National Poltics

New GPSF Chief Eager to Embrace Challenges Ahead

After only six months as a Tar Heel, the Graduate and Professional Student Federation president-elect said she is eager to learn the ropes of student government's executive branch.Mikisha Brown, a personable first-year graduate student in the Department of Health Education, was a write-in candidate on the Feb. 13 election ballot. She won in Tuesday's runoff election by 140 votes.Born in Jamaica and raised in Connecticut, Brown went on to college in Massachusetts and came to North Carolina in August for graduate school.

Local Officials Reach Out For Resident Input On Master Plan

UNC's Board of Trustees, the Chapel Hill Town Council and Chancellor James Moeser will be discussing potential issues of the University's Master Plan today in the Design Room of the Morehead Planetarium.The workshop, which will be held from 2:30 p.m.

Police Roundup 02/22/01

UniversityWednesday, Feb. 21A UNC employee reported a first-degree burglary to University police at 5:51 a.m.Unknown male subjects entered the UNC Faculty-Staff Recreation Association Residence House a few minutes earlier and stole a camcorder, 30 checks and beer.The employee told the police that entry was made to the first-floor area of the house only and there was no sign of forced entry.The employee, her husband and their two children were present at the time but not confronted.Tuesday, Feb. 20At 5:14 p.m.

Joining This Club Changed Their Lives

Although many take these things for granted, for people with mental illness they can sometimes seem almost impossible to obtain.Enter Club Nova, an organization in Carrboro that seeks to provide its members with the opportunity to live on their own terms.

Unrealistic Remake Oozes Sappy Romance

Sweet November2 Stars"Sweet November" is a mediocre love story with a thin candy coating. Underneath the initially intriguing story-line lies a marshmallowy mess of sentimentality, overzealous devotion and curiously unexplained 180-degree personality changes.Nelson Moss (Keanu Reeves), a high-strung, self-important advertising guru, lives to do four things -- screw, screw people over, work and indulge in material comforts.

Young to Establish New Posts, Recruit Diverse, Creative Staff

Now that the race for office is over, Student Body President-elect Justin Young is shifting his focus from snazzy campaign gimmicks to creating a smooth transition into his new office.His transition period will involve thinking about what he plans to accomplish as well as creating a good team to work with in making those goals a reality."My short-term goals are establishing a diverse, creative Cabinet, and not only a good Cabinet, but also a diverse and creative office in general," he said.

UNC Fields Ecological Concerns

University officials Wednesday presented several ways they plan to address the Sierra Club's "13 Environmental Principles for UNC Campus Planning," which outlines the club's concern with the ecological impact of the Master Plan. The proposition cited the club's desire for UNC to "embrace the principles of sustainability to make wide use of resources ... in order to promote strong communities in viable ecosystems."Jonathan Howes, director of the Master Plan, presided over the meeting and demonstrated the efforts of the University to address the needs of the environment.

Web Site Separates the Hot From the Butt-Ugly

I never considered myself to be much of a cybernerd. I have my own Web page, but that was required for a class. I check my e-mail often and have an AOL account, but so do my grandparents. I've never bought or sold anything on eBay, and the only porn I get is not delivered via a 56K modem, but instead, the old-fashioned way, through the U.S. Postal Service.So what has me tying up my phone lines for hours at a time? No, I already said, it's not porn.It's www.amihotornot.com, a free site where you can view photos of other people and rate them on a "hotness" scale of one to 10.

Dilbert 02/22/01

A Nice Ring To It

Before the birth of the MusicianRing, it was all so simple. Whichever local subgenre you happened to dig, from electronica to bluegrass to hip hop, you could fairly easily insulate yourself from the outside musical world. After all, there was no real common bond between the fingerpickers and the turntable wizards other than their shared struggle to carve out a name in a crowded scene.Enter the MusicianRing, a student-maintained Web ring that allows local musicians to commiserate, seeks gigs, advertise and build an all-inclusive community in the process.

