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(03/19/08 4:00am)
Orange County will spend no more than $100,000 to educate residents about a land transfer tax that will be on the May 6 ballot.
County commissioners voted to approve the transfer tax education program Tuesday mainly because they said residents were getting false information from real estate companies asking them to vote against it.
"We are not advocating a position, we are simply hoping that people become informed and then vote," Orange County Manager Laura Blackmon said.
Board Chairman Barry Jacobs said he had reservations about sending mixed messages with his vote.
"We don't have money, so we need money, so we spend money," he said.
But Jacobs said he thought it was important to publicize factual information about the tax.
Several residents spoke at the meeting and said they have been receiving phone calls and mailings urging them to oppose the tax.
The board's media consulting service said it hopes to make information accessible to all residents through broadcast and written news outlets, radio, Web sites and mailings.
The board also decided that proceeds from the tax will go to underfunded schools and park projects if it is approved in May.
But the transfer tax, which would tax real estate changing hands, was not favored by all attendees and still faces significant opposition.
Residents wearing red stickers which said "NO on transfer tax" left the meeting angry.
"It's too much tax already," said Lucian Mascarella, a Mebane resident who pointed out that Orange County pays some of the highest property taxes in North Carolina.
"You've got to realize that the difference between this program and the campaign those real estate people are heading is that that is private money and this is public money," he said.
If the land transfer tax passes, there is no guarantee that property taxes won't increase.
But Blackmon said it would relieve some of the pressure to raise property taxes by establishing a new county revenue source.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/27/08 5:00am)
Conservation efforts like turning off the lights have saved the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools $600,000 in utilities costs.
But saving money is only a side effect. The district is attempting to reduce energy use by 20 percent, through construction of its new buildings and in changing how it uses what's currently in place.
So far, the district is 4 percent short of its goal. But there's room for optimism, said Stephanie Knott, spokeswoman for the district.
Updating for new, efficient technology will be a constant process.
The district's newest schools, Carrboro High School, Smith Middle School and Rashkis Elementary School, were constructed with energy efficiency in mind, said Steve Scroggs, assistant superintendent for support services.
Rooms were designed to let in as much daylight as possible, and ceiling lights will only illuminate what the sun doesn't. Photovoltaic lighting systems sense daylight and adjust indoor lights accordingly.
Rain is recycled and reused in the water systems, and heating is done by natural gas. Motion sensors pick up when people are in rooms and turn lights off when there's no motion.
"Carrboro High School is just fascinating," said Dave Tinker, a safety officer for the schools who used to work on energy efficiency for the district.
But it's not all about technology. Knott said a key part of the project is education.
"What we teach our young people has an even wider impact than what we've been building," she said.
Teachers provide energy conservation tips to students, advising them to turn off lights and computers when not in use.
"We've made posters to put up around the schools and provided incentives for the little kids. . They can get badges," Scroggs said.
The short-term costs of implementing conservation standards are costly, he said, but long-term savings, in the environment and in the district's pocketbook, will greatly surpass the expense.
In some cases, they already have. Utility costs have been on the rise in recent years, and Knott said the new environmental technology in the school buildings has helped offset any extra expenses the district would have had.
The district's newest school in construction, Morris Grove Elementary School, is being built with the same sustainable designs as Rashkis Elementary, Scroggs said.
He said the community has been very supportive of the energy conservation changes.
"Anything anyone can do is very critical," Knott said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/26/08 5:00am)
If plans for a new shopping center are approved, UNC students will have another close retail destination besides the Streets at Southpoint mall.
(02/26/08 5:00am)
Each member of UNC's application reading committee sifts through 60 applications during eight-hour shifts. While determining the makeup of the class of 2012, they don't take phone calls or break focus.
The admissions office is in the midst of reading 21,450 applications for undergraduate admission - about 7 percent more than last year. And every year, the number climbs higher.
"Although we're pleased with the increase, we really didn't see it coming," said Barbara Polk, senior associate director of admissions.
(02/25/08 5:00am)
Video from Dance Marathon
Editor's note: The 10th annual UNC Dance Marathon - held from 7 p.m. Friday until 7 p.m. Saturday - raised a record amount of money for the N.C. Children's Hospital, with more volunteers than ever. Senior writer Sarah Frier participated for the first time.
(02/20/08 5:00am)
Freshman Mariea Umerah was biking back from class when she saw a moose and turtle playing Frisbee in Polk Place.
"It really made me smile hard," she said.
Last week students masquerading as a moose, turtle, rabbit and squirrel roamed the campus just to make students smile, sponsored by the Carolina Union Activities Board.
The random acts of animal tomfoolery were part of Carolina Comedy Week.
But CUAB officials have been secretive about the program, refusing to comment on specifics because they didn't want to ruin the mystery.
