Even in its on-line state, The DTH still depends on a small army of student journalists to gather, write and edit stories whether it intends to print them on paper or post them on dailytarheel.com.

The hiatus we’re in now is one of the two longest of the year (the December semester break being the other), and certainly the paper’s most vulnerable in terms of missing the chance to bring news to our audience. The next printed DTH will not arrive on the newsstands until Aug. 19, and the next live daily edition won’t take its place until Aug. 22.

Then its full-speed ahead through Dec. 7, followed by a four week void. During December, we’ll do a decent job of keeping the on-line edition up-to-date — especially with basketball — as there are always a few staffers who live off-campus who have light holiday plans. This time of the summer, however, is a different story as key staff is scattered around the country finishing up internships or family vacations or prolonged voyages from home.

The news staff will reunite in Wilmington Aug. 11 for its annual retreat; the ad staff will take over the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber office for training Aug. 14, and we’ll all meld back together the following day to start work on the school year’s massive first few issues.

So please don’t despair at our silence. It’s temporary and rejuvinative. Just think of the fresh-scrubbed energy that will be contained in your next DTH.

Kevin Schwartz

General Manager

2. A new vendor for CCI. One of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. A complete restructuring of online services like Student Central. Though the campus is quiet this summer, these and other technological innovations are keeping Carolina whirring.

3. An indie-rock icon will play Memorial Hall, and a quintet of Tar Heels is headed to the Dean Dome.

Find these front-page stories and other news, features and opinions in tomorrow’s DTH.

And now that we’ve got that announcement out of the way, I’d like to draw your attention to today’s front-page story about the president’s visit to Fort Bragg — and answer the questions posed both in the story comments and by my own parents (who, God bless them, read the paper front to back every Thursday).

We did not send a reporter to Fayetteville on Tuesday with the goal of chronicling only what the president said. It’s not compatible with our belief that local news is our franchise (a decision also made by the Greensboro newspaper), and more pressingly, our story was set to appear a day after the stories in professional newspapers; if people wanted to know what President Bush said to the troops, they knew well before they picked up a DTH today.

What they didn’t know, however — because they didn’t get it from the stories in most newspapers — is what Independence Day meant to North Carolinians.

It is indubitably a big deal that President Bush thanked our troops, and that had to be reflected in our story; at the same time, we thought the troops’ own feelings were more compelling. On a similar note, we thought the protesters — only a few dozen strong, sad and lonely in a military town — were worth talking to.

What resulted, I think, is a piece that gets the job done:

1. It by no means ignores the president’s positive comments, which were definitely part of the story.

2. However, it also finds a way to examine a different side of Bush’s visit — namely, the feelings it conjured up for a variety of people on an Independence Day that saw the country confused about a controversial war and a controversial leader. You will notice that there is precious little commentary about the president himself from the people quoted; rather, they are talking more about what July Fourth, otherwise just a simple date on the calendar, meant to them on that day in Fayetteville. To me, the responses — representing as they do a broad cross-section of American life — were well worth reading.

I would be more than happy to hear from readers who agree or disagree, but that’s what we were thinking.

-Chris Coletta, Summer Editor

Jonah Nickerson’s pitch count reached 100 and that was apparently enough for OSU coach Pat Casey to lift his tiring starter from the game.

Nickerson’s line: 6.2 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 K

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

After three full innings, OSU starting pitcher Jonah Nickerson has yet to allow a Tar Heel to reach base. He has thrown just 34 pitches.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

A young boy struck by the line foul off the bat of OSU rightfielder John Wallace was immediately aided by the Omaha Fire and Rescue squad and appears to have just been shaken up.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

In the first inning, Daniel Bard didn’t allow a run. He did give up a base hit as well as hit a batter and the right-hander threw just one pitcher less than 95 mph.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Jonah Nickerson has got to be tired. It will be key for the Tar Heels to get him deep into counts to get his pitch count up and get into the depleted OSU bullpen.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

After a rough day in the field yesterday, usual third baseman Reid Fronk will be the designated hitter. At third for the Tar Heels will be Chad Flack, who usually plays first. That position will be filled by freshman Tim Federowicz, who usually splits the catching duties with today’s catcher, Benji Johnson.

Sound confusing? It is.

So for clarification, here it is in full:

1. CF Mike Cavasinni

2. DH Reid Fronk

3. SS Josh Horton

4. 3B Chad Flack

5. LF Jay Cox

6. 1B Tim Federowicz

7. RF Seth Williams

8. C Benji Johnson

9. 2B Garrett Gore

Starting pitcher: RHP Daniel Bard

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

The official line-ups have been issued and it will indeed be right-hander Jonah Nickerson on the mound for the Beavers.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Today either North Carolina or Oregon State will be crowned national champion for the first time in the history of their respective programs. Neither team has lacked confidence at any point in the series, but UNC will be faced with its first elimination game of the 2006 postseason.

The Tar Heels are loosening up down the rightfield line as OSU finishes up its batting practice session. Again, it will be right-hander and first round draft pick Daniel Bard on the hill for UNC.

