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(02/27/08 5:00am)
Pending legal and Honor Court decisions, Carolina Athletic Association President-elect Andrew Coonin could be forced to relinquish his position.
Coonin received a DWI citation Dec. 11. According to Chapel Hill police reports, Coonin registered .09 blood alcohol concentration on the Intoxilyzer. The N.C. legal limit is .08.
Coonin declined to discuss details other than to acknowledge that he received a citation.
"What transpired in December holds no bearing on my dedication to serving the students in acting on their behalf," he said in a prepared statement.
The Instrument of Student Governance lists driving while intoxicated as a violation of the Honor Code.
Honor Court Chairman Dan Cowan could not comment on any Honor Court cases. He said that because there are no minimum sanctions outlined by the Honor Code for this infraction, consequences could range from a written letter of reprimand to expulsion. Decisions are case-by-case.
Any sanction that includes probation would prohibit a student from holding a representative office at UNC, such as CAA president.
In his statement Coonin indicated a willingness to step aside as president, should it be necessary.
If he decides to step down before his April 1 inauguration, the Student Code calls for a special election.
There is currently no legislation detailing CAA succession if Coonin were forced to leave office after inauguration. But the CAA unanimously approved a resolution Monday outlining a course of action if Coonin is inaugurated and then forced to resign. That plan has been drafted into a bill to be approved by Student Congress.
"The bill says that if the president's seat of the CAA does open up, the vice president would take the position," said Tim Nichols, speaker pro tem, who submitted the bill Tuesday. "After the vice president, it would be the most senior member of the CAA Cabinet."
Congress is scheduled to vote on it at the next full meeting March 25, if it is approved by the Rules and Judiciary Committee, which is likely to meet next week.
The CAA gave the plan to Nichols after Coonin told members more than a week ago of the situation.
Coonin has since scheduled meetings with the Honor Court to discuss the matter, and he said he hasn't made a decision about whether to make the proceedings open to the public.
"It's a tough situation," said Colby Almond, current CAA president. "He's a person, but he's also a public official now."
CAA officials released a statement of support for Coonin and expressed their concern for his rights to privacy and due process.
"Andrew Coonin was my choice for CAA president," said Kellan White, Carolina Fever president. "Because of that, I'm going to support him until I know all the details and the consequences."
Coonin's next court date is April 15 in Chapel Hill District Court.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(02/26/08 5:00am)
Although she has all the official power as student body president, Eve Carson has relied heavily on her appointed administration this year to tackle a range of decisions.
(02/14/08 5:00am)
The student safety and security fee, which was approved by referendum for an increase of 25 cents, was a point of significant disagreement within student government.
The fee increase was approved in Tuesday's elections by 4,098 students, or 71 percent.
Proponents of the fee increase say the money is necessary to cover the increasing numbers of assaulted people cared for by the victim's assistance fund, which draws its money from the safety and security fee.
Originally, the fund was budgeted to support about 10 victims per year, but took on 26 last year.
The chairwoman of the safety and security fee committee, Simone Chaffiotte, explained what costs the money in the victim's assistance fund helps defray.
The fund covers a host of preventative and investigative measures for rape and assault victims, including DNA testing, rape kits, medications for sexually transmitted infections including HIV and a Plan B pill, which is taken the morning after and can prevent pregnancy.
They also pay the insurance deductible if the victim feels comfortable telling their parents about the assault. If not, the fund will pay for all expenses.
The increased request for these services might not mean the University saw an increase in actual crime but rather an increase in awareness of the service, said Student Body Treasurer Jordan Myers.
"We just believe that it's the increased awareness that will provide support to these victims," Myers said.
"If it takes handing out a quarter from our own pocket, students are showing that we really do value the program and the idea behind it."
Congress Speaker Tyler Younts contended that the increase is an unnecessary addition to a fund with plenty of money.
"You're looking at a fund that, as of last year, had a $100,000 surplus," he said.
He said the safety and security fee spent about $85,000 of this surplus on off-campus projects last year, funding blue lights and street-level lighting on Franklin Street.
Younts said the student safety and security fee was never meant to be spent on projects that extended beyond the University.
"It's not like I'm against safety or against lighting or things like that, but the mandate of the fee was exceeded," he said, adding that the Town of Chapel Hill is responsible for safety projects off campus.
Younts went on to say that the victim's assistance fund was receiving supplementary money from the safety and security fee's discretionary fund.
