NATIONAL-POLITCS

10/17/2019 3:45am

A SpotterEDU device sits at the front of the room in Hanes 117 as a student writes on the blackboard underneath on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2019.

How UNC got the tech to track men's basketball, football players' class attendance

By Hannah McClellan

Emails and financial agreements received by the DTH through multiple public records requests reveal details of the lead-up to and implementation at UNC of SpotterEDU. The technology, developed and operated by a Chicago-based consulting firm, tracks the class attendance of student-athletes through beacon devices with an automatic Bluetooth connection to their smartphones.  Early last month, the DTH reported the existence of the new program at UNC. While the University declined at the time to state which sports it is using the new technology for, new documents suggest that SpotterEDU has been applied only to select players from the football and men's basketball teams.

10/15/2019 9:53pm

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How much money have the candidates in Chapel Hill-Carrboro races spent?

By Ben Humphries

As the Nov. 5 elections approach, candidates have been campaigning hard, going to events on UNC's campus, in churches and other community spaces. Besides what a candidate believes and advocates, there is one other thing the public wonders: how much did their campaign cost and raise? The numbers vary widely across the Chapel Hill-Carrboro races, and they've changed a lot since last year. “Some state and local campaigns don't cost a lot,” Suzanne Globetti, a teaching associate professor of political science at UNC, said. “Others, especially those that rely on television for campaign advertising, end up spending quite a lot.”

Editors Picks

10/15/2019 7:16am

A crowd crosses the street at the intersection of Franklin Street and Columbia Street on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. In a 2016 survey conducted as part of Chapel Hill's ADA transition plan, respondents prioritized bus stops, commercial areas, and schools as locations to improve accessibility.

Beyond reasonable modifications: What it's like getting around town with a disability

By Alice Bennett

“I pretty much have to calculate every step, which is a very common experience for people with mobility issues like myself,” Simpson said. “There’s definitely certain locations that I can't go.” In 2017, the Town of Chapel Hill created an Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan in hopes of increasing the town's accessibility for people with disabilities. This plan came about after reports showed Chapel Hill's low level of compliancy with accessibility standards.