(02/18/08 5:00am)
In the thinly oxygenated air of the world's highest peaks, Lei Wang synchronizes every sharp, deep breath with a carefully calculated step. And each step brings her closer to her goal.
If Wang, 39, reaches the summit of the highest peak on each continent and the North and South poles, she will be the first Chinese woman to do so. After reaching the top of Aconcagua on Jan. 29, UNC alumna Wang has two remaining tasks: the North Pole and Mount Everest.
"It's important for people to see that the normal person can make a plan, train and do a lot of things that seem impossible," Wang said.
While growing up in China, she was told to study and go into business or engineering but never to consider anything athletic.
"Even now, my parents don't understand what I'm doing or why I'm putting so much time, energy and effort into this," she said.
She climbed her first peak, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, purely out of curiosity in 2002 with no athletic training. But step by step she learned mountaineering, vertical ice climbing and rock climbing.
"She was gaining in confidence when we first started, and then within a year she went back and led those climbs," said Chuck Reed, who has climbed with Wang for three years.
Now she's reached the tops of six of the seven highest peaks. She said she's saved people from avalanches and reached the limits of human physical possibility. She's been to the South Pole. And so far, she hasn't lost any fingers to frostbite.
It's not an easy feat. Wang is 5 feet 2 inches tall, and the 80-pound backpack she carries up mountains is more than half her body weight.
"It can be very treacherous and very harrowing, with the high winds and changing conditions, and yet she perseveres," Reed said. "She's got a real adventurous soul."
Altogether, the trips she's taken have cost her $250,000. Although Wang has some financial support from friends, she's borrowing the majority from credit cards.
"I don't want to wait, to miss out on my dream," she said. "I'll take on my dream first, and then hopefully people will try to sponsor me."
On the mountain, Wang has a whole new perspective. Sometimes conditions are too risky to continue. Chances of survival are calculated.
Wang stressed the fact that for every step up the mountain she must be able to take the same step back down - most deaths occur during descent.
"The summit is optional. It will always be there," she said. "Coming down is mandatory."
The success in Aconcagua was on her third attempt. She plans to make it to the North Pole in April and then Everest next spring.
For every successful climb, there are two or three failures, Reed said. Wang does not yet know how her body will be affected.
"Everest is a different kind of animal," Reed said. "You've really got to be one tough bird to get up there. But I think she has the heart and will to do it."
Contact the Features Editor
at features@unc.edu.
(02/18/08 5:00am)
The School of Law held its annual Minority Law Day event Friday to encourage diversity in the profession.
Only one in every 25 lawyers is a minority, said Michael States, dean of admission for the law school.
"When people see that number, it can be very discouraging, but we're here to tell them the profession is open to everyone," he said.
About 70 law school hopefuls gathered for admissions information, speeches and meals at Friday's event. They listened to an alumni panel, learned how to finance a legal education and met with students.
Interested students attend to get a better understanding of UNC's atmosphere, law student Michelle Greene said. She and Taiyyabu Quershi, a student ambassador for the law school, went to the event last year. Both said it helped convince them to apply to the law school at UNC.
The event has been held annually for about 30 years.
States said that having students from other races, religions, political ideologies and socioeconomic classes adds to the educational experience for all students.
"When you're out in the profession, clients are going to come in every ethnicity," he said. "When we have students from different backgrounds and life experiences, they add a different perspective to the classroom discussions."
He said that the percentage of students in the law school who define themselves as black, Asian, American Indian or Hispanic has recently been in the 24 percent to 36 percent range.
"UNC is very diverse already," Quershi said. "I think the fact that the law school even holds a minority law day just reflects that dedication to diversity."
Other schools at UNC have their own methods to attract minorities.
UNC's School of Medicine has a lecture every year by an African-American graduate student, Associate Dean of Admissions Axalla Hoole said.
But the School of Journalism and Mass Communication tries to provide information informally.
Diversity information is primarily found on its Web site, and student groups such as the Carolina Association of Black Journalists often have service projects to encourage minority interest, said Dulcie Straughan, senior associate dean of the journalism school.
At the end of last semester, 17.2 percent of journalism majors were minorities, she said.
And according to the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, 29 percent of the students enrolled at UNC in 2007 were minorities.
States said the overall goal of the law school's event was to increase minority enrollment in all law schools.
"It's good for people to come to this event and see someone who looks like them," Greene said.
States said the law school's event accomplished its goal.
"If the information you get here results in you getting into a law school somewhere, I think we've been successful."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/29/08 5:00am)
HENDERSONVILLE - Sixty-seven years after serving in the Pacific theater during World War II, Bob Cheadle remembers the uncertainty, the losses and the malaria.
The retired Marine can recite specific dates, locations and outcomes of the battles in which he participated - especially his six-month stationing in Guadalcanal. He doesn't gloat, and he doesn't tell horror stories either.
