57 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(01/31/07 5:00am)
A forest of A-frames popped up around the Pit on Tuesday as three of the four candidates for student body president kicked off the most visible phase of their campaigns.
The wooden boards, decorated in various shades of blue and green, screamed presidential slogans at passers-by - "Nick Neptune for SBP! Create, Collaborate, Continue," "Caroline for Carolina: United for Change," "Eve!"
Each frame bore one or more of its candidate's platform points, which included everything from instating predictable tuition plans to scoring an on-campus Bojangles'.
Candidate Caroline Spencer said she was out putting up signs at 7 a.m. Tuesday - the minute candidates could display their materials. She placed four A-frames in the area near the Pit and said she plans to have two more up soon.
Her campaign workers also put up fliers in several academic buildings.
Spencer said she and her staffers also will be in the Pit daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to display posters, pass out handbills and talk to students about her campaign. "Plan to see me out there in the Pit pretty much every day," she said.
Candidate Nick Neptune was also up early setting up nine wooden signs, which he described as "gargantuan."
He said he plans to be in the Pit from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, adding that he intends to make nightly appearances at Rams Head, as well.
"The focus right now is simply getting out there and talking to the students," he said.
Hopeful Eve Carson said she also plans to be in the Pit every day. She said her goal is to make sure students are familiar with her ideas.
"We're just trying to keep engaged in these conversations with students," she said.
Carson said she has six A-frames, as well as signs and fliers.
Another candidate, Jon Kite, was prohibited from displaying campaign materials until today due to a prior campaign violation.
Kite said he would be out setting up his A-frames first thing this morning and planned on being there to talk to students.
He added that he has some interactive events planned to interest students in his campaign but declined to give further details. "I'll keep those secret, but they'll surprise you," he said.
And with campus elections less than two weeks away, candidates are counting on their staffers to help them spread their messages beyond the normal avenues of election forums and campaigning in the Pit.
Spencer said she counts her campaign staff at somewhere between 75 and 400 students, although she added that many of them are supporters on her Facebook.com group rather than full-fledged staff members.
Kite said he has a core staff of 12 students but also works with about 40 volunteers. Neptune said he works with 15 staffers on a daily basis, while Carson said her core staff is between 40 and 50 members.
All four candidates also said they still are significantly under their $400 budget limits after purchasing their campaign materials.
The Student Code includes specific regulations regarding student campaigns.
Candidates and their staff members may not display campaign materials on the cubes in front of the Student Union, the outside of the Union itself or on the non-glass exteriors of any campus buildings.
Students also may not campaign or display campaign materials within 50 feet of any University computer facility.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/26/07 5:00am)
Freshmen Andrew Abernathy and Nate Fennell still were trying to get rid of the last traces of Carolina-blue body paint Thursday afternoon.
The two students were among about 200 who packed the Board of Trustees meeting to protest the proposed tuition increases passed earlier that morning.
They entered the board's meeting room in the Carolina Inn shirtless and covered in paint to register their disapproval while still demonstrating school spirit.
But the measure carried almost unanimously.
"It's really hard to cope," Abernathy said after the vote. "They came in with their minds made up."
Standing students lined the walls of the room, and Abernathy and Fennell were not the only ones who used unusual means to get the board's attention.
One group of students arrived with towels wrapped around their waists, carrying posters that read: "I sold my clothes to prepare for the tuition hike," and "I can barely afford this towel."
Even a student dressed as Spider-man was in attendance, defending against increased tuition. But despite Spidey's best efforts, the crowd left disheartened.
"I think they registered that we were here, but I don't think that it changed anyone's real opinion. It's patronizing," said junior Kirk Francis, who said he works 40 hours a week, has two majors and a minor and pays his own in-state tuition.
About 10 students addressed the board with concerns during the discussion period.
Among them was Anthony Miller, a junior from Houston who said the annual cost of nonresident tuition is more than his family's yearly income.
"I have more loans than I know what to do with," Miller said in his speech. "I definitely cannot afford to be here. . I'm doing everything short of begging you not to increase tuition more than necessary."
In response to Miller's comments, board members asserted that UNC is affordable to all students, although not necessarily without incurring debt.
"It's just so infuriating," freshman Jake Fraser said. "It just makes me so mad that they talk about, 'You can afford to go here.'"
Other students said they thought the board was attempting to raise more money than necessary.
"It just puts them on the track of squeezing money out of students' pockets," said Jesse Prentice-Dunn, a senior from Alabama.
Approximately two-thirds of the students present were nonresident undergraduates, while the remaining third were undergraduates who hailed from North Carolina. Only a handful were graduate students.