"This idea that they were out of money for victim's assistance is just a lie," he said.
The safety and security fee also funds projects that promote safety awareness. This can range from safe-skills workshops to rape whistles.
"It's something I am really passionate about - being able to provide the service for people who have been assaulted," Chaffiotte said.
"It's one less thing they have to worry about at a really difficult time."
The other measures on the ballot were technical amendments intended to update and streamline the Student Code, according to Student Congress member Val Tenyotkin.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(02/11/08 5:00am)
Although the three student body president candidates echoed similar themes for improving academic advising, each platform has subtle differences.
Campaign proposals range across a gamut of suggestions, from group and study abroad peer advising to student assistance in finding and hiring faculty.
"I think for advising to be efficient and effective, you need to have a diversity of systems for a diversity of needs," candidate J.J. Raynor said.
Raynor's goals center around providing further programs for students, which try to address more individualized needs.
Academic Advising Associate Dean Carolyn Cannon said that the student body president does not have any official power to implement changes or programs in advising.
But Cannon said the advising department takes student input, particularly that of the student body president, into consideration.
Cannon said that the student body president should facilitate student feedback to influence advising programs.
Previously, student government has conducted surveys in collaboration with advising and the Office of Institutional Research.
She also believes it is important for candidates to discuss their plans with advisers and advising administrators while creating their campaign promises.
Academic advising is currently under review by the Board of Trustees committee on academic advising.
Kristin Hill has a slightly different focus.
Her proposals for advising would require extended coordination among academic departments, advising and administration.
She stressed student access to information and campaigned on increasing the availability of information on courses, such as online course syllabi. Hill said she also is interested in the design stages of the enterprise resource planning project that aims to transform the University's online advising systems.
"Student input and student feedback throughout that process are vital," Hill said.
Four of her core staff members also serve on the student ERP advisory group, she said.
Logan Liles focused instead on helping students understand the issues involved in advising, emphasizing the need for student voices in reforming advising.
"We want it to be something where we have a comprehensive sort of advising because we're spending a lot of resources on advising," he said. "We want the student to have somewhere to go at every turn."
Liles conceded that an adviser's job is not always making every student happy and that some things students want can't be done.
He echoed Hill, saying that advising is essential for future planning.
His platform emphasizes improving the system that is already in place and introduces fewer new advising programs than the other candidates.
All three of the candidates show a similar resolve for delivering answers to the complex problems faced by advising.
"At the end of the day, if solutions don't work for students, they don't work," Raynor said.
See Tuesday's paper for two pages of candidate profiles.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/22/08 5:00am)
Political campaigning on campus heats up today as candidates move from one-on-one discussions to forums with larger audiences.
Hopefuls for student body president often are invited to these large assemblies to promote their respective platforms and agendas.
"The more publicity you get, the more chance you have of actually winning that office," said Mitchell Capriglione, chairman of the Board of Elections.
The board will be attending some forums to monitor campaigns for possible violations, though Capriglione said it would pay close attention to the student body president race.
(01/17/08 5:00am)
New journal open to all margin scribblers
A new arts journal on campus will start not with a bang but a squiggle.
Uncharted is calling for your drawings, your doodles and your cramped scribbles yearning to be expressed.
The journal will take submissions today in the Pit that consist of the doodles and drawings that students cram into the margins of their notes.
In short, they're taking doodles.
"We are a new journal on campus that is focusing on visual and performing art," said Allison Young, one of the new publication's creators.
"We're in a community that's focused on academics and sports," she said. "The arts are an area that's under-explored right now."
Between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. the Pit will house the wandering imaginations of any who wish to submit.
"Part of our goal was to create a more holistic education at (UNC) Chapel Hill and to enrich the sort of arts mentality that's different than other academia here on campus," Young said.
Uncharted began as a collaborative effort between Young and sophomore Amy Zhang, as well as Young's cousin, freshman Erica Young.
Both Allison Young and Zhang had similar ideas and were looking to start a journal on campus that tapped into the visual and performing arts. When they met through a mutual friend, Uncharted was born.
The call for doodles came from a desire to reach out to everyone on campus, Allison Young said.
And everyone doodles.
"During class, a part of your mind is completely disconnected to your body," said doodler Trevor Brothers, a sophomore. "You look down and there's a picture."
"It's better than falling asleep in lectures, but you're definitely not taking notes."
