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The Daily Tar Heel
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
www.dailytarheel.com
thursday, april 15, 2010 VOluME 118, issuE 32
dth/helen woolard
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watEr crusadEr
By KELSEy FINN
StaFF writer
Unsafe water kills more peoplethan all forms of violence, includ-ing war, according to a UnitedNations report released in March.Mark Sobsey believes he canchange that. A 66-year-old professor of envi-ronmental studies and engineer-ing at UNC, Sobsey, who has been working in water research for morethan 40 years, has devised a new water purity test that has gainedglobal attention and could havea dramatic impact in developingcountries if marketed.“Right now, people don’t knowif the water they’re drinking is safeto drink or not,” Sobsey said. “Ithink that if you can make water-quality testing accessible, thenpeople can be informed and takeappropriate action.”In developing countries, espe-cially rural areas, the capacity to test water often doesn’t exist,Sobsey said.“So that means that we have tothink about how to simplify theformat of the tests so they can beportable, self-contained and func-tion independently,” he said.His innovation, which he saidcould likely be produced in Japanfor less than 25 cents each, wouldallow people to quickly and easily find out the concentration of bac-teria in their water supplies.Knowing the concentration isimportant because if the water hasa low enough bacteria concentra-tion, it is probably still drinkable.But if the concentration is high, itcould pose major health hazards.
Lncin e pjec
Because of his innovative work,Sobsey was chosen to participatein LAUNCH, a program thatsupports innovations addressinginternational challenges. The ini-tiative was created by NASA, Nike,the U.S. Department of State andthe U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment.Ten of 150 submissions werechosen and presented in Marchat the Kennedy Space Center inFlorida. Sobsey demonstrated hisinnovation to a council and hadthe opportunity to listen to theirsuggestions.
SOURCE: ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING ANDINSPECTIONS DEPARTMENTDTH/RYAN KURTZMAN
Orange County wireless availability
Broadband areasMobile areasUnserved areas
The map below depicts the regions in Orange County that receive eitherbroadband service, mobile service or no coverage at all.
N .C . 5 4
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dbon o be on n
By LaurEN ruSSELL
aSSiStant artS editor
UNC students won’t be able todrink on the Duke lawn and get“down” with Jay Sean on the lastday of class this year.Duke’s Last Day of Classes cel-ebration is now limited to Dukestudents and affiliates only.LDOC is a celebration of the endof the academic year at which stu-dents can drink and listen to big-name performers outdoors. Pastperformers include Kanye West in2005 and Third Eye Blind in 2008.This year Jay Sean, FloggingMolly, Rooney and Big D and the
By Sarah MorayatI
Senior writer
Despite state and federal effortsto expand broadband Internetaccess, rural Orange County facesseveral roadblocks.High-speed Internet is stillunavailable or unreliable in someareas of the county, which can dis-courage growth and make it moredifficult to run existing businesses. And although the county pre-pared an application for federalmoney from the Rural UtilitiesService this year, officials could notsubmit it because the county couldnot find a broadband company willing to partner with them.
Sp cee
Broadband is defined by the Federal CommunicationsCommission as high-speedInternet access — the current def-inition is 768 kilobits per second— that is always on. About 89 percent of OrangeCounty’s population has broad- band access, and about 10 percentmore has access to mobile or wire-less Internet, according to a mapfrom the planning department.But by land area, a lot more of thecounty — particularly the west —does not have available broadband.The farther a resident livesfrom a population center, the lesslikely he or she is to have access.The county has not found any correlation between coverage andsocioeconomic factors, said GlennBowles from the Orange County
By KEvIN KILEy
Senior writer
Students could see grade distri- butions on their transcripts withintwo years if the Faculty Councilapproves a policy proposal at its April 23 meeting.The distributions would be partof a larger policy change designedto address what some faculty mem- bers see as a trio of related grad-ing problems: inflation, inequality across departments and instruc-tors, and an inability to distinguishhigh performance from adequateperformance.The policy could put “contex-tual information” such as the dis-tributions of grades, students’ class years and majors in a course ontranscripts. It could also report tofaculty members how their gradingpatterns compare to their depart-ment and the whole University.Members of the educationalpolicy committee — the groupof faculty members and studentspresenting the proposal — hopemore information about grading will raise awareness of these issuesand drive some faculty members tochange their grading practices.