But Cheadle will tell you how he was able to visit Washington, D.C., to see the National WWII Memorial despite declining health and old age.
Through the HonorAir program, which flies groups of veterans to the memorial for free, every WWII veteran in Henderson County has had the opportunity to see it.
Established by Hendersonville native Jeff Miller in 2006, the HonorAir idea has since sparked similar programs in other N.C. counties and 25 states.
Miller, who operates Miller's Laundry and Cleaners in downtown Hendersonville, drew inspiration for the program from his parents.
His father fought on the USS Whitley in the Pacific, and his mother had two brothers in the service, one of whom was shot down in a naval plane. After his parents died, he discovered they were charter members of the memorial.
"I thought it stunk that they didn't get to see it during their lifetime," Miller said.
Then he read something in the news. Earl Morse, of Ohio, was flying two veterans at a time to see the memorial in private planes. Six flights one month, 10 the next, 14 the next.
Miller called Morse and laid out his plan to fly out veterans on a much grander scale by taking them in charter planes that could hold 103.
"They are the most appreciative, most patriotic, most humble people to walk this earth," said Morse, who is now the president of Honor Flight, HonorAir's national program. "To finally have a memorial and for them to see it, well, now I know why God put me on this earth."
Six-hundred-fifty veterans have traveled with HonorAir from Henderson County alone.
Raising money was a community effort. Local Boy Scouts set up donation stands, and country clubs hosted fundraisers. With limited corporate or government sponsorship, 100,000 Henderson County residents raised $300,000 for veterans.
"It was unbelievable. Just amazing," Miller said.
In part, the program has taken flight so quickly because the memorial was finished in 2004, a year in which the youngest veterans were in their late 70s and the oldest were more than 100 years old, leaving little time for the generation to appreciate it, HonorAir leaders said.
"Physically I would have a hard time going there and doing all the things we did," Cheadle said. "Some of the fellas would have never been able to help themselves up those stairs."
HonorAir provides guardians and emergency medical technicians for the day trip and flies veterans free of charge in order to eliminate physical and financial obstacles.
On the trip, the veterans get all-star treatment.
They exit the plane through an arc created by military sabers held by an honor guard and enter the terminal to music from the National Symphony Brass Orchestra.
U.S. Airways announces their arrival, so people crowd the terminal where veterans arrive in Reagan National Airport to welcome them. The veterans then get a police escort to the memorial.
"The people in the terminal start applauding and clapping, and it brings these guys to their knees," Honor Flight organizer Dave Cameron said.
For some of the veterans, the experience is one of the last of their lives.
In Miller's office is an 18-page list of veterans who have gone with him to the memorial. Some names are marked by little red dots, indicating that the person has since died.
Former Hendersonville resident Marty Flynn's name is paired with one of those red dots.
During the war, he survived when his ship was torpedoed by German submarines, while 800 others died. But he didn't tell his children about it until he started getting sick, his wife, Eleanor Flynn, said.
"Most of them felt like they did what they had to do and that was the end of it," Eleanor Flynn said. "And they really don't like to talk about it. He was thrilled that he could go see the memorial."
Honor Flight has since expanded to include a Lone Eagle program, which flies veterans who live in towns without a local Honor Flight chapter. Also, the Their Last Chance program flies veterans with terminal illnesses, no matter which memorial they want to see.
Honor Flight will have a summit in Washington, D.C., the second week of February to train people around the country to set up programs in their own cities.
So far, no college campuses have decided to take the Honor Flight project under wing, Morse said. And no Triangle or Orange County residents have called representatives of Honor Flight expressing interest.
But Eleanor DeGolian, president of Carolina Troop Supporters, said the program might consider helping Honor Air.
"This sort of project matches up with our organization's ideals," she said. "They were young soldiers supporting the country, and this honors their sacrifice."
If interested in getting involved with the program:
Call Jeff Miller at (828) 693-7426.
Call Mike Murdock at (828) 697-4817.
Visit www.honorair.com.
Browse www.honorflight.org.
Contact the Features Editor
at features@unc.edu.
(01/15/08 5:00am)
Ten gallons worth of hops, yeast, barley and malt extract - the beer essentials - cost amateur beer-brewers Porter Durham and Danny Lawrence $20.
"It's almost like how you would brew coffee or tea," Durham said. "You put the barley in what looks like a sock, let it seep for about an hour, then add the malt, hops and yeast and let it ferment."
The friends and UNC seniors said although they spent about $80 on equipment, they will save money on beer in the long run.
Aspiring beer-brewers can buy kits online cheaply, but the two Chi Psi fraternity brothers went to the BrewMaster Store, a hole-in-the-wall converted pool house off of I-85 in Durham. They said they wanted to see everything in person.