Board members said money from tuition increases will go to increase faculty salaries and to hire new professors, in part, making it easier for students to get classes.
But Miller said the rationale behind the increases didn't matter.
"What difference does it make if I can get that one Spanish class, if I can't afford to be in class?" he said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/19/07 5:00am)
As the big game draws nearer, the process of scoring a pair of the most coveted objects on campus - UNC-Duke basketball tickets - still is in development.
Officials are working on the distribution system in an attempt to ensure that only students graduating in 2007 will be able to get tickets, said Clint Gwaltney, associate athletic director for tickets and Smith Center operations.
"We're going to do our best that we can to accommodate those that register," Gwaltney said.
More than 13,000 students had registered for the Duke lottery as of last month, said Rachel High, president of the Carolina Athletic Association, which is handling the distribution.
But Gwaltney said just 6,000 student tickets are available for the March 4 game.
Students must register online for the lottery by Feb. 11 to be eligible to receive tickets.
Winners of the first distribution will be notified Feb. 14. They will have until Feb. 18 to confirm, and the winners of the second distribution will be notified Feb. 20.
Students who don't get lucky on the first two rounds might have additional chances. High said issues such as the number of lotteries and redistributions, as well as what to do with leftover tickets, still are being resolved.
Unlike previous lotteries, this one will be designed to allow only seniors and graduate students who will graduate this year to receive tickets, officials said.
Gwaltney said officials in charge of the distribution process received a list of eligible students from the Office of the University Registrar.
Upperclassmen who registered for the ticket distribution were sent one of two e-mails - either one confirming that the student is registered as graduating in 2007 and is eligible to receive tickets, or one stating that the student is not listed as graduating.
Students not listed as seniors who think they should be must stop by the Smith Center ticket office, in person, with verification of their graduation status from either the registrar or the chairman of their department.
It's not to an underclassman's advantage to try to fake it, as all who enter the graduating distribution this year may not enter next year's graduating distribution, regardless of whether they actually graduate this year.
The deadline for students to establish senior status for the distribution is Feb. 9, two days before lottery registration for the game ends.
Students also have the option of withdrawing themselves from the lottery by e-mailing tickets@unc.edu.
Good news for ticket hunters - 30 students have withdrawn their lottery entries so far, High said.
Contact the University Desk at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/17/07 5:00am)
New on-campus dining options abound this semester with commuter meal plans and a special promotion at Rams Head Market.
Mike Freeman, director of Auxiliary Services, said more than 45 students so far have elected to use the new commuter meal plans, which are aimed at off-campus and graduate students.
"We really didn't go out there with any big, specific expectations," he said, referring to the number of people expected to use the plans. Freeman added that he considers them more of "an enhancement."
Laura CaJacob, a member of the Student Dining Board, said the University already has made almost $20,000 from new buyers of the plans.
Eligible students have four different options for the plans.
Two are block plans, including either 35 or 45 dining-hall meals per semester, as well as about $150 in dining flex.
The other two options dispense with meal plans and give students either $300 or $500 in dining flex for each semester.
Freeman said the new plans will not be offered to on-campus students.
He estimated that as many as 60 percent of on-campus students might buy commuter meal plans, but he said lowering the minimum number of meals in plans would lead to financial trouble.
"I would have to shut down one of these facilities," he said, referring to Lenoir and Rams Head dining halls.
Eli Wilkerson, an off-campus junior who bought one of the plans, said he thinks it was a good choice.
"I like it a lot just because it gives me enough meals," he said. "But I don't feel like I have to use more than I need."
Students can sign up for the plans by calling 1-800-UNC-MEAL or visiting the One Card Office.
The new meal plans are not the only change in store for Carolina Dining Services, as the department attempts to increase its slim profit margins.
Starting this week, Rams Head Market is offering a frequent buyer's card. Students who make 10 purchases of $8 or more will receive an $8 discount on their 10th purchase.
Tonia Dunn, marketing program manager for dining services, said that the card will help draw student attention to the market on South Campus, which opened in spring 2005 along with Rams Head Dining Hall.
Dunn noted that the card will be similar to those offered by other grocery stores such as Harris Teeter.
"We wanted to find a way to offer better value," she said.
Making Rams Head Market an option for students living on South Campus, including those in Ram Village Apartments, is the main purpose of the card, Dunn said.
Although the frequent buyer's card is a limited-time offer, Dunn said officials will determine whether the offer will continue after an evaluation at the end of the spring semester.
"If it gathers support, it will keep going," she said.
Although freshman history major Lucy Roberts has a meal plan through the Kappa Delta sorority, she said she plans to use the card.
"This seems like a fair deal, and it would encourage me to buy more at Rams Head Market."