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The proposed policy
“Most of the feedback was very positive and encouraging,” Sobsey said. “There’s actually one company that might be interested in helpingmarket and roll out the tests fortheir own work.”The company, VestergaardFrandsen, specializes in complexemergency-response and disease-control products.It developed a free “CarePack,” which is distributed in HIV-stricken areas. A CarePack containsan insecticidal net, a water purifier,printed educational material andcondoms. Sobsey said he is inter-ested in adding the water-quality test to CarePacks.Christine Stauber, an assis-tant professor at Georgia State
See
WatEr
, Page 15
Geo f n ok
dke’ ldOcno exve
Kids Table are performing.Duke’s more exclusive celebrationthis year is an attempt to regulatethe crowds better and work with atighter budget than in the past, saidLDOC co-chairwoman Liz Turner.“It’s gotten a little out of handand the best way to handle thisis to restrict it to Duke affiliates,”Turner said. “They’re the ones whoare paying for it in the end.”The LDOC of fall 2009 resulted inmore than $10,000 of property dam-age and more than 30 EMS calls,and not all incidents were a result of
uNc o o on one
By LaurEN ruSSELL
aSSiStant artS editor
To celebrate UNC’s last day of classes, female singer St. Vincent and local band The LoveLanguage will be performing inMemorial Hall.The Carolina Union ActivitiesBoard is hosting a free indoor con-cert on the last day of classes as anopportunity for students to relax.CUAB has been trying to get theup-and-coming artist St. Vincentto come perform all semester,said music coordinator AdeleRicciardi.Some students, like freshmanHenry Evans, said they were excit-ed for the concert.
attENd thE CoNCErt
Who:
St. Vincent and The LoveLanguage
Where:
Memorial Hall
When:
8 p.m., April 28
Tickets available at the MemorialHall Box Office on Monday tostudents with One Cards and April26 to the general public
Tickets are $15 dollars to thegeneral public, free for students
r Onge eek bobn
See
LdoC
, Page 15
“I have never been so proud to be a UNC student,” said Evans, whohas seen The Love Language eighttimes.
Contact the Arts Editor at artdesk@unc.edu.
city
|
page 3
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sports
|
page 4
diversions
|
page 7
index
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60
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77
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54
Friday’s weatherToday’s weather
this day in history
aPrIL 15, 1975 …
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announcement
2
Nws
thursday, april 15, 2010
smokin’ up in protest
G
raduate student Garrett Lagan smokes a hookahoutside the Student Union on Wednesday. Lagansmoked in protest of the campus and statewidesmoking bans. “I’m not actually smoking,” he said. “This isn’ta lit tobacco product, so it shouldn’t fall under the law.”
Dth/mary liDe parker
Police log
n
Somebody stole two impact wrenches worth a total of $650 between 1:05 p.m. and 3 p.m.Friday from 1709 High SchoolRoad, according to Chapel Hillpolice reports.
n
Somebody kicked in a doorand caused $200 worth of dam-age between 5 p.m. Feb. 13 and11:30 a.m. Tuesday at 304 Hickory Drive, according to Chapel Hillpolice reports.
n
Somebody stole a $400BlackBerry cell phone between2 p.m. and 2:40 p.m. Tuesday at1713 Legion Road, according toChapel Hill police reports.
n
Somebody stole a $280impact drill at 11:22 a.m. Tuesday from 700 Rosemary St., accordingto Chapel Hill police reports.
n
Somebody attempted toremove a screen from a window at1:50 a.m. Tuesday at 119 StinsonSt., according to Chapel Hill policereports.
n
Somebody slashed seven tireson six different cars between 6 p.m.Saturday and 7:50 a.m. Monday at 138 Stancell Drive, according toChapel Hill police reports.The person caused $300 worthof damage, reports state.
n
Somebody broke a passengerside window of a car and stole a$300 CD player between 7:30 a.m.and 5:18 p.m. Monday at the N.C.54 park and ride lot, according toChapel Hill police reports.Damage is estimated at $200,reports state.
n
Two cars were broken intoand a GPS system was stolen fromeach between 10 p.m. Sunday and 7:42 a.m. Monday from 100Marriott Way, according to ChapelHill police reports.The systems were worth $200and $400, reports state.