"The startup cost is a little high," Lawrence said. "But we calculated it once. It cost us about 47 cents to make each beer, and we're looking to make that number go down by buying cheaper ingredients."
The type of brew changes based on how the grains are roasted and the temperature. The project takes about two and a half weeks but is not high maintenance.
"It's a safe process," Lawrence said. "It's not like you're making moonshine or anything like that."
Because the brewers buy pre-roasted grains, the process is mostly waiting and timing, they said.
After brewing, Lawrence and Durham filter their mixture into another container to avoid sediment at the bottom of the batch and to add priming sugar. The sugar reacts with the yeast to carbonate the beer and make it smoother.
"It's easy to get it to be good; it's hard to get it great," Lawrence said.
Great beer depends on temperature regulation and precise measurement of ingredients, which Lawrence said is the hardest part.
Durham acquired their first recipe for pale ale last semester from a high school friend's father. Because they added too many hops, the product turned out bitter.
The duo was more successful with its second batch, which they named Porter's Porter, incorporating Durham's first name.
"We got a lot of compliments on that one," Durham said.
Some home brewers aren't so lucky. Lawrence has talked to people whose caps exploded off bottles - they'd forgotten to let air escape during fermentation.
But Lawrence and Durham said they enjoy the experimentation. They plan on making a lager for their next project.
"It'll be difficult, because we have to keep it at 46 degrees," Lawrence said. "We still haven't figured out how we're going to do that."
Durham brought the equipment home for Thanksgiving and brewed beer with his dad, who used to work for a restaurant microbrewery.
"He had never seen the process in action, and I could tell he enjoyed it," Durham said. "Plus, it was just fun to do something like that with my dad."
The brewers live in the Chi Psi fraternity lodge but keep the beer equipment in a friend's apartment.
"There'd be some liability issues inherent in having it around in a fraternity," Durham said. "We've been really cautious and don't want to mess with the law or anything."
If friends offer to buy the beer, the brewers decline. Legally, they can't sell their beer without a permit or provide it to anyone underage.
"It's really more of a hobby, and doesn't take up much time at all," Lawrence said. "It's just neat to create something like this."
Now amateur brewers, Lawrence and Durham said they think about beer differently. Lawrence said he prefers to use home brews for sipping, not playing drinking games or chugging. Once he's created it, he wants to savor it, he said.
"My friends think it's great, and they're always willing to be taste testers," Lawrence said.
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(11/30/07 5:00am)
Carrboro fire Chief Travis Crabtree has a box in his office filled with singed knickknacks, kitchen tools and a jar of money.
They are the few unclaimed household items intact after the Sept. 30 apartment complex fire that left a woman dead.
But those objects, he said, serve as a reminder of the loose ends yet to be tied in the tragic fire of two months ago today.
Fire investigators haven't yet determined a cause for the blaze at Colonial Village at Highland Hills apartment complex.
The tragedy killed one resident, severely injured two women and cost 20 residents their homes.
Meanwhile, residents displaced by the fire are still rebuilding their lives and evaluating the apartment's management after losing all their possessions.
Former resident Marcus Carpenter said he's skeptical about the apartment's maintenance policies.
A few weeks before the fire occurred, he said, he complained to apartment management about his broken smoke detector, among other problems. By the night of the fire, it hadn't been fixed.
"You can't cut corners on safety, and that's what they did," Carpenter said. "When I went back to talk to them, they denied responsibility and gave me the total corporate cold shoulder."
He said he plans to sue.
A second major fire engulfed an Ashbrook Apartments building Wednesday, leaving 26 residents displaced.
The Ashbrook fire is the seventh Carrboro apartment fire since Sunday, according to a press release from the fire-rescue department.
"This latest string of fires continues a trend of apartment fires in Carrboro going back as far as March," the release states.
Neither the Highland Hills nor the Ashbrook apartment complex has sprinklers because they were built before amendments to the Carrboro fire code required them.
The September incident is the second fire UNC alumna Kelli Gaskill said she's experienced at Highland Hills. The other, she said, occurred in 2003 but was contained to her neighbor's apartment.
Current apartment management members said they had not yet taken employment at Highland Hills and that they have no knowledge of that previous fire.
In the wake of the most recent blaze, Gaskill, who has lived in the apartment complex for four years, chose not to keep living at Highland Hills even after she was offered an apartment upgrade.
She said that while she was a resident, her apartment did not receive quarterly maintenance checks and that she was uncomfortable with the performance of the smoke detectors the night of the fire.
"It was the glass of my dining room windows breaking that woke me up, not the smoke detector," Gaskill said. "It didn't sound until I was already out the door. If I had to rely on the smoke detector to wake me up, I'd be dead."