The struggle against sleep aside, spending time prodding your mind in various ways can be productive, some suggest.
"For years, as people have studied creativity, a consistent theme has been that if you get people to look at a problem in a new way, it helps to open up their creative capacity," said Joe Lowman, a psychology professor at UNC.
Lowman also pointed out the use of brainstorming and art as a means to find new solutions in jobs, such as advertising and business.
With all the doodles and other submissions wrapped up and included, Zhang and the Youngs plan to publish their first issue of Uncharted later this semester.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/11/08 5:00am)
As the new the head of technology services at UNC, Larry Conrad will have a full schedule from the moment he starts his position Feb. 1.
He will fill the roles of the University's chief information officer and vice chancellor for information technology, placing him in charge of some of the University's biggest upcoming projects.
"There are huge and never-ending challenges," said interim CIO John Oberlin, who will be moving to the position of associate vice chancellor for information technology.
"One of the challenges for any CIO . is to provide services that help make the University a better place and help people do their jobs better."
Enterprise Resource Planning, for example, will streamline and overhaul the campus IT systems for students, human resources and financial services.
The first things on the list for ERP to address are the student aspects, such as providing instant access to personal information, including their demographics, and starting a new registration system.
"What I'm going to be looking for is to understand what are the issues in the University and what assets we've got," Conrad said.
The campus computer systems, UNC officials said, are causing problems because they don't interface well. Last semester, University leaders held a kickoff for ERP, as it begins its implementation phase next month.
"When the dust settles, there should be a significant improvement in services for students at the University," Conrad said. "The whole reason you implement an ERP configuration is to get all of the technology to work better together."
Conrad was one of the recommendations that a search committee submitted to the provost's office in mid-October.
"I think they've ended up with an excellent choice," Oberlin said.
Sarah Michalak, chairwoman of the committee and University librarian and associate provost, said an important factor in the search was finding a person who can cope with the needs of many different types of users, from technology managers to administrators to students.
"We wanted to find someone with significant high-level experience in information technology, particularly someone in the academic community," said Michalak, who led the search since May. "We wanted proven interpersonal skills and business acumen."
Conrad's resume boasts several successful programs at Florida State University, where he has been CIO since 1998, and Michalak noted that he is known for his management style and attitude.
"He demonstrated that he had really been a leader of ITS people inside the organization and really cared about staff development and giving people chances to advance and to grow," she said. "After all, the staff of ITS is a huge resource for the University."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/29/07 5:00am)
One UNC law school professor will be bringing her expertise to Washington, D.C., at the request of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Elizabeth Gibson, a professor at UNC's School of Law and law school alumna, was appointed to be the reporter for the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules on Oct. 19 and will be assuming her position in time for the next Judicial Conference, which the Chief Justice typically calls in March.
"This is a recognition by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States that she is one of the preeminent bankruptcy scholars in the U.S.," UNC law school dean Jack Boger said.
"It's a signal honor for Elizabeth."
The position, which has no term limit, entails a great deal of responsibility, as the reporter coordinates the committee's agenda. She also will work with judges around the country to draft amendments to rules and writing explanatory notes.
"I think it's going to be an exciting opportunity," Gibson said. "I'll be ensuring that parties that appear before the bankruptcy court can carry out the law as Congress intended."
This is not Gibson's first national appointment. In 2000, she was nominated by former President Bill Clinton to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, though the nomination expired before the process got to a hearing. This adds to an extensive resume that emphasizes her experience in bankruptcy law.
"I've done a lot of work with the federal judiciary," Gibson said. "I've been involved in planning programs for federal bankruptcy judges and have been a consultant to the Federal Judicial Center, as well as just my general work and in bankruptcy teaching in that area."
Gibson also got the opportunity to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White.
"She's very smart. She's incredibly knowledgeable in this area and she has good judgment and sort of a wise perception," Boger said.
"She's been on a dozen major University committees because people find her so good and so wise."
Even though this is a big responsibility, Gibson said it won't affect her teaching at UNC.
"The committee itself meets twice a year, so there's a lot of work before each of those meetings, but I will do this in addition to my responsibilities here.
"I'm happy where I am, and I'm glad to take on this challenge and that's sort of enough for now, I think."
Her appointment brings national attention to the University and the law school. Boger said in the area of bankruptcy law, this is one of the most prestigious honors.