Staff writer Hannah Edwards contributed to this article.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/30/06 5:00am)
The fight to improve retention and graduation rates soon will have a new warrior - a retention coordinator.
The person who fills the position will be in charge of developing, implementing and supervising the new academic probation system, which will go into effect for first-year students in fall 2007.
That system will require students to maintain a minimum 2.0 grade point average throughout their college years.
Although it will begin with first-year students, the probation system will be expanded to all undergraduates during the next four years.
The retention coordinator also will be in charge of working with other offices to help students get the support they need, said Bobbi Owen, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
For example, she said, a student might be doing poorly because he has to commute to Durham every day for work. In that situation the coordinator might work with University Career Services to find the student a job in Chapel Hill.
The goal is to determine what might be causing a student to perform poorly and to work with campus resources to fix the problem.
Owen said the ideal candidate would have at least three to five years of experience at a peer institution in an area concerned with undergraduate retention - advising or counseling, for example. Candidates also will need a master's degree in a related field such as counseling.
"The key to this will be having a really experienced person," said Madeline Levine, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
She added that the right person for the job would be energetic, articulate, firm and empathetic - in other words, she said, a true professional.
Applications are due Jan. 15, and Owen said she hopes to get the new coordinator on the job by March 1.
The groundwork is laid for the new probation system, but the coordinator will fill in the details.
Levine said the current eligibility requirements, which are based on a sliding scale, can lead to nasty surprises for students who were able to enter senior year with a 1.9 GPA but need a 2.0 to graduate.
Levine said she believes the higher standards will allow advisers to help struggling students earlier on. "We're going to be on their backs, in a sense."
The coordinator will be physically located in academic advising and will report directly to Owen. The person also will work with the associate dean and director of academic advising on a regular basis, as well as with other offices across campus.
"We believe that retention is going to be an effort across the curriculum," Owen said.
"It takes a village, you know. It takes a university to do retention. It's not one person's job, but everybody's job, to do that."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/16/06 5:00am)
"Civility," P.M. Forni told the crowd during his speech Wednesday night, "is a matter of life and death."
Forni, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who has made a career of studying civility, was the keynote speaker of the University's Honor and Integrity Week.
He defined the term civility as "a form of benevolent awareness" that is not just a trivial social action - but a daily process of ethical behavior.
Being civil and polite to others reduces stress, thereby decreasing violence and increasing work productivity, he said.
Forni also spoke of civility as a means of improving health and quality of life.
"Civility is a lubricant that makes the machine, the cogwheels of human interaction, run smoothly," he said.
It is thus a social skill that improves relationships among what Forni called "circles of acquaintance and care."
He said a lack of social contact in the last half of one's life is a predictor of early illness and death, making the civility that eases this contact a survival skill.
"To a large extent, the quality of our lives depends on the quality of our relationships, but the quality of our relationships depends on our relational skills - that is to say, civility," he said.
Forni also discussed the causes of incivility. People are more likely to be rude when they have a lack of self-restraint, an excess of stress and a sense of anonymity, he said.
Possibly motivated by those factors, some of the 70 audience members kicked off their flip-flops, drew pictures on their hands and notebooks and failed to turn off their cell phone ringers.
Forni closed his speech with a series of recommendations for promoting civility in the United States. Among them were mobilizing families and schools to work together to educate children about manners and creating more community structures to reduce anonymity.
The lecture was based on Forni's 2002 book, "Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct."
Nicknamed "Mr. Civility" by his wife, the Italian Forni styles himself almost as a handyman of human interaction.
"I have made a marvelous find in the toolshed of happiness," he said of his research on the importance of civility.
Also a scholar of medieval Italian literature, he said he began considering a study of civility 10 years ago while teaching Dante's "Divine Comedy."
"I thought it would be great if they knew . about Dante, but if they went out and were unkind to a little old lady, I would have failed as a teacher," he said.
Laura Lilly, Honor System outreach coordinator, said past speakers have included author David Callahan and New York Times columnist Randy Cohen.
She said Forni was a perfect fit as this year's keynote speaker.
"We think that there's a real relationship between civility and honor and integrity."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/14/06 5:00am)
Campaign for a Safer Carolina is in the final stage of becoming an officially recognized student organization.
The initiative, designed to help prevent interpersonal violence and advocate for its survivors at UNC, has received about 900 signatures on its statement of support.
"We've gotten nothing but positive feedback everywhere we go," said Juliette Muellner-Grimmett, one of five UNC graduate and undergraduate students who are spearheading the project.
Campaign leaders still are in the process of drafting a formal proposal for a resource center that they would like to see open on campus by 2007.