The Daily Tar Heel
NOTED
. A man was charged with assaultand battery this week after hitting another man with a four-foot python outside a hotel.The 47-year-old victim said he and his wife were standing on an outdoor balcony when Tony Smith, 29, approached with the snake and hithim in the face, police reports state. The victimsaid he had asked the snake-wielding man toturn his music down the night before.
QUOTED
. “Its head was just bobbing up anddown. I didn’t know whether they could bite ornot. I wasn’t going to stick my hand up there.”— Paul Smith, 56, of St. Petersburg, Fla., whoawoke Tuesday to quacking and found a duckstuck in his dryer vent.Firefighters used tin snips to free the bird, which was uninjured. The lucky duck was lastseen waddling toward a nearby lake.
A
new publication aims to bring pornographic pleasure to the blind and visually impaired.The publication, called “Tactile Minds,” includes explicit Braille textand raised images of nude bodies, including a woman in a “disco pose,” a woman with “perfect breasts” and a “male love robot.”“There are no books of tactile pictures of nudes for adults,” said Lisa Murphy, the book’s creator. “We’re breaking new ground. Playboy has an edition with Braille wording, but there are no pictures.”The book sells for about $232. For that price, we can only imagine it’s quite theeyeful — err, handful.
F! pg f b
From staFF anD wire reports
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Established 1893117 years of editorial freedom
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The Daily Tar Heel reportsany inaccurate informationpublished as soon as the erroris discovered.
➤
Corrections for front-pageerrors will be printed on thefront page. Any other incorrectinformation will be correctedon page 3. Errors committedon the Opinion Page have cor-rections printed on that page.Corrections also are noted in theonline versions of our stories.
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Contact Managing EditorKellen Moore at mkellen@email.unc.edu with issues aboutthis policy.
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coMMUNiTY cAleNDAr
ToDAYFriDAY
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Choose the most trusted health care insurer in North Carolina.
1
bcbsnc.com
1 Catevo Brand Study; February 2008. 2 Newton, Diana J. “Crossing the Centuries, Committed to Care: Blue Cross and Blue Shield in North Carolina, 1933-2008.” Blue Cross and Blue Shield ofNorth Carolina, 2007. 3 MarketQuest Network Compare; April 2009. 4 Frederick Polls, September 2008. An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. U7060g, 4/10
New University o North Carolina system-wide policy requiresevery student to have evidence o health care coverage.Beore you accept just any university oering, consider thelocal company trusted by people in North Carolina or morethan 76 years.
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3
thursday, april 15, 2010
To Nw
The Daily Tar Heel
campus briefs
Mem sevce se me sude B
Family, friends and the UNCSchool of Law are hosting a memo-rial service for Eric Bryant at 2 p.m.Saturday in Gerrard Hall.Bryant, a UNC law student, wasfound dead in Odum Village on April 7. All are invited to attend theservice. A journal also has beenstarted that will allow students to write a message or condolencesfor Bryant’s family. The journalis currently being passed aroundto Bryant’s classes and to faculty and staff.Bryant’s family and friends aresuggesting that those who wish tohonor his memory do so by con-tributing to the National MultipleSclerosis Society.