"This is the chief justice of the United States saying, 'I want you to be my point person on bankruptcy,'" Boger said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/14/07 5:00am)
It started out as a voice. Then it became a stance. Now the Black Student Movement has become an integral part of campus that is very much alive.
(11/12/07 5:00am)
The N.C. State and UNC football teams clashed Saturday as the heated rivalry hit the gridiron, but some fans took the intensity off the playing field.
The Marching Tar Heels faced a hostile crowd in Carter-Finley Stadium when they took the field, and UNC's campus was victim to vandalism before the matchup.
Members of the Marching Tar Heels band said N.C. State fans were rude, harassing them with boos and obscene language.
"I was just really disappointed in their fans," said Ivey Locklear a sophomore member of the Marching Tar Heels. "They were all caught up in the rivalry, so we weren't sure what they would do."
Laura Kenny, who portrays Ms. Wuf, one of NCSU's mascots, said the atmosphere between the mascots was friendly even though the cheering included a reported "fight" between UNC's Rameses and N.C. State's Mr. Wuf that she broke up.
"It was all in good fun," she said. "We were just joking around."
She said the problems came when UNC's band performed at halftime. Fans responded negatively because NCSU fans weren't expecting the Marching Tar Heels to perform.
"We had no idea," Kenny said. "Normally we don't have any visiting team perform. We were just taken aback by it."
Despite the reception by the fans, Locklear said the N.C. State band was a good host.
Other aspects of the rivalry hit UNC's campus before the game even started. Between Thursday night and Friday morning, an incident of painting graffiti on advertising cubes in front of the Student Union occurred, according to University police reports.
References in black to N.C. State were spray painted over the cubes.
To secure N.C. State's campus during the game, officials had usual measure in place, along with an augmented level of security. Sgt. Donovan Brickhouse, the on-duty supervisor for the N.C. State Campus Police, called it "the same game plan, just more officers."
He added that there were about 15 extra officers at the football stadium who did sweeps of the stands before kickoff and who manned posts throughout the stadium to ward off intoxicated tailgaters and regulate ticket scalpers.
Two students from NCSU were arrested for unspecified charges Saturday following UNC's 31-27 loss in Raleigh, Brickhouse said.
He said arrest reports will be forthcoming in the next week.
Brickhouse did not attend the game, but he said he received a briefing afterward from Sgt. Edward Farmer, the coordinating officer for public safety at the football game.
"From what he advised me this morning, it was more tame this year than in years past."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/07 4:00am)
Activists for collective bargaining still are knocking at the door of the University, but this time they're knocking on a bigger door.
On Friday afternoon, supporters of collective bargaining gathered at UNC-system President Erskine Bowles' office to deliver a petition of about 500 signatures.
The petition was the latest effort to influence leaders to publish an article, favoring collective bargaining, for the University Gazette.
Earlier this year, the groups had appealed to the UNC-Chapel Hill administrative level for support, but because Chancellor James Moeser refused to push the article's publication, the advocates went above him.
"It's really the appropriate step administratively," said Domenic Powell, a member of Student Action with Workers. "It's not meant in any pejorative way. Part of what informed that decision was the importance to the whole of North Carolina."
Jeff Davies, chief of staff for UNC-system President Erskine Bowles, accepted the petition Friday but said he needed time to think it over. He could not be reached for comment by press time Monday night.
The Gazette has maintained that the decision preserved the style of the publication and wasn't censorship. The article was deemed opinion by Gazette editor Patty Courtwright who said last month that the Gazette would not publish the article.
The article in contention has since run in The Daily Tar Heel.
The group that gave the petition includes students from SAW, Students for a Democratic Society and Students United for a Responsible Global Environment. Community members, the UNC Young Democrats and N.C. workers' organizers also are involved.
"We brought petitions . to the power source of the University who has been very dismissive of workers' rights," said Tamara Tal, a representative of SDS. "The students . are speaking loudly, and the University needs to listen."
Friday's events weren't the first recent encounter between administrators and employees.
In November 2006 several faculty, staff and community members organized a protest and presented a petition about 15 dental technicians whose jobs were outsourced.
UNC administrators received the petition but did not reverse their outsourcing decision.
"There's no countervailing force to anything the chancellor or president of the university chooses to do," said David Brannigan, vice chairman of the Employee Forum.