Haltom Denies Damaging Car

One of the UNC students charged with a felony for damaging a car after the North Carolina-Duke basketball game says he is in more trouble than he deserves.James Auman Haltom, a 20-year-old sophomore, was arrested and charged with felony rioting by Chapel Hill police after he turned himself in last Friday. But Haltom, who lives in the Chi Psi fraternity house, said he isn't responsible for the vandalism of a car that was flipped on Franklin Street and that he even tried to protect the car from further damage.

Due Punishment?

By Wes WhiteProForsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith has had enough of drunken drivers who kill people - and he wants to make them pay. He wants them to pay, potentially, with their lives. Keith has asked legislators to pass a law that would allow habitual drunken drivers to be subject to the death penalty if they kill while driving drunk. The measure would add habitual drunken driving to the list of felonies that, under state law, can be used to convict a defendant of first-degree murder.

Consider the Issues Before Supporting UNC's Master Plan

The University of North Carolina is embarking on a gigantic growth plan.In 1997, UNC hired a consultant to develop a new Master Plan for central campus. Now that the bond funds are available, the UNC Board of Trustees wants to vote on the Master Plan next month before key issues have been worked out with the town and the surrounding community. The town of Chapel Hill has regulatory responsibility for the campus expansion because the proposed plan exceeds the current zoning by 4 million square feet, therefore a zoning change will be necessary.

Legislators Have Mixed Reaction To Easley's Address

Gov.

Freshman Curators Put Paris Art on View

The sparkling personality of the City of Lights shines in the Ackland Art Museum's latest exhibition, "Seasons of Paris."But this showcase is different from the rest of the Ackland's offerings -- students were the main curators of the exhibit.The students in art Professor Mary Sheriff's first-year seminar "Paris: Representing the City of Light" last semester did everything from designing the layout of the galleries to creating the exhibit's Web site to writing the show's brochure.Timothy Riggs, assistant director for collections at the Ackland, said the collection

Chris Rock's New Comedy Meets Low Expectations

Down To Earth2 1/2 StarsThe trailer for "Down to Earth" left me bracing for the truly terrible. The movie just looked stupid -- black comedian plays aspiring black comedian who dies, goes to heaven and comes back as old white man? And just in time for Black History Month, too. Goody.As the film began, I thought of Richard Pryor movies like "The Toy." Was Chris Rock -- who co-wrote and produced "Down" -- about to go out like that?

Student Congress Says Yes to Brook, Newcomb

Despite modest attendance, Student Congress members tackled a wide range of issues, including approval of a new student attorney general, at their meeting Tuesday night.The meeting, which less than half of Congress members attended, opened with a push for all Student Congress members to participate in this weekend's Finance Committee workshop, in which Congress members will discuss the budget for the fall semester.Student Body Treasurer Patrick Frye said Student Congress has a $13,000 budget surplus heading into the finance committee weekend.

N.C. Lawmakers Weigh Bills for Student BOG Vote

RALEIGH -- The N.C.

Brown to Fill GPSF Presidency

Mikisha Brown's active campaigning led her to a 140-vote victory Tuesday night in the runoff election for Graduate and Professional Student Federation president.Of the 264 votes cast, Brown, a health education graduate student, received 202 and Shaun Hartley received 62. Both appeared as write-in candidates on the Feb. 13 ballot but neither garnered a majority of the votes last week. "I'm excited," Brown said. "I think it's an opportunity to get students talking about issues and concerns.

Master Plan Committee Promises to Be Friendly Toward the Environment

TO THE EDITOR:The Orange-Chatham Group of the Sierra Club presented a statement of Thirteen Environmental Principles for UNC Campus Planning to the Chapel Hill Town Council last week and intends to present it to the UNC Board of Trustees later this month.We were pleased to see the statement because much of what the group suggests is embraced in the work we have been doing on the campus Master Plan.