Sude gveme pcsexecuve bch cs
The Executive Branch of studentgovernment under Hogan Medlinhas selected cabinet officials for the2010-11 school year.These cabinet members willserve as chairmen of committeesand special projects of the ExecutiveBranch and will work to promoteMedlin’s platform and continueexisting projects.Those selected have yet to for-mally accept their positions.The selections to committeechairmen include:
Academic Affairs
n
Lily Roberts, sophomore
n
Alex Pirro, sophomore
Arts Advocacy
n
Sarah McGuire, junior
n
Ben Neal, sophomore
Environmental Affairs
n
Will Leimenstoll, freshman
n
Sara Mishamandani, junior
n
Sarah Rafalson, junior
Global University
n
Russell Martin, sophomore
n
McKay Roozen, sophomore
Greek Affairs
n
Jamison Carpenter, junior
n
Kaitlyn Barnes, junior
Minority and Diversity Outreach
n
Jagir Patel, freshman
n
Wavine Fidelis, freshman
Public Service and Advocacy
n
Will Thomason, sophomore
n
Ashley Patton, junior
Safety
n
Meghan Cannon, sophomore
n
Calvin Lewis Jr., freshman
Student Body Outreach
n
Caitlin Goforth, sophomore
n
Clay Vickers, junior
Student Life
n
Olivia Hammil, sophomore
n
Taylor Mercado, freshman
Technology and Web
n
Max Beckman-Harned, junior
University Services
n
Jim Broughman, sophomore
n
Marissa Gluck, freshman
Women’s Affairs
n
Allison Howard, sophomore
n
Billy Klutz, sophomore
ciTy briefs
Despe mpce, pmuu expeced be
Early voting for the May 4 prima-ries opens today, but campaigns have been especially quiet — and someexpect voters will stay home.“It has been a very low-key primary season,” said Fred Black,Chapel Hill resident.The last primary race in betweenpresidential campaigns in 2006garnered only 13.23 percent in voter turnout.But the race is important, Blacksaid. Several race outcomes will be mostly determined by primary winners.Elections are beginning for theBoard of County Commissioners,Sheriff, Senate, Court of Appealsand Orange County Board of Education.Early voting will be available inMorehead Planetarium in ChapelHill and at the Orange County Boardof Elections office in Hillsboroughand will continue until May 1. Visit
dailytarheel.com/section/city
for the full story.
Chpe H ded excee budge dcume
Chapel Hill was awarded withthe Government Finance Officers’Distinguished Budget Award forthe town’s 2009-10 budget, accord-ing to an announcement from theThe Government Finance Officers Association.The budget was distinguished forits service as a policy document, afinancial plan, an operations guideand a communications device. Itreceived special marks on its user-and reader-friendly format.Last year Chapel Hill’sComprehensive Annual FinancialReport qualified for a Certificateof Achievement for Excellence inFinancial Reporting, which is thehighest form of recognition inaccounting and financial report-ing. The award marked the town’s23 consecutive year receiving theaward.View the budget online at bit.ly/CHbudget.
— From staff and wire reports.
Tax day worries legislators
NCsu enngpfo fee
student blogabout feature
By ElizaBEtH Morrow
staff Writer
A typical week for Orange County recy-cling includes paper, plastic, glass — andnow oyster shells.Since February, Orange County has beenusing discarded oyster shells from local res-taurants to regenerate oyster beds alongNorth Carolina’s coastline. An N.C. law, effective Oct. 1, 2009, pro-hibits dumping oyster shells into landfills.To encourage compliance with the state law,Orange County Landfill began receiving oystershells to be recycled in February.Those who donate oyster shells can be eli-gible for a tax credit of $1 per bushel, whichequals about 55 pounds or eight gallons of shells.The landfill is working with state fisher-ies to ensure that the discarded oyster shellsreach their destination — the brackish wateralong the North Carolina coast that is popu-lated with oyster beds.“We call the state fisheries, and they calla truck and they haul it to the coast whereit is utilized to encourage additional oys-ter growth,” said Gayle Wilson, director of Orange County Solid Waste Management.Shell recycling promotes oyster populationgrowth because oyster larvae attach to the hardshells, said Lexia Weaver, a coastal scientist with the N.C. Coastal Federation, a nonprofitthat seeks to protect the state’s coast.“We would definitely like to see more oys-ter shells being recycled,” she said. “It makesthe public aware that oyster shells really need to go back into the water so they canproduce more oyster reef and habitats.”Sabrina Varnam is the program coordinatorof the N.C. Oyster Shell Recycling Program, which collects oysters from citizens and busi-nesses and returns them to the water.“We hope to have something similar tothis rolling by the beginning of next season with the restaurants in Raleigh. The poten-tial is amazing. They go through 100 to 200 bushels a week,” Varnam said.Blair Pollock, Orange County solid wasteplanner, said the county’s program mightinspire others to offer similar services.“We have been somewhat of a leader inthe area of recycling, and people do look toour county to see what other recycling they might initiate,” Pollock said. Although residents who hold oyster roastsare welcome to use the county’s services,Pollock said that the primary users of therecycling initiative have been restaurants, with one customer depositing 1,700 poundsin a single drop.Greg Overbeck, marketing director and co-owner of the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group, which includes Squid’s and other restaurants,uses the new local recycling facilities.“The oyster shell recycling was just a nat-ural extension of what we’ve been doing withthe other materials,” he said. Varnam said she is encouraged by theresults of the program.“It makes a difference. You put the shellsout there, and by next season, you can seeoysters growing on them.”