Muellner-Grimmett said the proposal will be completed by Dec. 11 and presented to UNC's Sexual and Relationship Violence Training and Education Task Force - made up of 19 campus groups - sometime in January for feedback.
The proposed center will train and host peer groups that will educate students about sexual and relationship violence and also will help provide a support system for survivors.
Specifically, the facility will provide survivors with a central location for help in navigating the resources available to them.
The problem has not been a lack of available resources, Muellner-Grimmett said.
Many already exist on campus and in the area, including Campus Health Services, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center and the Carolina Women's Center.
But the process of grappling with all of them can be confusing, Muellner-Grimmett said. Campaign leaders plan to match each survivor who comes to their center with a volunteer who will help guide the survivor through the entire process on a one-on-one basis.
Dean Blackburn, assistant dean of students and a member of the task force, said his office traditionally has been a comprehensive source for these kinds of resources.
"It was sort of nice to look at the interface of our different services and how they complement and support each other," he said of the first task force meeting.
Once all the task force members were familiar with the services provided by various groups, they developed a central resource sheet listing all the services available for education and advocacy on campus.
"We're happy to be at the table with our colleagues and working to provide the best possible services we can to each student and change the culture on campus to decrease the amount of assaults that occur," Blackburn said.
The campaign also has partnered with several student organizations, including Feminist Students United and the Panhellenic Council, which sponsored a fundraiser on Franklin Street last week for the cause.
The Graduate and Professional Student Federation also passed a resolution stating support of the campaign.
"There's definitely one wonderful thing about UNC - there are a whole lot of people that really care and really want to help," Muellner-Grimmett said.
Students, faculty, staff and alumni can sign the statement of support by e-mailing their names to cscunc@yahoo.com.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/13/06 5:00am)
International Education Week will kick off today with a visible presence.
The week starts with the sixth annual University Center for International Studies International Education Week photography competition, to which students, faculty and staff submitted their photography from international trips to be judged.
The work will be available for public viewing in the Student Union Gallery, and the award reception for the winners will be held there at 3 p.m.
The competition is part of a series of events to celebrate the nationally recognized week, which spotlights the importance of international education and promotes undergraduate study-abroad programs.
Other events in the University's celebration will include an international research symposium, a talk about global poverty, information sessions for the Peace Corps and Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship and a passport application drive.
Officials said they are working hard to promote international study, a major focus at a university where more than a third of students study abroad during their undergraduate years.
"As we talk about becoming more of an international, global University, we want people to have the opportunity to go abroad now or later," said Marjorie Crowell, assistant provost for international affairs.
She said this was the reason for the passport drive - the second one the University has hosted. "We're excited about doing it again," she said.
Crowell called the drive "one-stop shopping" because students, faculty, staff and their families can fill out passport applications on-site and have their passport photos taken right away for $10 - less money than it would cost to have them taken elsewhere.
The drive will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in Union 1505.
Peace Corps campus recruiter Brian Pedersen described his group as the "what-next people." He said its information session will feature former Peace Corps volunteers, who will talk about their experiences and opportunities for University students to volunteer after graduation.
"It's sort of, 'This is what you're learning at school now, and this is how you can apply it in the future,'" he said.
Although various organizations are responsible for co-sponsoring specific events, the primary sponsor at the University is the Center for International Studies. On a national level, the week is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/31/06 5:00am)
The new election of off-campus Student Congress representatives will take place between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. today on Student Central.
The original results, which led to the election of sophomore Jessica Thompson and junior Stephanie McLamb, were thrown out after the Board of Elections determined that Thompson had violated campaign regulations.
Two days before the Oct. 17 election, Thompson passed out candy - with campaign messages attached - to potential voters.
She subsequently received the most votes in the election.
McLamb, the second-highest vote-getter, appealed the board's decision to the Student Supreme Court. The court unanimously ruled Sunday night in favor of the board.
The court's formal opinion was released Monday afternoon.
The decision was based on Title VI of the Student Code, which states that the Board of Elections may call for a new election if a violation occurs that could have affected the election's outcome.
The court found that because the vote totals among the top four candidates were so close - within 22 votes of each other - the board's decision was reasonable.
"I think you can see by the fact that it was unanimous that we all agreed on the decision," said Chief Justice Matt Liles.
He said the court handled the case in a judicious manner, but there was no way to determine how much the process was tainted by the candy distribution.
Jim Brewer, chairman of the Board of Elections, said the new election is necessary because the board could not determine whether students changed their votes after receiving the candy.
He also said Title VI prevented him from allowing only McLamb's election to stand while overturning Thompson's, as McLamb had requested.