But apartment managers said changes are in the works. Fire victim and UNC senior Kate Connor, who now lives in a different apartment in the same complex, said Highland Hills is making visible progress toward improving fire safety.
Management installed new fire extinguishers outside the apartments and notified residents that they will check smoke detectors.
Apartment managers also coordinated with charities to offer essentials such as food and clothing.
Even so, the charities weren't able to cover everything lost, from computers to cars to school notes.
Connor said she made trips to Target and Wal-Mart almost every day the first month to make up for what she lost. But the fire claimed irreplaceable pictures and souvenirs from her trip to Ireland.
"It's not something you have to think about all the time, but when I drive by the pile of dirt it reminds me," Connor said. "The experience has changed me, but I can't pinpoint how. It's just different."
Because she is younger than 24, Connor was covered by her parents' insurance. But Gaskill, who didn't have renter's insurance, relied largely on the charity of the community.
Her contributors included co-workers in the Department of Computer Science, fellow singers in the Women's Voices Chorus and The Carolina Club.
But the troubles weren't just financial. After notes and documents were claimed by the fire, it was difficult for students to stay on track in their classes.
Connor said that although her professors have been sympathetic to her situation, the fire still caused lasting academic damage.
"Regardless of how many notes you get from people, they just don't think the same way when they write them," she said.
Carpenter said he estimates his fire losses at $60,000 - which includes his computer and his melted car. But his story isn't over.
"I watched all my stuff go up in a blaze, but that's OK 'cause I'm alive," he said. "Now I just need to pick a good lawyer."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(11/26/07 5:00am)
Joe Freeman said he planted his first Christmas tree seeds amid the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1988 so he could help families bring beauty into their homes.
This year, one of Freeman's trees will bring beauty to the White House, after a Fraser fir was selected for the president's annual Christmas display. He is presenting the tree today to First lady Laura Bush.
He's reached the Super Bowl of tree farming.
"That's the ultimate achievement as far as a Christmas tree grower is concerned," Freeman said.
The tree that will stand in the White House this year is part of the first group Freeman ever planted and comes from a seed that is 24 years old.
His 130-acre Mistletoe Meadows farm in Laurel Springs is home to more than 100,000 Christmas trees.
Freeman said his trees' stronger limbs and greater durability help set them apart.
An official Christmas presentation has been a staple since Benjamin Harrison's administration in 1889.
And N.C. trees have been displayed 10 times since 1966, when such records began being kept.
Freeman has also won the N.C. wreath contest four times, the national wreath contest twice and the N.C. tree contest once, which gave him the honor of presenting trees to the governor.
A White House contingent including grounds foreman Mike Lawn and White House florist Nancy Clarke visited Freeman's farm in October after he was named grand champion in the National Christmas Tree Association contest.
But Freeman said his most rewarding Christmas tree moments stem not from prizes or titles, but from selling trees on a retail lot.
"I try to get down to the retail lot whenever I can," Freeman said. "Seeing a family come year after year and select their tree, seeing the excitement that the kids have picking out a real tree, that's my favorite part of the business."
And Freeman's office manager, Sheila Jordan, said the honor couldn't have come to a better guy.
Freeman has been involved in the Christmas tree business since he was 16, working at a retail lot while attending high school.
After graduating from N.C. State University with a Bachelor of Science in fisheries and wildlife sciences in 1985, Freeman became involved with the N.C. 4-H Youth Development Program, a youth development program that emphasizes learning by doing.
He then decided to go into Christmas tree farming full time.
He shears each tree once a year by lowering the top and cutting the sides, which encourages the branches to grow into the tree's interior and increases the density.
Trees are not harvested for at least 10 years, Freeman said.
"Growing the trees, you get to spend so much time working outside and get to see a lot of nature and wildlife, and that's what makes it nice," he said. "You get to see a seed grow and develop, and take care of it."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(10/29/07 4:00am)
Magen Stevens stood admiring the brand-new door, dark wood with a glass window engraved with Phi Mu symbols.
For the past five years, the house belonged to several different fraternities. The sorority left campus in 2002 because of financial difficulties and low membership. But this year, Phi Mu is back.
"I'm in love with that door," said Stevens, a senior and one of the 138 new pledges and founders of UNC's Phi Mu chapter.
But she couldn't enter the house because the girls still don't have the code to unlock it.
For the sorority's first year back on campus, none of the girls is an official member of Phi Mu - they're only pledges, or "Phis."
Because of this, everything they do as part of Phi Mu, such as group meetings and fundraisers, must be supported by the National Panhellenic Conference.
The Phis said they're not worried about meeting the same fate as the previous UNC chapter, adding that it's a whole new group and that many have taken an interest in their success.
But with the strong base of national support comes a strict set of rules to follow.
"There are a ton of barriers," Stevens said. "The only people who can recruit are members, and so none of us could say 'come join my sorority' because it wasn't ours yet and we didn't know if it would be."
