N.c. Agricultural & Technical State University

Award to Send UNC Student Mehfar to Asia

When Alex Mehfar and his family moved from Iran to North Carolina in 1983, he had to start over with almost nothing.His father only had $300 to his name when the Mehfars arrived.But the senior economics major from Cary refused to let hardships get in his way of achieving success.Mehfar recently was named a Luce Scholar, an honor that only 18 Americans receive each year and that only 22 other UNC students have held since 1974.

Study Finds No Racial Bias in Jury Verdicts

The results of a recently released study call into question the widely held assumption that juries' verdicts are affected by racial biases.UNC law professors John Conley and Bill Turnier and Chicago psychologist Mary Rose conducted a study that found white and black jurors hand down nearly identical verdicts.The study lasted nearly two years and used 600 actual jurors from Wake and Alamance counties.

Fools' Day Kicks Off Festival

Bands, costumes and a clown will be on hand to entertain children of all ages during Sunday's April Fools' Day Bash, an event set to jump-start the second annual Art Springs to Life Festival.The April Fools' Day Bash, slated to begin at 1 p.m. and last until 4 p.m., will take place in front of the Franklin Street post office. The entire festival, which will be held in the post office's courtyard area, will be sponsored by the Chapel Hill Downtown Commission.This is the first year that an April Fools' Day Bash will kick off the festival.

Haus to Face Off Against Old Team

What a strange sight it promises to be for John Haus on Saturday at Fetzer Field.On the field in front of North Carolina's lacrosse coach will be the players from Johns Hopkins, the team Haus coached to consecutive final fours in his two seasons as the Blue Jays' head coach before coming to UNC this season.On the sideline next to him will be David Pietramala, the man who not only took Haus' spot at Johns Hopkins but also was an All-American defenseman for the Blue Jays in the late 1980s at the outset of Haus' stint as defensive coordinator.Pietramala's assistant coaches, meanwhile, Se

Fare-Free Buses Ignore Real Transit Issues

A free ride on Chapel Hill Transit wouldn't be all what proponents of fare-free busing crack it up to be.Chapel Hill and Carrboro town officials began working with University officials Tuesday to formulate a proposal on fare-free busing to present to both towns' governing boards.Students already gave the go-ahead in February's student elections for a $16.98 yearly student fees increase to subsidize the fare-free busing.

Fund Lets Dancer's Spirit Live

Family members of the late Kaia Parker are commemorating her gift of dance through a memorial fund for young aspiring dancers in the Triangle.The Kaia Parker Fund for Young Dancers was created by her family and the Orange County Arts Commission, the Ballet School of Chapel Hill and Carolina Friends School in honor and in remembrance of her life.Parker, who was a rising UNC freshman, was killed in a car crash by a drunken driver last August.Lee Glenn, Parker's mother, said the fund is a wonderful opportunity to create something positive out of her death.

UNC Professor Dives Deep in Pacific

Secrets of the earth's ancient climate might soon surface from the ocean floor to help provide insight into today's global warming problem.This August, 115 scientists, technicians and crew members from all over the world will depart from Yokohama, Japan for a two-month-long ocean drilling expedition in the west Pacific Ocean.And Timothy Bralower, UNC professor and chairman of the Department of Geological Sciences, will co-chair the expedition.Bralower and two UNC graduate students will join the international team of 50 scientists and technicians and 65 crew members in examining sedime

NCMA's Featured\Artist Combines\Color With Music

With the onset of the 21st century, an area museum is highlighting the work of one artist whose ingenuity was overlooked throughout his own era."Color, Myth and Music: Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Synchromism," is currently on display at the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh.

UNC Hosts Talks, Workshops on Balkans

A weekend conference hosted by the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies kicked off Thursday night with a reception and lecture in the Morehead Building Faculty Lounge.The conference, entitled "The Future of the Balkans: Beyond Conflict and Underdevelopment," aims to explore recent conflicts and social and economic development in the Balkans with several prominent guest speakers and workshops.Gilburt Loescher of Oxford University focused Thursday night on the role the United Nations High Committee for Refugees plays in international politics and its role in

County Examines Schools' Budgets

The Orange County Board of Commissioners met with local school officials Wednesday to discuss concerns about next year's budgets for the county's two school districts.The Orange County Board of Education and Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education discussed increasing the number of school nurses in the county, possible alternative school options and the construction of new elementary schools with the commissioners.Members of all three boards agreed that schools are understaffed with nurses and are taking measures to remedy the problem.Commissioner Barry Jacobs said North Carolina reco

Warning: Under 18 May Not Read

"I love my pussy, it is the complete summation of my life. It's the place where all the most painful things have happened. But it has given me indescribable pleasure. My pussy is the temple of learning."That, my dear peeps, is from Madonna's controversial "Sex" book. Upon its arrival in 1992, everyone went crazy. For the most part, people seemed to agree that Madonna had simply gone too far that time.Society at large tied her to the whipping post, so to speak.The oversized picture-book sold for a whopping $50.

KSU Settles in 1st Amendment Lawsuit

Kentucky State University chose to end a 6-year-old censorship lawsuit in early March with a settlement totaling more than $100,000.The university will redistribute almost 2,000 copies of a 7-year-old yearbook, give monetary damages to two plaintiffs and pay lawyers' fees for both sides.But what does the settlement mean for the future of various student publications' relationship with the university?The lawyers in the case and the Student Press Law Center, a national organization that monitors student publications' rights, disagree on the answer.In November 1994, KSU officials conf

Dilbert 03/30/01

Dilbert 03/29/01

`George Washington' Avoids Trite Poverty Clich

"George Washington"

CAA Legislation Awaits Matthews' Decision

The fate of a bill giving Student Congress power to oversee the Carolina Athletic Association is now in the hands of Student Body President Brad Matthews.The bill, passed Tuesday night during the last meeting of the 82nd Congress, must be approved by Matthews before the CAA Constitution is amended.With Matthews' stamp of approval, the bill most notably will require a more transparent ticket distribution policy.A good idea, says CAA President Tee Pruitt, but one that should not be forced upon the group by Congress.

Volunteers Set for Day Of Service

High hopes for a large turnout abound as a group of students gear up for this weekend's second annual Project UNC.Project UNC, the student-led service event designed to increase campus involvement in community outreach projects, will kick off festivities at 9 a.m. Saturday in Polk Place, or in Gerrard Hall if weather does not permit. Sophomore Elizabeth Gottschalk, assistant coordinator for the project, said this year's event will give students the chance to help others in the community.

Tar Heels Ruin Wolfpack Hopes

RALEIGH - N.C. State will have to wait yet another year to get its revenge on the North Carolina men's tennis team. For the second year in a row, UNC narrowly defeated the Wolfpack 4-3."They were definitely pumped up for the match," freshman Nick Monroe said. "Their coach on the sideline was like, 'You've got to win this match, we don't want to lose 4-3 like we did last year.'"Unfortunately for N.C.

Alliance Helps Kids Learn Musical Skills

Charles Messick has wanted to be a professional singer since third grade. "I want to go to New York and sing on Broadway," he said.

Guided by Voices Turns Sad, Accessible; Eve Hits Sophomore Slump

Guided by VoicesIsolation Drills3 1/2 StarsArtists make their best work when they're in pain, and Guided by Voices ringleader Robert Pollard is no exception to the rule.The fourth-grade-teacher-to-indie-rock-star has been touring heavily in the last year, following the exposure from 2000's Do the Collapse.