On Friday the petitioning groups made a list of demands, which included that Bowles reverse the Gazette's decision to withhold the article from the forum's newsletter insert - the same demand the group had made to Moeser. Demands also advocated the repeal of N.C. General Assembly statute 95-98, which prohibits collective bargaining.
"Where I work, everybody is afraid," said Barbara Gear, a longtime Chapel Hill Transit employee who spoke Friday. "They're afraid to get fired if they talk about unions."
Gear said the groups' aim is to reach whatever level of the administration necessary to improve the lives of Chapel Hill employees.
"It's not to go against the system or the job," she said. "Everybody could benefit."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/25/07 4:00am)
Congress is offering students the chance to weigh in on the fee decision process, but some are unsure if the student body should have that responsibility.
Students will have the opportunity to vote via referendum Tuesday on whether they want the power to decide fee increases for four fees - student activity, Student Legal Services, the Undergraduate Teaching Award and APPLES fees.
"Fees are one of the main ways that Student Congress affects students' lives," Speaker Tyler Younts said. "I think giving them a voice on something like that is very important."
But some students said they don't think referendums are the ideal way to decide student fee increases.
"I don't think it's the best idea simply because I don't think students will always have an informed view of what student fees go toward," freshman Austin Monroe said.
Freshman Mary Reid reiterated the need for elected student officials to come to a consensus that meets the needs of students.
"I think that, like with anything else, they have to realize that (Congress) knows more about it than a student might," Reid said. "I think there needs to be set people who make the final decisions."
Others said they think referendums might not protect specific interests of smaller groups.
"It's probably not a good idea because not everybody uses student fees, but we need them anyway," junior Brandon Flowers said. "I personally haven't used any of those fees, but that doesn't mean they're not important to have."
The timeline for fee increases would become cramped if students get more input in the fee process through Tuesday's referendum, Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Lauren Anderson said.
She said the proposed referendums would put pressure on Student Congress to incorporate student opinions into the fee process quickly.
"I think it's great that students get to provide input," Anderson said. "But the people responsible really have to be on their 'A' game."
She emphasized that students' input is needed before the student fee advisory subcommittee's annual recommendations to the chancellor, which must be made by January.
Co-chairman of the student fee advisory subcommittee Roger Patterson said referendums on student fees could complicate the student fee process. He said Congress would need to make sure referendums fit into the subcommittee's schedule.
But Younts said that fees will still go through the usual channels.
"I don't see it as being any kind of negative impact on the process."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/25/07 4:00am)
Congress is offering students the chance to weigh in on the fee decision process, but some are unsure if the student body should have that responsibility.
Students will have the opportunity to vote via referendum Tuesday on whether they want the power to decide fee increases for four fees - student activity, Student Legal Services, the Undergraduate Teaching Award and APPLES fees.
"Fees are one of the main ways that Student Congress affects students' lives," Speaker Tyler Younts said. "I think giving them a voice on something like that is very important."
But some students said they don't think referendums are the ideal way to decide student fee increases.
"I don't think it's the best idea simply because I don't think students will always have an informed view of what student fees go toward," freshman Austin Monroe said.
Freshman Mary Reid reiterated the need for elected student officials to come to a consensus that meets the needs of students.
"I think that, like with anything else, they have to realize that (Congress) knows more about it than a student might," Reid said. "I think there needs to be set people who make the final decisions."
Others said they think referendums might not protect specific interests of smaller groups.
"It's probably not a good idea because not everybody uses student fees, but we need them anyway," junior Brandon Flowers said. "I personally haven't used any of those fees, but that doesn't mean they're not important to have."
The timeline for fee increases would become cramped if students get more input in the fee process through Tuesday's referendum, Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Lauren Anderson said.
She said the proposed referendums would put pressure on Student Congress to incorporate student opinions into the fee process quickly.
"I think it's great that students get to provide input," Anderson said. "But the people responsible really have to be on their 'A' game."
She emphasized that students' input is needed before the student fee advisory subcommittee's annual recommendations to the chancellor, which must be made by January.
Co-chairman of the student fee advisory subcommittee Roger Patterson said referendums on student fees could complicate the student fee process. He said Congress would need to make sure referendums fit into the subcommittee's schedule.
But Younts said that fees will still go through the usual channels.
"I don't see it as being any kind of negative impact on the process."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/28/07 4:00am)
Academic advising is turning the tables, receiving some words of wisdom instead of dispensing them.