So far, the girls have been mostly waiting in excitement, Phi Shirin Jafari-Namin said.
Waiting for recruitment, waiting for bid day, waiting for the house to be done with renovation and waiting to meet all the other Phis.
The elected officers for the chapter were announced to the Phis on Friday. Their names have not been made public.
"There's always something new that's coming up," Jafari-Namin said. "It's a lot of excitement."
Stevens said waiting for a call after her interview proved considerably stressful.
"They told us they'd call us, so all Wednesday I'm on edge, all Thursday I'm on edge," Stevens said. "It was the greatest moment of my life hearing them say, 'We really enjoyed meeting you.'"
Because this is a new Phi Mu chapter, the first pledge class will be considered founders for life.
A plaque with their names on the group's charter will hang in the living room of the house.
"A hundred years from now, if it's still here, my name will be on that board and that's the most amazing thing," Stevens said.
Sophomore Phi Amanda Fox recently attended the campus Panhellenic meeting, where there hadn't been a representative from Phi Mu in five years.
She said starting from scratch is one of the most rewarding parts of being in the sorority.
Fox said she recalls speaking with Christy Todd, one of the founders of a Phi Mu chapter at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia.
"When she would go back to the house all of the girls would be on their best behavior, like 'Oh my God, it's a founder,'" Fox said.
Since their bids were only announced at the end of September, members are still doing their best to get to know each other.
"I was really impressed with how many people were taking the initiative to organize sorority activities," junior Phi Melissa Riggins said.
One of those is the "Phi friends" activity, in which each Phi meets with a different set of 10 Phis every two weeks. The group might go out to dinner or go shopping.
Additionally, the house opens for "happy hour" a couple hours a day so Phis can chat between classes.
"I'm starting to feel like it's our house, like it's mine, like I belong, because we're all hanging out," junior Christine Ripley said.
Fellow sororities and alumni have been especially supportive of the new sorority, sending cookies and welcome cards and volunteering their time.
"You really feel like a Greek family," Riggins said.
The Phis look forward to an in-house cook in the spring, a newly renovated upstairs and a homecoming housewarming with Phi Mu alumni, though they aren't sure when they'll be able to start living in the house.
"We have the opportunity to mold it into what we want with no stigma or stereotype to start out with," Riggins said.
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(10/12/07 4:00am)
Left on Stadium. Right on Ridge. Right on Manning. Right on Columbia.
P2P driver Byron Tripp, 50, smiled as he drove steadily through campus Wednesday afternoon.
Tripp drove the P2P Express night bus for five years, but he now drives smaller vans during the day, taking disabled students to class and UNC staff to their cars.
Continuing toward Franklin Street, he waited for a call requesting his services. Calls usually come every 15 to 30 minutes, he said.
Through his role as a P2P driver, Tripp said he has driven every type of person on campus. Sometimes he makes conversation, even if it's just about the weather.
"I only have a minute to talk to people," Tripp said. "But I've learned that they all generally are looking for the same thing. Students for a good education. Staff for a good job."
He said the job makes it easy to overhear interesting discussions. Law students debate current events, partygoers buzz about the night's possibilities and visually impaired students chat about their guide dogs.
"I had no idea it cost $35,000 to $40,000 to train a dog like that." Tripp said. "The visually impaired students carry around these amazing 3-D models of the campus to help them learn where to go."
When driving disabled students, Tripp said he makes sure he does everything he can to make their travels more convenient.
"Things that we take for granted are quite a challenge for them," said Tripp, noting that students with wheelchairs often don't have the upper-body strength to reach the bus stop on Franklin and that it's difficult to pick up students on certain stretches of Manning Drive because of the bushes.
Tripp said the best part of his job as a P2P Express bus driver was seeing students dressed in costume for themed parties. And although the night bus chauffeurs a party crowd, Tripp said students are generally polite and mature.
"I'm not saying the kids don't have alcohol in their system, just we never really had problems with people being passed out or rowdy," Tripp said.
Tripp's post as P2P driver is not his first job at UNC. He used to hang wallpaper in campus buildings, including the original wall-covering in the Smith Center.
He also worked in construction, drilling wells with his brother.
"When it was good, it was fortune, and when it was bad, it was famine," he said. "As I've grown older, it's almost like I've retired from those other things and I'm doing something simple."
Because of his construction background, Tripp said he enjoys observing how the University is changing physically.
"It's really quite impressive," he said. "With the traffic and rerouting, I might be taking a different route every day."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(09/28/07 4:00am)
At age 14, junior Taylor Brown told the world he liked boys. And halfway through his junior year of high school, homosexuality met religion.
"People told me that I didn't have to be gay if I didn't want to, and the only way not to be gay was to be an evangelical Christian," said Brown, who now is the co-chairman of UNC's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender-Straight Alliance.