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
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“The big picture is,we’re waiting to seewhat the April surprise portends.”
JEnnifEr wEiSS,
n.C.representative
By JEanna SMialEk
staff Writer
Today is tax day — traditionally a stressful time for legislators andcitizens.But this year’s state revenueshortfall, predicted to be around$790 million, gives N.C. legislatorsless to worry about than last year, when the deficit was $4.7 billion,said N.C. Rep. Hugh Holliman,D-Davidson.Barry Boardman, chief econo-mist for N.C. Fiscal ResearchDivision, said last year’s fore-casted shortfall was $3.2 billion.This means that the actual short-fall could be much higher thanthe $790 million that is currently being predicted.“The big picture is, we’re wait-ing to see what the April surpriseportends,” said N.C. Rep. Jennifer Weiss, D-Wake. Weiss said deep budget cutsand temporary taxes imposed by the N.C. General Assembly helpedlower the deficit predictions for this year and federal stimulus fundsalso helped the state stay afloat.“Last year everything just fell off totally. We just had to cut back,”Holliman said. Although the situation is not as bad this year, Holliman said thatfurther cuts across the board arelikely to balance the budget.Holliman also said that nearly 60 percent of the state’s budgetgoes to education.“We’re trying to make sure thatit doesn’t impact the classroom,”he said. Weiss said the slow economicrecovery has perpetuated the short-fall. The state is receiving lower-than-expected tax revenues.Sales and personal income taxesrepresent much of the state’s rev-enue and have fallen steeply duringthe recession, Boardman said. Weiss said most states are strug-gling with the financial crisis, butNorth Carolina is faring betterthan other states.The temporary increase in salestaxes and federal stimulus funds will extend through the next fiscal year and will help to reduce this year’s shortfall. But after this year,those funds will be gone.“We are just trying to get throughthese very tough economic times,” Weiss said.She said other economic solu-tions are in the works. The N.C.House and Senate finance com-mittees have been meeting in theinterim to discuss possible taxreforms.She said they have discussed broadening the tax base and low-ering the rate and have examinedhow income and business taxescurrently work.Holliman said legislators arealso looking into ways to lowerrates on tax services.But Weiss said no specific pro-posals have been created and shedoesn’t expect a reform this year.“I don’t get the sense that there isany appetite to do major tax reformin the short session,” Weiss said.Tax returns for taxes filed ontime are set to be sent by May 15,Boardman said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
se evene bee n e
dth/Katherine vanCe
nCsu Lb ow lgal’ mo c gg, p, o o wo m.