"I was a little bit frustrated, I was a little bit disheartened," McLamb said of her reaction to the court's decision.
"I did everything the right way as far as campaigning goes."
She said she is conducting her second campaign in the same way as the first, with voter interaction and flier distribution.
"I'm just trying to be as personable as possible," she said.
All five candidates - Thompson, McLamb, sophomore Pedro Carreno, junior Quintin Byrd, and junior William Schwarzer - remained on the ballot.
Two runoff elections will also be held today for three available seats in districts seven and nine.
Brewer said that although he sent reminders to off-campus district six students Monday night, he anticipates a lower voter turnout for the new election partially because of Halloween.
But he said he encourages students to make their voices heard.
"It only takes 30 seconds to vote on Student Central," he said. "The issues are still the same here."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/06 5:00am)
Senior class officers said that they've delivered on their campaign promises, and that they intend to keep doing so for the remainder of their term.
Meg Petersen and Eric Schmidt were ushered into office based on a platform that focused on reducing the stresses of senior year by helping seniors prepare for life after graduation - and making sure they have a good time along the way.
They also promised to increase communication among seniors and take on a significant service project.
"I'm really pleased with the success that we've had so far," said Petersen, the senior class president, who is about halfway through her term in office.
Senior Class Vice President Eric Schmidt also said he is optimistic about their achievements to date. "We feel really great."
The officers are involved in choosing a senior speaker to complement former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's commencement speech.
They said they hope to complete the process by the end of the semester.
Schmidt said that because Albright is well-known, officials might try something completely different for the senior speech this year - possibly a musical act or a comedian.
The selection process will be less about name recognition than about choosing an entertaining and relaxing performance, he said.
Senior social events also are a big part of the duo's goals. Petersen said she wanted the class to "form a sense of community" and getting seniors to have fun together is one way to do that.
"This is the last time, the last year, that our peers will have a chance to take part in the University," Petersen said.
She said her goal is to hold events either weekly or biweekly, including activities with and without alcohol.
So far those events have included everything from bar nights to bowling nights, soccer games with the local Special Olympics team to a nonalcoholic tailgate party.
Turnout generally has been strong, the officers said. About 350 students came to the tailgate party and 1,500 to the first bar night.
The most recent events included a senior dinner at Firehouse Subs and a third bar night at Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery.
But even the social events aren't all fun and games, officers said.
Ten percent of proceeds from the dinner will go to Habitat for Humanity, the focal point of the senior service initiative.
The mission is to build houses for people who cannot afford them.
UNC seniors will get together to begin construction on a house during the first weekend in November, Schmidt said.
"We wanted to get seniors involved with Habitat," Petersen said, adding that she sees the project as a kind of bonding activity for seniors.
Both officers said the Habitat project would come as the centerpiece of a plan that also includes a number of smaller service projects.
Proceeds from senior wristbands, which went on sale Oct. 23, will go to Habitat as well.
Peterson said the wristbands might also be used in the future to get their wearers discounts at events such as the bar nights.
Schmidt said he felt good about the first senior disorientation session earlier this fall, which was aimed at helping seniors look at career options.
While he said the project's main focus will come in the spring, Schmidt added that he felt the message was already getting out because 200 more students came to this year's career fair than last year's.
"I'd just like seniors to continue to stay involved," Petersen said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/26/06 4:00am)
The University is one step closer to selecting a new computer system vendor.
UNC's evaluation teams met Wednesday to assess which of three competing vendors can fulfill UNC's system requirements most effectively.
The system that University officials are looking to replace includes student services, human resources and financing.
Last May, Information Technology Services developed a list of more than 2,600 functional requirements for the new computer system, called Enterprise Resource Planning.
The requirements include everything from recognizing invalid Social Security numbers on admission applications to adding a new department or campus to the system.
The new system must also be able to convert data, including full academic records from as far back as 1968, said Stephanie Szakal, assistant vice chancellor for enterprise applications.
Three vendors - Oracle/PeopleSoft, SunGard/Banner, and SAP - responded with reports on how they intend to meet those needs.
The reports detail which needs vendors could meet immediately and which would require more time, the ways in which the requirements would be met and the approximate cost of meeting them.
Beginning Nov. 7 representatives from each of the vendors will come to campus to demonstrate their software and its ability to meet specific system requirements.
"We know they can all do it," Szakal said. "It's whether they can do it the way we want."
The decision also will be based on recommendations from other schools that use software from those vendors, as well as site visits.
Among the schools UNC solicited recommendations from are East Carolina, North Carolina Central and Duke universities. All three schools use one or more of the University's prospective providers.
Evaluation teams must submit their final decisions by Dec. 8, one week after the end of the demonstrations. Officials said they expect to choose a vendor by mid-December.