"But I eventually realized that oppression of my own sexuality was hurting me more than my spiritual connection was helping me."
Over and over, the world of gay meets the world of God. Chapel Hill's spectrum ranges from the blatantly anti-gay Pit preachers to the biannual drag shows.
The more than 40 religious organizations on campus have to decide how to be inclusive while staying true to their traditions. And there are many ways of going about it.
Miles O'Neill, director of the interdenominational Campus Crusade for Christ, said homosexuality is not an issue the organization deals with in the open. He said group leaders counsel people who lead homosexual lifestyles and request help.
"We just want to be a resource so people know how to live the way God intended," O'Neill said. "God had a design, and a relationship is intended to be between a man and a woman, not members of the same sex."
However, O'Neill said Campus Crusade does not condemn homosexuality. Rather, the group regards it as an emotional health issue.
"Mostly people turn to homosexuality as an outlet the same way people turn to promiscuity or overeating or lying, so we're just trying to promote a healthy spiritual lifestyle," O'Neill said.
Elizabeth Carlson, president of the Baptist Campus Ministry, one of the largest denominational Christian groups on campus, said that everyone is welcome at BCM meetings and that the organization has had few problems with the issue.
"Although homosexuality is a sin, we don't condemn them for their sins because we are all sinners," Carlson said. "We just want to be a place where people can come and grow and study the Bible."
But leaders of N.C. Hillel, the largest Jewish group at UNC, said they reach out to and support the gay community.
"Jewish or non-Jewish, gay or straight, anyone who finds something interesting in what we do we're open to that person to come and know it's a nonjudgmental environment," executive director Josh Blumenthal said.
GLBTSA has Christian, Jewish and Muslim members - many who turned to the group after feeling uncomfortable in the traditional religious groups.
Catherine Adamson, GLBTSA co-chairwoman, said she knows of some members of religious organizations who thought being "out" could cause the religious group to expel them or discriminate against them.
"There are a number of organizations on campus that are welcoming and inclusive, as well," said Terri Phoenix, director of UNC's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Center.
"But religious organizations have their own faith tenets they adhere to, and I respect that."
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(09/24/07 4:00am)
Students, parents and community members gathered at the Great Hall in the Student Union on Sunday to break their Ramadan fasts and give to charity at the third-annual Triangle Iftaar.
The event was co-hosted by the Muslim Student Association branches at UNC, Duke University and N.C. State University.
"It's a goal of MSA to bring everybody together as much as possible," said Sarah Oraby, MSA president at N.C. State. "It's part of a tradition that we break our fast with families and people we love."
Ramadan is the most important holiday in Islam, representing when the Quran was sent from heaven. This year, it lasts from Sept. 13 to Oct. 11. Muslims fast from sunup to sundown during the holy month.
At Sunday's Iftaar, attendees broke their fast with a date and pakora - a fried potato vegetable ball.
The main purpose of the event was to raise funds for charity, said Kamran Tariq, publicity coordinator of UNC's MSA branch.
Since the Triangle Iftaar became a fundraising event in 2005, it has raised almost $40,000, giving the funds to international charity Islamic Relief to help orphans. This year, donors will sponsor orphans that were victims of a flood in Bangladesh.
"I'm out to help the less fortunate people in our community and across the world that you don't see," Tariq said.
Naeem Mohamed, an Islamic Relief representative who spoke at the event, said there is still a great need for aid for flood victims.
"Islam people are inclined to giving and donating to the poor and less fortunate," Tariq said. "Especially during Ramadan, the holiest month on the Islam calendar."
Fundraising is the first goal of the MSA, Oraby said. "But for the people here, it's more of a chance to get together and see people."
Next week is Islamic Awareness Week in the Pit. MSA's Fast-A-Thon - during which students will be sponsored for Ramadan fasting to benefit charities - will begin Oct. 3.
"That's the event where we try to get new people to participate," said Maryam Al-Zaburi, social coordinator for UNC's MSA.
Though Iftaar attendee Aziza Shanab, a nursing student at Wake Technical Community College, does not attend any of the three schools sponsoring the Iftaar, she said she knew most of the people at the event.
"There's really a strong community feeling amongst Muslims," Shanab said. "We see each other at mosque or know each other from the private schools we went to."
But Sunday's Iftaar also saw new faces.
Jewish graduate student Sarah Friedman said she knew nothing about Islam, but she bowed with Muslims in prayer toward Mecca.
"I thought it would be interesting to come see what this was like," Friedman said. "The prayer is almost the same and a lot of the points they make are the same."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(09/17/07 4:00am)
When senior David Steele hears the bell tower resonate, it means more than the passage of time.
As master bell ringer, Steele has gained an understanding of history, a sense of legacy and an outlet for his love of the University.
