STAFF WRITER
No one has played a more
important role in the North
Carolina women’s volleyball six
game winning streak than senior
hitter Lauren Prussing.
Prussing is the top Tar Heels
hitter this season, averaging just
fewer than three kills per set.
She has led the team in kills
in five of the six games on their
streak, averaging 12 kills a
match.
Coach Joe Sagula said Prussing
has become more effective and
accurate throughout the season.
“The key stat is not only that
she’s leading in kills, but her kill
average,” Sagula said. “(Lately)
she’s really probably averaging
four for us.
“If you get an outside hitter
averaging four hits per set, that’s
awesome.”
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
www.dailytarheel.com
DTH/BRITTANY PETERSON
Michael Lewis sits at trial Wednesday in an Orange County courtroom.
Lewis is charged with kidnapping and robbing two UNC football players.
unclear, but around 3:20 a.m. the
victims called the police.
The two women were arrested
that night, but Lewis got away.
He bit in the groin and pushed
down a flight of stairs the officer
who attempted to arrest him,
according to warrants.
Police originally charged all three
with sexually assaulting the players
Wilson still didn’t have a group
to identify with. But he soon start
ed sitting outside Lenoir Dining
Hall with two friends in August.
By mid-September, their three
person lunch gathering had grown
into a social hub now known as the
“gayble.” It grew to around four
tables with 15 people, he said.
About five guys sit at the gayble
throughout the day. Others, includ
ing straight friends, float in and
out, peaking around lunch hours.
“It had gotten to where it was
like you had to make an appear-
ATTEND THi DUKE GAME
Tb?ii; 7 p.m. today
Location: Smith Center
Info: www.tarheelblue.com
The Thr Heels once again will
be relying on Prussing when
they face conference rival Duke
tonight
The Blue Devils have won
five in a row against the Tar
Heels, the longest such win
ning streak for Duke since tak
ing seven straight, ending in the
1993 season.
The last time the North
Carolina faced off against Duke
in early October, the Tar Heels
lost in four sets and found them
selves just one game above .500
in the ACC and struggling to win
on the road.
SEE VOLLEYBALL, PAGE 4
but dropped the felony charges
when only two of the victims could
testify during Winter Break.
The Daily Tar Heel is not
identifying the football players
because of a policy against nam
ing the complainants in cases that
involve sexual offenses.
SEE TRIAL, PAGE 4
ance here as a member of this com
munity,” he said.
But the table is more than a
social spot
“We have so many different ways
of life all converging around this
one commonality amongst us,”
explained Wilson. “And how it’s dif
ferent for each person, how each
family has a different reaction to ft,
different dating experiences.”
The table has provided Wilson
support during the college'equlva
lent of his adolescent years.
“When you’re gay and you don’t
come out until later, all of that six
or seven years of emotional devel
opment kind of gets crammed into
■hsphi
■
DTH FILE/STEPHANIE TAN
Senior hitter Lauren Prussing has
proven invaluable for the North
Carolina volleyball team in its six
game conference winning streak.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2008
The story so far
Dec 16: Police receive reports
at just past 3:20 a.m. from the
cell phone of one of the three
victims UNC football play
ers —and arrest two women.
Michael Troy Lewis is arrested
three days later.
January: A judge determines
there is enough evidence to
pursue charges against Lewis
and Monique Jenice Taylor.
Charges against Tnikia Monta
Washington are dropped.
Feb. 4: The Grand Jury indicts
Lewis on two counts of first-de
gree kidnapping, robbery with a
dangerous weapon, two counts
of attempted felony larceny, two
counts of assault on a govern
ment official, resisting a public
officer and conspiracy to commit
a felony.
Taylor is also indicted on charg
es of first-degree kidnapping,
felony conspiracy, sexual bat
tery —a misdemeanor offense
—and resisting a public officer.
Wednesday: Lewis' trial
begins.
one or two years,” he explained.
So Wilson recently went on his
first date at the age of 20.
“When my sister was going on
her first date, my mother helped
her pick out what she should wear
and helped her think of things she
should say” he said. “They kind of
did that for me a little bit.”
Having a place like the gayble
would have helped Wilson feel com
fortable coming out earlier, he said.
“It was kind of something I was
dealing with on my own —and
not very well.”
Wilson said the table is the kind
SEE TABLE, PAGE 4
Lifting stem cell ban
would help researchers
BY MEGHAN PRICHARD
STAFF WRITER
Both the study of stem cells and
the development of research in
North Carolina might soon benefit
from a promise made by President
elect Barack Obama.
Part of his campaign included
lifting the ban on embryonic
stem cell research that President
George Bush implemented in
August 2001. This excites UNC
researchers.
“From what Obama has said
during his campaign, I would cer
tainly expect that the ban would be
overturned,” said Tony Waldrop,
vice chancellor for research and
economic development.
“I believe that is very good news
for research ”
Bill Manduff, executive associ
Taser
used in
campus
arrest
First-year Tasered 3
times; resisted police
BY MATTHEW PRICE
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Officers Tased a student multi
ple times in front of Hinton James
Residence Hall after he resisted
police Tuesday night, said five stu
dents who witnessed his arrest
The student, first-year Frank
Fraboni, 18, was “acting strangely”
and found to be under the influence
of drugs, the police report states.
Student witnesses said police
Tased Fraboni after he made
attempts to get away and other
wise resist arrest.
He was taken to UNC Hospitals
and released Wednesday. He will
have to appear before the Honor
Court.
“It looked like a movie. They
finally got him down and Tasered
him,” first-year Kaylee Baker said.
“I was genuinely scared. He was
screaming.”
Fraboni said he was Tased three
times, at least once on the chest
Department of Public Safety
spokesman Randy Young said offi
cers Tased him after trying lesser
uses of force.
“It’s going to be a well-trained
officer’s discretion in the field as to
what’s the best option for the sus
pect being apprehended,” Young
said. “This was used as a resort to
prevent injury to the suspect.”
Campus police were called after
Fraboni approached first-year
Rachel Hamlin as she went to
retrieve her laundry. Hamlin said
Fraboni was standing outside the
laundry room door and was not
wearing a shirt.
“I thought he was drunk,” Hamlin
said. “He put his arm around me and
I didn’t know him at all. He was just
really incredibly out of it”
Hamlin took Fraboni to the resi
dent adviser on duty in the Hinton
James lobby, who then called the
police after Fraboni could not give
his name and left the building.
First-year R.J. Yost said
Fraboni kept trying to get away
from officers and was yelling
incomprehensibly.
“They finished putting cuffs on
him and then he kept trying to get
away so they Tased him to get him
to stop,” Yost said. “Then he looked
like he was trying to get away again
so they Tased him again.”
First-year Ben Buck also saw
the Tasing.
“They were just having him do
the ‘put your hands behind your
back and be unthreatening’ thing,
and he wasn’t doing it,” Buck said.
The police report did not men
tion that Fraboni was Tbsed. Young
said any “use of force” reports in the
case would be internal within DPS.
Police officials review any use of
force, Young said.
Staff Writer Gabby Pinto
contributed reporting.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
ate dean for research in the School
of Medicine, said lifting the ban
would also have a major impact
on North Carolina’s competitive
ness in attracting researchers.
He said other states, such as
California and New Jersey, fund
research with embryonic stem
cells, so they attract more research
ers in that field.
“The longer that these other
states get to develop these pro
grams, the more we’re going to fall
behind as a state,” Marduff said.
Waldrop and Marduff both said
UNC would have increased this
type of research whether or not
Obama was elected but that more
cells might be available because of
his election.
SEE RESEARCH, PAGE 4