Reflections on Trayvon Martin
Regardless of the color of your skin, the death of Trayvon Martin is your concern. It’s not a black issue. It is a justice issue. It is a freedom issue. It is a people issue.
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Regardless of the color of your skin, the death of Trayvon Martin is your concern. It’s not a black issue. It is a justice issue. It is a freedom issue. It is a people issue.
Last week, my roommate sent me a link to a YouTube video in which a white comedian in blackface interviewed students at Brigham Young University about their knowledge of black history.
Students in Cobb Residence Hall are being asked to keep their computers clean. And they aren’t necessarily happy about it.Information Technology Services is fighting against viruses and bugs transmitted from student laptops to the UNC Internet network by requiring them to download software before accessing the Web.ITS is implementing the change in Cobb as a pilot program and plans to require more students on campus to do the same if it is successful.The new software — referred to as Network Access Control — was implemented in Cobb last week.Jim Gogan, director of networking systems for ITS, said the network scans the user’s computer to make sure it is up to date with all antivirus software before a user signs onto the Internet.“This agent makes sure that the computer is safe to be working on the network,” Gogan saidBut Lucy Skeen, a senior living in Cobb, says she hasn’t seen the positive effects of the new agent.“It cuts in and out,” Skeen said of her Internet connection. “It’s not good.”Gogan said ITS implemented the change because individual computers were transferring problems like viruses to the UNC network.“We are trying to make sure that machines are protected from all the crap that shows up from the Internet,” Gogan said.Chris Williams, ResNet service director for ITS, said once the program was implemented in Cobb, staff checked with residents to make sure they understood the change. Williams said they received very few complaints.“It was such an easy thing to work out,” he said.Jonathan Branch, a freshman Cobb resident, also expressed dissatisfaction with the change.“I was on the Internet, and then I suddenly was not on the Internet,” Branch said.ITS officials said they had received no official complaints once students understood how the program worked.ITS is currently providing the program for free. It plans to roll out the change to other parts of campus in the next few weeks, and residents will be notified prior to the installment.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
By March 2011, faculty and staff will no longer sign onto UNC Webmail for messaging.Information Technology Services is looking to revamp technology for faculty and staff e-mail and calendaring systems by switching from Cyrus — which is the server currently used by faculty, staff and students — to Microsoft Exchange.MS Exchange offers a messaging system that is not dependent upon Web browsers or a network connection, which will provide a more PDA-friendly option and ensure offline availability.This will provide an “anywhere access” component that the current system is unable to claim. Faculty and staff e-mail addresses will not change.Larry Conrad, vice chancellor for information and technology and chief information officer, said the upgrading of the faculty and staff’s messaging environment has been a longtime plan of ITS.“I can be answering e-mails on a five-hour flight to the West Coast,” Conrad said. “It is a rock-solid, bulletproof messaging environment.”Joe Templeton, chemistry professor and former chairman of the Faculty Council, said the main goal of ITS is to provide successful and reliable communication.“For something as everyday, fundamental and important as e-mail, it needs to be reliable,” he said.Reliability and anywhere access is not the only reason ITS planned the switch. Bain & Company, a financial consulting firm the University hired in the spring of 2009, named ITS as one of the University’s 10 areas for potential cost savings. Bain specifically recommended that the University consolidate faculty and staff e-mail to one centrally supported server.Conrad said that although the switch to MS Exchange will cost more initially — about $500,000 — it is a more highly functional and capable program. He also added that money will be saved in the long run because different campus units will not be running their own servers.Faculty Forum Chairman Tom Griffin said UNC should reconsider how much the switch will really help both financially and with usability.“We have to look at how much it is going to cost to save the money,” he said. “And a lot of our staff don’t even have computers at home or are just computer illiterate.”UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health is one of the University units that has already switched to MS Exchange.“Exchange is very simple on my iPhone,” said Jerry Salak, director of alumni and donor relations for the School of Public Health. “It is definitely better in that it is integrated with the calendar.”Conrad said that e-mail servers such as Google and Zimbra were considered but did not offer the confidentiality, level of integration and set of options that MS Exchange provides.Max Beckman-Harned, co-chairman of Student Government’s Technology and Web Services Committee, said the Student Technology Advisory Board is currently examining options for improving student e-mail.Conrad said options for outsourcing student e-mail, including Google and Microsoft, have been discussed. These clients offer almost triple the amount of storage compared to student Webmail accounts.“We think we can offer better service to students by outsourcing,” Conrad said. “But it really doesn’t matter what I think about it, but what the students think about it.”Beckman-Harned said a decision will be made regarding the switch for students by April.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