"Only a few people in history can say they've done what I'm doing," Steele said. "That's what really intrigued me about this position."
The bell ringer is in charge of playing fight songs and traditional University songs before football and basketball home games, and afterward if Carolina wins.
The bell ringer also plays the songs at Commencement.
"Having the privilege to come up here on game day is unbelievable," Steele said. "I see the kids looking up, smiles on their faces, which is so interesting and absolutely amazing."
Steele said UNC is one of five schools in the country that have a bell tower that plays real bells.
When the tower was built in 1931, the 14 notes of the bells were played through a set of ropes that were pulled by hand. Today the bells are hooked up to an electronic piano keyboard.
Steele, who also plays saxophone in the marching band, trained for this position last fall and is now training sophomore Ford Ramsey, who will serve for the next two years.
"I wanted to be the bell ringer because there are only one or two people on campus who have access to the bell tower," Ramsey said. "So it's kind of a special deal to get to go up there on game days and play songs."
Marching Band Director Jeff Fuchs is in charge of selecting students to serve as bell ringer. The position has been associated with marching band students since 1969.
And although the bell ringer needs basic keyboarding skills, Fuchs said it's most important to find someone he knows well and trusts.
Fuchs said Steele stood out when he drove 100 miles from his home in Salisbury just to play the bells for Commencement.
"David is a very dedicated, mature and dependable young man," Fuchs said. "I know I can count on him."
And Steele has gone beyond his basic bell ringer responsibilities to fill gaps in the record of the bell tower's history, Fuchs said.
Two large wooden plaques hang on the inside of the bell tower and list the names of each bell ringer from 1931 to 1953.
But no record remains of the names from 1953 to the present.
Steele said he teamed up with the General Alumni Association to find contact information for the missing names.
"I just ask them when they served and who they took over for," Steele said. "The problem is, we have to rely on memory and hope they're still alive."
He said he hopes to complete the task by the end of the year.
"He seems to have embraced the historical aspect of the job," Fuchs said.
Steele said he is inspired by the history of the bell tower. He often looks at the names seniors have etched on the inner bricks over time, the earliest from 1937.
"They left a little piece of themselves here," he said.
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(09/13/07 4:00am)
While growing up in Chapel Hill, junior Mandy Brannon always wanted to be a part of the UNC dance team.
"I came here for this," Brannon said after strutting, leaping and turning across the floor of Eddie Smith Field House on Wednesday with 45 other dancers at the team's open tryouts.
It was her third time auditioning.
Dancers are required to have jazz, pom, and hip-hop dance skills.
But the first part of the tryout focused on traditional dance technique.
"Although the fall tryouts are open, the requirements remain the same," coach Mark Lyczowski said.
Lyczowski said he judges the girls on flexibility, technique, strength and style.
"People usually only see what we do on the field and court," assistant coach Amber Rogers said. "They don't realize we compete and do technical shows."
Because the new dance Web site listed requirements, dancers were better prepared this year, Lyczowski said.
Even so, a few hastily taught each other to pirouette just before the auditions. Others walked away.
Most dancers who showed up for the tryouts, however, said they have been in the business since they could walk.
"They're at a level that's so elite," said Brannon, who has danced for most of her life. "You have to bring it."
The dancers will know by this morning whether they will make the cut.
No list will be posted. Dancers will either be e-mailed or told personally whether they're in.
Not many dancers get on the team through the open tryouts.
"The number of people we accept really depends on who shows up," Lyczowski said.
For the past three fall auditions, that number has been zero. The dance team usually selects its members after spring auditions, which are by invitation.
In order to get an invite, dancers must e-mail a resume with their dance experience to the coach after their admission to the University.
But the team still regularly holds tryouts in the fall for those who weren't around in the spring or weren't trained well enough to make the team.
"I owe it to the University to continue to try to find the most talented dancers," Lyczowski said.
UNC's dance team ranks first in the ACC and third in the nation.
And of the team's 16 members, 10 earned an All-American title at a national dance camp.
"We've been very fortunate to get a lot of talent on the team without recruitment," Lyczowski said.
Freshman Jane Chaffee, one of the most recent additions to the team, traveled this summer to the dance camp.
"Its a great group of girls," Chaffee said.
But while waiting to be called up to dance for the coaches, junior Katie Hukill admitted that she felt a little intimidated.
"There's a lot of really talented girls," Hukill said, adding that although she's been doing ballet her entire life she feels a bit unqualified. "It's a little discouraging because I don't have the jazz experience."
After two hours of technical evaluation, Lyczowski came back with a list of the cuts, and several formerly optimistic dancers went home. The remaining few were taught a combo to evaluate style.
"I take it as a learning experience," Brannon said after her number wasn't called. "You don't make it, and you come back."
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