Until then the University will be negotiating with all three vendors in an attempt to secure the best possible deal.
Once the vendor has been selected and an agreement has been reached, the process of implementing the software will begin early next spring, Szakal said. The project will take about two years to complete.
While only team members can join in the vendor-voting process, Szakal said input from students and members of the community is welcome.
Anyone may attend the demonstration sessions and provide feedback. Information regarding the dates and times of those sessions is available on the ITS Web site at its.unc.edu/erp.
"We want to make this a really clean, transparent, participative process," Szakal said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/17/06 4:00am)
Every 12 seconds, somewhere in the United States, a man physically abuses his female partner.
Ben Atherton-Zeman opened his one-man show, "Voices of Men," by standing on an unlit stage in silence, softly ringing a gong every 12 seconds.
The actor and spokesman for the National Organization for Men Against Sexism addressed the issue of men's violence against women to a crowd of about 250 Monday night in the Student Union auditorium.
"I think we can change this culture of violent masculinity, one man at a time," Atherton-Zeman said.
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice suggest that on a campus of UNC's size, almost 500 women are raped each academic year - and many by male partners.
Last school year 28 rapes were reported to University officials, and only one was reported to the Department of Public Safety.
Representatives of support groups on campus said they believe many women remain silent about physical and sexual abuse, and Monday's performance was part of their efforts to change that.
"It's a huge problem," said Chimi Boyd, associate director of the Carolina Women's Center. "It's important to continue the dialogue about it."
Atherton-Zeman said he believes it is important for men to join the fight against relationship violence and sexism because in many cases other men are more likely to listen to them than to a woman.
"It's up to us to raise our voices until this violence stops," he said to men in the audience.
Junior Reuben Gelblum, a women's studies major, said he appreciated hearing that message from a man.
"It affirms men doing this," he said. "There's a lot of pressures against guys in our culture."
Gelblum said he expected many other men not to understand or to mock the issue, and it was powerful to hear a man speaking out against abuse.
Atherton-Zeman spoke not only about physical and sexual abuse, but also about emotional abuse, stalking, objectification and the importance of listening to one's partner.
The actor focused on audience interaction by bounding around the auditorium, impersonating cinematic characters from James Bond to Austin Powers and interspersing his dialogue with film and commercial clips encouraging men to speak out about violence against women.
Although he said he has been educating men for more than 15 years, Atherton-Zeman wrote "Voices of Men" five years ago to deliver his message to high school- and college-aged audiences in an entertaining way.
The show also incorporated a speech by graduate student Juliette Grimmette, a survivor of sexual assault, who talked to students about her own encounter with violence.
"It's so important to know that you're not alone," she said, explaining why she has worked to combat violence ever since the assault.
Grimmette said many people believe rapes only happen in "stereotyped situations" and can't happen to them.
"I think it's important to have a survivor story, to know that it really happens," she said.
The performance was sponsored by Feminist Students United and the Panhellenic Council. Senior Krista Howell, a member of both groups, was in charge of the planning.
She said the show brought the issue "closer to home" for students.
"Ideally I would want them to take away - specifically men - that this can change, that violence against women is something that can't continue," she said.
Atherton-Zeman said that once they have heard real stories such as Grimmette's, "men are changed forever."
"I think men don't know the daily reality of what it's like to be a woman," he said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/12/06 4:00am)
Increasing tuition rates might lead prospective UNC students to seek other colleges, some students said Wednesday night at a tuition forum.
The UNC system is expected to cap increases in tuition for in-state students at 6.5 percent each year through 2011, but there is no such limit on out-of-state tuition.
"We feel that with this new cap, they're going to expect out-of-state students to make up the amount of tuition of in-state increases that didn't happen," said Alison Savignano, chairwoman of the Out-of-State Students Association political committee.
Student Body President James Allred told the 20 students in attendance that the University must raise $4.4 million from tuition this year in order to raise its below-average faculty salaries.
The University's salaries place it at about the 48th percentile of its peer group, Allred said.
Officials said they hope to move to the 80th percentile.
Faculty salary increases, needed to attract and retain top professors, are bankrolled by funding from the state legislature and tuition.
When the state contributes more money, tuition increases become smaller, but they still are needed to fill University quotas, he said.
"The fact of the matter is, if you lose $1 on the in-state side, you have to make it up with $5 on the out-of-state side," Allred said.
Savignano said her organization's ultimate goal is a similar percentage cap on tuition increases for nonresident students.
Allred said the idea has met resistance - notably from UNC-system President Erskine Bowles, whom Allred quoted as saying, "I care about in-state undergraduates."