At the Board of Trustees' University affairs committee meeting Wednesday, Holden Thorp, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, presented an advising report on behalf of the academic advising committee.
The plan calls for a number of changes to advising, including the elimination of academic advising teams in favor of a primary adviser for each student.
"We did a self-study about advising. The report said we're doing a fine job with freshmen and sophomores, but we're less effective for juniors and seniors," said Bobbi Owen, senior associate dean for undergraduate education.
Under these recommendations, academic departments would be responsible for advising juniors and seniors.
The advising committee has eight members, including one student.
"I encourage students to get enormously involved in this," said Rusty Carter, chairman of the University affairs committee. "Do whatever you can do to get your voice heard. I'm disappointed there is only one student on the committee. This is a huge issue."
The committee also proposed centralizing information and certain administrative functions into Enterprise Resource Planning.
The ERP will standardize and consolidate certain administrative functions, including parts of advising's Web site and databases.
But Carter had reservations.
"I don't want us to get so swept up in the technology component that we lose the people in it," he said.
The proposal also includes Undergraduate Academic Resolution Services, a "customer service" that can resolve problems unrelated to advising, such as obtaining transfer credit.
"Being clear about who does what and how that all fits together is going to be a very important thing," Owen said.
But some members of the University affairs committee said they think the plan doesn't fully address current problems.
To remedy this, committee members talked about adding a measure to encourage informal faculty discussions with students. Another measure would increase efficiency in the process and evaluation of advising.
Steve Weiss, chairman of the academic advising committee, said he is hopeful about the project.
"By giving students and advisers better tools, they can spend more time doing what advising should be doing," Weiss said.
The committee has a timeline for the changes, which should be complete by May 2009. Thorp will give a follow-up presentation to trustees by May.
"I am determined that whatever this group has influence over, we're going to get it right," Carter said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/20/07 4:00am)
Hunger Lunch brings one of the simplest meals in the world to Chapel Hill: rice, beans and corn bread. Yet that simple meal also aims to help the world.
The organization has been around since 2002 when UNC graduate student Sindhura Citineni took a 3 a.m. break from studying and stumbled upon world hunger Web sites.
"I was totally wired and thinking about all these ideas, and I started just looking through sites," Citineni said. "I was so full of energy and had to do something about it."
Citineni described how powerful the problem of world hunger was to her.
"I've volunteered in the past, but it never really hit me," she said.
So she got to work, gathering enough student support and spending $400 of her own to launch the Hunger Lunch initiative.
Now Hunger Lunch has grown into a global social entrepreneurship enterprise known as Nourish International, which has completed numerous projects around the world and opened seven chapters at other universities.
The meal is held by Nourish International every Wednesday in the Pit to raise money for the world's poor.
"It's good food, and it helps people around the world who are less privileged," sophomore Maria Vozzo said, over her plate of beans and rice.
The group uses proceeds from its campus events, including Hunger Lunch, to support sustainable development projects in impoverished regions.
This summer Carlos Toriello, Nourish UNC co-chairman, led a project in Guatemala.
"We started a community center to serve as an after-school center for kids," Toriello said. "It's the first library with computers and Internet in the community, built on a former refugee camp."
And this summer, the Duke University chapter went to Tanzania, where members supported people in the community, helping to build chicken coops for families.
New chapters have sprung up in several other states including at the University of Michigan, the Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota and St. Louis University.
"Nourish here is fondly referred to as the flagship chapter," Toriello said. "Everyone looks up to us and tries to emulate our successes and avoid our failures."
And failures have been a part of the learning process for Nourish International.
Citineni had raised $7,500 from Hunger Lunches by the end of the first year and took the proceeds to her native Indian town of Hyderabad.
The project encountered obstacles because the local community members did not readily trust the students.
Citineni regrouped, focusing on projects that were sustainable.
"There's a push to get students to think long-term," she said.
After returning from the initial project, Citineni won second place in the Carolina Challenge, a business-plan competition, with the concept that would become Nourish International.
There is a core group of at least 30 students at UNC and 120 throughout the entire Nourish International system working to move the project forward.
"Success would be if this idea continues to inspire students," Citineni said. "The idea is you can do what you want to do and still really make a difference to people who need it."
So far, the project has been a success by many measures.
"You can't stop it," Citineni said. "It's going to keep going. We just have to keep feeding it so it will grow faster."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/17/07 4:00am)
By the end of the year, emergency blue lights should be installed at three off-campus locations, student government officials said.