It is the most beautiful of all music, and without it, no other popular music would exist.Or at least that’s what folklorist William Ferris thinks when it comes to blues music. In a lecture Tuesday night, Ferris discussed his opinions about blues music and culture and how his experiences with them in Mississippi in the 1960s and 1970s influenced his new book, “Give My Poor Heart Ease.”In his book, Ferris, a noted scholar in the field of folklore and a Mississippi native, allows blues musicians to tell their own stories.“I decided to change the book’s perspective from that of a white scholar talking about music to that of black speakers describing their lives and how music shaped their worlds,” Ferris said.About 100 people listened as Ferris recalled various experiences and people from his journey through Mississippi.He read vivid passages from his book that made some audience members feel as if they were traveling Highway 61 with him.Ferris’ journey took place at a dangerous time in the Deep South, when racial groups were segregated. Ferris said he was determined to cross those lines, and was welcomed with open arms.“They fed me and took me into their homes,” he said. “I felt very welcome and comfortable.”Ferris’ love for music started at a young age when his black housekeeper Mary Gordon began taking him to church. As he listened and sang along to hymns and spirituals, he noticed that there was no documentation of the music.“When the people left, the music left with them,” Ferris said.Ferris began to search for the music he had heard in church and it was during this search that he first encountered blues music. “One blues musician told me that if a singer wants to cross over from sacred music to blues, he simply replaces ‘my God’ with ‘my baby’ and continues singing the same song.”After writing his dissertation for his doctorate in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania, which he later adapted into his first book “Blues from the Delta,” Ferris decided to step aside and let black voices speak for themselves in his new book.Ferris has taught at Jackson State University, Yale University and the University of Mississippi. He currently teaches at UNC in the American studies department.“He very much gets out of the way of his material and shows a humility and reverence towards his work and the people and communities he works with,” said Chris Wells, a third-year graduate student majoring in music who attended the lecture on Tuesday night.During his journey, Ferris befriended numerous Mississippian blues musicians, including James Thomas, B.B. King, Otha Turner and Willie Dixon. King is the only of those musicians still living. “It was a life-changing experience that set me off on a journey that I am still on today,” he said. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Correction (March 3 2:55 p.m.): Due to a reporting error, this story misstates former Chancellor James Moeser’s salary for the 2009-10 school year. He earns $390,835. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Praising Ronald Reagan and espousing low taxes, an editorial board member from the Wall Street Journal brought a strong dose of economic conservatism to campus on Monday night.Conservative economist Stephen Moore, delivered a speech that argued against high taxes and current policies of President Barack Obama’s administration. The Journal’s editorial board often takes conservative stances, and has been antagonistic toward the Obama administration.The UNC College Republicans, in conjunction with the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative movement targeted at young Americans, were the major sponsors of this event. Alpha Kappa Psi, a business fraternity on campus, also sponsored the event.The event was partially funded by student fees, and it was attended by more than 50 students.As a supporter of the economic tactics of Ronald Reagan, Moore discussed his perceptions of the failure of the Obama administration to effectively address the economic crisis. He offered comparisons to how the Reagan administration dealt with a similar economic crisis in the early 1980s. “The sky dispersed, the sun came out, and God gave America Ronald Reagan,” he said.Moore gave his speech to a room of like-minded students, and there was no questioning or rebuttals of his statements.While there is significant room to debate the best way to stimulate a poor economy, Moore discussed how the Reagan administration improved the economy by lowering tax rates instead of raising them, as he suggests the Obama administration is doing. He also argued that plans such as the stimulus package have only worsened the economic state of the country. “Tell me one time government spending has ever stimulated the economy?” he asked in what was meant to be a rhetorical question.Students in the audience were receptive to Moore’s message. Senior Lauren Atencio, secretary of the College Republicans, said that for her, conservatism is common sense. “It’s hard to refute logics and facts,” she said.Freshman Elizabeth Cooper, also a member of the College Republicans, also said she agrees with the principles Moore discussed. “Common sense is economics consisting of fair taxes, high investment and low government spending,” she said.Moore said he sees the reason for the country’s financial difficulties as a result of “too much spending, too much borrowing and too much leverage.”Moore attributed some of the economic problems to the policies of the Bush administration, but said the Obama administration was a contributing factor.“Almost everything that politicians have done since the September 2008 economic crisis is wrong,” he said.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Feminism is not a bad word.That is the central message of the Carolina Women’s Center’s annual Women’s Week, this year titled “Take Back the F-word,” which is intended to promote a campus-wide discussion of feminism.“What we are trying to do is not define feminism but to really start a conversation,” said Ashley Fogle, associate director of the Women’s Center. Fogle said this program is gender-inclusive in hopes of reaching a broader audience. The Women’s Center is also looking to incorporate student groups throughout campus to bring a diverse range of perspectives. It organized a planning committee including representatives from N.C. Hillel, the LGBTQ Center and the Men at Carolina living community. Terri Phoenix, director of the LGBTQ Center, said Women’s Week provides an opportunity to discuss gender identity and expression.In hopes of maintaining its focus on the University community, the committee decided to use local talent for the week’s festivities. Chancellor Holden Thorp will be among those conducting tonight’s fireside chat on creating a more inclusive University. The week-long celebration of feminism kicked off at 3:30 p.m. Monday with an awards ceremony honoring women who have made significant contributions to UNC. At 8 p.m., members of the UNC community presented performances and screened entries in the Feminist Film Festival. The films enacted various definitions of feminism.Fogle said using members of the community not only helped to create a more locally focused event but also reduced costs.The festivities will conclude Thursday with a dinner hosted by the women’s affairs committee of student government. That event will be followed by a viewing of “Whip It,” a film about a teenager who becomes involved in a roller derby league. The film is intended to reimagine the meaning and possibilities of feminism using humor as a lens.Phoenix said these events are designed to target everyone, including those who don’t identify themselves as women or feminists. “Women’s issues are everybody’s issues,” Phoenix said.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.