University professional schools pose another concern. In recent years, they have avoided contributing part of the money from their tuition increases to the College of Arts and Sciences, Allred said.
Tuition proposals show that nonresident undergraduate tuition must rise significantly in scenarios in which this is allowed to continue, he said.
Jessica King, a sophomore from Atlanta who attended the forum, said increases could drive her out of the University by her senior year.
"I feel like at this point, if tuition increases continue on the path that they were last year . Carolina will no longer be an option for me."
"I love this school to death," she said, adding that she could have gone to a Georgia public university for free.
The tuition task force will hold its final meeting of the year Wednesday to craft a proposal to send to Chancellor James Moeser.
Allred said out-of-state tuition is expected to increase between $500 and $800 this year - "I hope."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/10/06 4:00am)
Chancellor James Moeser hosted an open forum Wednesday in the Student Union to let students ask questions and voice concerns about University issues.
Student: The 50-year plan includes a significant amount of expansion for the student body. I was wondering on what magnitude that's going to occur.
Moeser: Right now our enrollment is about . 27,500. We are projected to grow to about 29,500 by 2015. We are actually growing at a relatively modest, controlled rate.
Student: What is the estimated growth rate of faculty in relation to that?
Moeser: Our position is, we don't grow without getting additional faculty. . And in fact, if that weren't the case, we would push back really hard on enrollment.
Student: I feel like our football program has sunk to a new low. I'm just wondering what's being considered to remedy this.
Moeser: I'm not going to get drawn into that conversation. . We want all of our programs to compete at the very highest level, and we're determined that this program is going to succeed.
Student: How does UNC-Chapel Hill stay competitive with other public universities around the country with the rising tuition costs for out-of-state students?
Moeser: We are the No. 1 academic value in America when you combine quality and price. When you look at comparable institutions . this University is, by any standard, an incredible value. So that's how we do it.
Student: What are some of the ways that the administration will measure academic performance in the future to see how effective (the new curriculum) is?
Moeser: There is, built into the new curriculum, an assessment device. . It's going to retrack you and take some assessments back. It can only be done over time.
Student: I was thinking maybe . the University could own the textbooks and we could pay a fee to rent them from the University.
Moeser: There's been a lot of discussion about that.
Student: I'm concerned with the environmental impact that these new buildings have.
Moeser: I think that this is one of the greenest campuses you'll find anywhere, in terms of the new construction that's going on.
Student: Whenever I leave my classes I see a lot of trash lying around, and it really frustrates me.
Moeser: Every time I walk across this campus, I pick up trash. I'd like to get a commitment from everybody in this room: Stand with me if you're willing to pick up trash when you walk across this campus. (Moeser and the crowd stand together) . Thank you.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/26/06 4:00am)
The new course registration system is about to face its first test.
Starting today students can view their registration times on Student Central.
Registration will begin Saturday for graduate and professional students. Seniors can select courses beginning Oct. 7.
Each class will be divided into alphabetically based sections: A-E, F-K, L-Q and R-Z.
Students whose last names start with a letter between A and E will register first for spring 2007 classes, followed by L-Q, R-Z and F-K.
While the alphabetical quartiles are not expected to change, the order in which they register will rotate each semester for the next two years.
The groups will rotate so that each semester the one that previously was first will register last. The group that was second will register third, the group that was third will register first and the previous semester's fourth group will register second.
"There's an implicit guarantee here," Student Body President James Allred said. "If you're in the lower half of your class this semester, you'll be in the upper half next semester."
University Registrar Alice Poehls, Allred and the academic affairs chairman and vice chairman of student government hosted an open forum Monday night to solicit student feedback and answer questions about the new system.
But only two students attended the forum.
Officials said they are unsure what contributed to the low turnout.
The forum also served to clarify the mechanics of the new system.
Students in each quartile will be divided randomly into groups of about 200 to register. These smaller "alpha groups" will be randomized again each semester.
Each alpha group will have a 15-minute window in which its members can log onto the system and register. After 15 minutes, the next group will have a chance.
A student can register at any time after his window opens, but will face more competition if he misses it entirely.
Registration will begin at 8 a.m. each Saturday. Poehls said all students in a class will have access to registration by 1:30 p.m.
Aside from the late start on Saturdays, the "7-7-7 Rule" will be in effect - any student whose window has opened then can register anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., seven days a week.
Students must register with their Onyens and passwords and can have only one active Onyen at a time.
This means students cannot try to enter the system more quickly by using multiple browsers or separate windows, but Poehls said she hopes they won't have to.
Students received more than 50,000 error messages in the first half hour of each class's registration period last year.