Student Body President Eve Carson's administration is working to finalize a proposal to the Chapel Hill Town Council by its Sept. 24 meeting to create both emergency call boxes and street-level lighting.
"The idea with blue lights is that they deter crime," said Katie Sue Zellner, student government's chief of staff. "There's a comfort level there."
Blue lights have long been a goal of student government administrations and last spring, former Student Body President James Allred submitted a petition to the Town Council for four blue lights to be installed off campus.
One blue-light box was deemed unnecessary because it is across the street from a fire department, where someone is always available in case of emergency.
The project was not fully implemented before the end of Allred's term, and the Carson administration is now working to finish it.
The proposal grants $80,000 in earmarked money from UNC's safety and security fee to fund the project. Half of the money will be used to install the three call boxes, and the other half will go to street-level lighting in nearby areas.
"Street-level lighting is basically limited area lighting," said Kumar Neppalli, traffic engineer for the town of Chapel Hill.
Neppalli said the lighting is mainly for pedestrians, illuminating a smaller area, such as a sidewalk, with more intense light.
"A lot of the street-level lighting is going into areas densely populated by students, such as by Rosemary Street and by McCauley Street," Zellner said.
The Chapel Hill Police Department will maintain the call boxes, and the town will supply power and phone lines.
Student Body Treasurer Jordan Myers said the new call boxes will be completed by late December.
"It's been something students have been trying to do for quite a while," said junior Christian Mibelli, who was security committee chairman under the Allred administration.
"Now we have the funding available, we're able to do that for students," he said.
The funds from the safety and security fee have been accumulating for several years and are now suitable for this project.
Students pay $1.70 annually, though Myers said he is advocating a 50-cent increase to cover rising expenses associated with safety and security's other programs.
The student fee advisory subcommittee will discuss the fee Wednesday.
"This is a perfect example of student government, administration and the town of Chapel Hill all working together," Mibelli said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/14/07 4:00am)
UNC employees are driving a hard bargain to have their voices heard.
More than a dozen students and employees assembled in a demonstration Thursday, claiming the University had censored an employee movement.
"Down with censorship, up with collective bargaining," came the cries from 15 protesters at Thursday's event in the Pit.
The demonstration was a response to the University Gazette's refusal to include an article about collective bargaining that was submitted by UNC's Employee Forum.
The article, which would have run in the forum's July InTouch newsletter as an insert to the Gazette, was about legislation that would repeal a law against collective bargaining in the public service workers' industry.
University officials decided the article is an opinion piece that aims to influence legislative agendas.
"It was an editorial decision based on the publication's style, tone and content," said Patty Courtright, editor of the Gazette. "This was an opinion piece. The Gazette does not run commentary."
But some employees saw the act as censorship.
"First of all, not only is this a violation of freedom of speech but also a violation of worker rights," said Manzoor Cheema, a research technician at UNC Hospitals.
Cheema emphasized the outdated nature of the collective bargaining law, which was passed in 1959 and makes contracts between government and labor unions illegal.
Larry Farrar, a UNC housekeeper and 27-year University employee, listed the demands of the workers' union.
He called for an apology from Chancellor James Moeser for not helping get the article published and also for the University to place the article on the cover of the Gazette and send a copy of the article to all students.
"He was in the wrong," Farrar said. "We are the backbone of the University."
In the forum's September meeting, employees passed a resolution asking Moeser to support the article's publication. Moeser has not yet made any official indication of support, and he stated in August that the issue is not censorship.
Courtright said in an interview Thursday that the Gazette still has no plans to print the article in upcoming issues.
Laurel Cotton, a Chapel Hill Transit worker who attended the event, said collective bargaining is important to employee relations. "When things go wrong, with collective bargaining, we're able to communicate with the boss."
About half of the demonstrators were students from Student Action with Workers, as well as Students for a Democratic Society. The other half were members of the N.C. Public Service Workers Union.
Ashaki Binta, coordinator for the International Worker Justice Campaign for the workers' union, argued in favor of workers' rights.
She cited issues of health and safety, low wages, a lack of benefits and few parental benefits for workers who are single parents as issues for which collective bargaining would be a useful tool.
"All workers deserve the same thing in the public sector," she said. "They deserve the right to be heard, so we're here to make this demand on the University."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.