By roBErt SMitH
staff Writer
A new iPad starts at $499, but atN.C. State University it’s availableto students free of charge — at leastfor a few hours.NCSU Libraries are now lend-ing iPads to students for four-hour increments to make surestudents are familiar with thelatest technology. Within the first 48 hours of becom-ing available, the libraries loaned outtheir 37 iPads 350 times, said DavidHiscoe, director of communicationsfor the NCSU Libraries.The iPads were purchased witha combination of student fees andmoney from the Digital Library Initiative Department, Hiscoe said.It would have cost the university at least $18,500.Hiscoe said that the library’slending service also loans otherdigital technologies such as lap-tops, SLR cameras, GPS devices,eBook Readers and calculators.Last month, the library loanedout 8,526 laptops, 350 calculators,almost 1,500 headphones and over100 SLR cameras, Hiscoe said. When the iPads first came in,five students were given the oppor-tunity to take one around for acouple of days and blog about theirexperiences.Daniel Marcus, one of the blog-gers and a junior engineering majorat N.C. State, said that the iPad wasnot a good resource for academicpurposes, but was useful for check-ing e-mail, writing quick messagesand general entertainment.“I still can’t see the iPad as muchof a business tool. … That said, rightnow, the iPad is serving as a welcomedistraction and, for the first time, I’mactually rather enjoying the device,”Marcus wrote in his blog.Some bloggers also gave their views on the device’s physicalappearance.“The aluminum backing,although sleek, is very slick to thetouch. The screen — just like any other touch screen — is glossy,” wrote Amber Kenney, a sopho-more communications major atN.C. State.Three years ago, UNC launcheda similar trial program with TabletPCs. A pilot program was intro-duced to allow students and facul-ty to use Tablet PCs to assess theirusefulness in an academic setting,said Charles Green, assistant vicechancellor for ITS teaching andlearning at UNC.The positive results of thestudy led to Carolina ComputingInitiative adding the Tablet PC tothe roster of available purchases,Green said.But UNC is not considering add-ing the iPad to its existing technol-ogy rental programs on campus,Green said.Loaning out iPads is not theonly way N.C. State is using andencouraging Apple Inc. products.Earlier this year, they also started aprogram to develop and distributeapplications through Apple’s AppStore for people who use iPhones,iPod touches and iPads.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
E≠ec of ng o≠ N.C. co nce
N.C. has largestoffshore acreage onEast Coast
North Carolina has nearly 30 percentof the 214,928,657 acres of water onthe East Coast that the U.S. controls.
DTH/KRISTEN LONG AND AMANDA PURSER
Atlantic administrativeboundaries (water thatthe U.S. controls)
SOURCE: N.C. DIVISION OF COASTAL MANAGEMENT
North Carolina64,219,803 acres
By CarolinE DyE
staff Writer
The land off the coast of NorthCarolina potentially has trillionsof cubic feet of natural gas and billions of barrels of oil resourcesthat could be exploited in the com-ing years.President Barack Obamaannounced at the end of last monththat he is lifting the moratorium onoffshore drilling along the east coast,and North Carolina has larger off-shore acreage of all of those states.But no one knows exactly howmuch oil and gas might be pres-ent or how offshore drilling willtake shape along the state’s coast,said Jeff Warren, a coastal hazardsspecialist from the N.C. Division of Coastal Management. A 2009 report by the SoutheastEnergy Efficiency Alliance esti-mated that North Carolina’s outercontinental shelf contained 1.74 billion barrels of oil and 15.29 tril-lion cubic feet of natural gas.“It’s going to take a while forNorth Carolina to be comfortable with exploration,” said LincolnPratson, an environment and ener-gy professor at Duke University.Currently, offshore drillingis regulated by the federal gov-ernment through the MineralsManagement Service in the U.S.Department of the Interior.The agency leases rights to drillaccording to provisions in its five- year plans. Since the current planexpires in 2012, none of the state’soffshore acreage could be leaseduntil then.But some environmental groupsare less than thrilled at the idea of drilling off the state’s coast.Molly Diggins, director of theN.C. Sierra Club, said the best areasfor drilling are also prime areas forfisheries and offshore wind power.“Going forward, North Carolinamight need to make a choice,”Diggins said.Pratson said just the search foroil and natural gas would also havean environmental impact.Sonar used in the search forresources could disturb marinemammals, and drilling could resultin spills, he said.But he said drilling would be sofar offshore that spills would likely not reach the beach. Also, fish tendto thrive around oil and natural gasdrilling structures.“The oil and gas industry isfamiliar with operating in theseareas and has a pretty good safety record,” he said.Connie Nelson, communicationsand public relations director forthe Wilmington/Cape Fear CoastConvention and Visitors Bureau,said her organization would needmore information before they would know how drilling mightaffect North Carolina coastal areasand tourism.Pratson also said the estimatedamount of oil and natural gas off the Atlantic seaboard is equivalentto the amount used by the country in about 12 to 18 months.“This is not going to make usenergy-independent,” he saidBut more natural gas in themarket could mean lower pricesnationally, said David Trusty, aspokesman for the Charlotte-basedutility Piedmont Natural Gas.Tom Williams, director of exter-nal relations for the N.C. utility company Duke Energy, also saidthe move toward drilling is a posi-tive development.“It shows a sense of compromiseon climate change,” he said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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