The new system will prevent most of this overcrowding, Poehls said.
Allred said he believes it also will make the process more equitable. Students who were able to register first in the past were those with the most expensive laptops and Internet connections.
"I really feel that most students, if they understand what we're doing, are fine with it," Poehls said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/21/06 4:00am)
Wednesday night's panel discussion, "Challenge of Ethics in Sports," was met with a full house.
Former NFL football player Joe Ehrmann was the event's keynote speaker. He said he believes the most important ethical issues in sports today stem from what he calls "the crisis of masculinity."
The event was the brainchild of Jan Boxill, director of UNC's Parr Center for Ethics. Boxill, who has edited the book titled "Sports Ethics: an Anthology," says the issue is especially relevant in today's world.
"I think that while sports reflects society, it also reflects society in ways that nothing else does," she said.
Boxill said she believes that there is a greater focus on winning than ever before in today's athletic programs - a sentiment echoed by the seven panelists.
Ehrmann said young boys are taught that manhood stems from three things: athletic ability, sexual conquest and economic success.
Instead of a way to validate these ideas of masculinity, Ehrmann said, sports should be about "relationships and a cause."
"To me, sports is nothing more than an educational activity to develop character."
His speech was followed by a panel discussion with speakers including athletics director Dick Baddour, UNC quarterback Joe Dailey, and William Friday, the president emeritus of the UNC system.
Panelists and education leaders agreed that one of the most important causes of ethical lapses in sports today is the obsession with winning.
"We're a society of 'winning is everything,'" said Elizabeth Hedgpeth, an exercise and sports science professor. She said she recalled the days when kids played sports "until they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces," simply for the joy of the game.
Money presents an ethical challenge on all levels when a sport feels more like a profession than a pastime, panelists said.
"Money has become the dominant force in intercollegiate athletics," Friday said. He added that Carolina plays more football games than it used to in order to make more money and that the need for money also means that TV stations' schedules dictate when games are played.
The solution, panelists agreed, comes down to integrity.
"Private victories, to me, precede public victories," said Dailey, emphasizing the importance of each player's commitment to ethical behavior. He also said that coaches must meet players' misconduct with visible punishments to promote integrity.
Other panelists added that university officials, starting at the top, also must have the integrity to balance sports and academics, ending what they call an "arms race."
The forum was sponsored by the Parr Center in conjunction with several other programs at a cost of about $5,000.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/20/06 4:00am)
The Rams Head Recreation Center is state of the art and just one year old.
The new South Campus facility includes cardiovascular and weight training facilities, three basketball courts, an indoor climbing wall, an indoor running track and lockers. It cost $14.5 million to build.
At the moment though, it is being overshadowed by the Student Recreation Center, located on South Road. Last week the SRC drew in 6,891 visitors, while Rams Head received just 3,972.
"A lot of students probably don't even know that it exists," said Marty Pomerantz, director of campus recreation, in reference to Rams Head Recreation Center.
The facility, part of the Rams Head Center - which includes a dining hall and parking deck - is a vital part of plans to bring more traffic to South Campus, officials said.
"People who work out at the SRC are familiar with that facility and continue to use that facility," said Lauren Mangili, associate director of campus recreation.
She added that in addition to the SRC's convenient location near the center of campus, it also offers locker facilities that are used by many members of the faculty and staff.
SRC director Reggie Hinton said he sees the two recreation centers as sister facilities, rather than competitors.
"We strive to offer uniquely different facilities to meet the needs of a diverse University community," he said.
Pomerantz said he believes it is only a matter of time before more students discover Rams Head.
"I think it's key to bringing South Campus and central campus together," he said.
"It's going to be booming just like the SRC."
Pomerantz said a first anniversary celebration is being planned for later this year to promote the facility. He also is working on obtaining signs for the Rams Head Center.
Rams Head specifically seeks to draw in South Campus residents, particularly in evenings when they have finished classes and are returning to their residence halls, officials said.
According to statistics from both facilities, evenings are peak times during the week.
On Sept. 12, a Tuesday, 161 people visited the SRC during the 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. time slot. At the same time, 108 people visited Rams Head.
Lynne Harden, a senior geology and marine sciences major who lives off campus, is the kind of student Rams Head seeks to draw.
She said she works out four times a week, often during the peak hours in the evening. She only goes to Rams Head occasionally because she prefers the SRC.
"I've been coming (to the SRC) since freshman year - it's a habit thing," she said. "Rams Head is not well publicized from an off-campus perspective."
Rams Head Center employee Jordan Albertson also said the SRC is generally more crowded, and he believes more students should visit the new recreation center.
"I do like this facility better. Everything's new - all the different options that you have here."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.