As for the Beavers, it would be quite a shock if they don’t go with Jonah Nickerson, who was splendid on just two day’s rest to outlast Rice and vault OSU into the championship series.

Check back for confirmation.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

OSU has won the toss and will be the home team in tomorrow’s game.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

If OSU holds on to win, there will be a coin flip after the game to determine who will be the home team tomorrow.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Freshman catcher Tim Federowicz, know as “Fed Ex” to his teammates, just delivered a 2-run, 2-out home run to pull the Tar Heels within four in the seventh.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

While the Tar Heels have yet to be charged with an error, the team’s biggest flaw has surfaced — defense. After a failure to communicate on a bunt down the third base line, third baseman Reid Fronk made a high through on an ensuing ground ball, costing UNC what looked like a sure double play.

Then, when the next batter singled through the right side, it appeared that rightfielder Seth Williams’ throw would be in time to get the runner at third, but again there was no communication and the ball was cut off instead.

A pitching change did little to help. The first batter that Adam Warren, who relieved Danford, faced reached on a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed by first baseman Chad Flack.

Then, with runners on second and third and a 1-2 count, catcher Tim Federowicz couldn’t hang on to a foul tip that would have ended the inning. Two pitches later a pitch went through his legs, allowing OSU’s 11th run to score and the batter, Chris Kunda, was eventually walked.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

After allowing a 2-run double with no one out, Head Coach Mike Fox made the decision to bring in Danford out of the pen. Fox isn’t usually so quick to make such a move, but there usually isn’t this much riding on the line.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Woodard has allowed the bases loaded with no outs and the Tar Heels now have action in the bullpen in the fourth inning. Right-handers Matt Danford and Luke Putkonen have begun to toss down the rightfield line.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

After Reid Fronk’s two-out, RBI single to centerfield, eight of the Tar Heels’ nine runs in the championship series have come with two outs.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Through the first inning, Tar Heel fans should have a pretty good feeling. Not only did starter Robert Woodard work out of a two-on, none out jam, he started four of the five hitters he faced off with a strike.

When you throw strikes early in the count, you’ll give up some hits. But as Woodard showed, you’ll keep yourself out of trouble too.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

The blue-clad just rose from their prayer huddle in right field, came together with their arms collectively held high, and trotted back to the dugout for the starting line-ups. The first pitch is slated for 6:08 p.m. CT.

One change in the line-up is that left-handed hitter Matt Spencer will be in the DH roll, replacing Benji Johnson who has struggled at the plate recently. I assume that this is also a percentage move, as OSU starting pitcher Mike Stutes is a right-hander.

After a hair-raising national anthem, the managers are exhanging line-ups at the plate, the grounds crew is finishing watering of the dirt and the seats are steadily filling.

Game time is just minutes away.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

The North Carolina baseball team is amid pregame batting practice, with what looks like an extra spring the its step. It’s another beautiful day at Rosenblatt Stadium with game time temperatures expected to be in the mid- to upper-70s and no rain in sight.

Winds are again blowing in from leftfield and are expected to gust from the North at 20-30 mph at times later this evening. That should help Tar Heels’ starting pitcher Robert Woodard keep the Beavers in the yard.

I look for OSU to try to manufacture runs any way they can after Woodard’s splendid performance against Clemson.

The Beavers will start right-hander Mike Stutes. In his last start, Stutes allowed just one run, earned, on four hits through 6.1 innings and struck out three in an 8-1 win against Miami.

He is 2-0 in two starts this post season with a 3.00 earned run average

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Barry Williams, perhaps better known as Greg Brady, has graced all in attendance with his presence.

And just after the jumbo-tron notified the fans that Williams, who was wearing an OSU sweatshirt, was here, UNC first baseman Chad Flack ripped his fourth triple of the season and fifth consecutive hit down the rightfield line and later scored on a passed ball, narrowly beating the tag at home and giving the Tar Heels a 4-3 lead. That shifted the big screen spotlight on another Williams in attendance, UNC basketball coach Roy Williams.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

After an hour and 11 minute rain delay, play has resumed at Rosenblatt Stadium. Right-hander Matt Danford is now pitching for Andrew Miller with no one on and none out.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

One pitch after a 2-run home run off the bat of OSU leftfielder Cole Gillespie, the game was delayed due to lightning in the area. Under NCAA rules, 30 minutes must pass between lightning strikes in the area before play can resume. If lightning strikes during that time, the 30 minute period starts over again.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

It appears that the rains didn’t leave for good. According to Weather.com the area is under a severe thunderstorm warning until 8 p.m. CT and the dark skies beyond leftfield would certainly suggest that a storm could be heading in our direction.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

In an event similar to the infamous “Jeffrey Mayer home run” a fan just reached over the fence in left-center and gloved a deep fly ball by OSU second baseman Chris Kunda.

This time, the umpires made the correct call, it appeared, ordering Kunda back to second upon the judgement that the ball would not have gone over the fence were it not for fan interference.

Kunda would advance to third on a sacrifice bunt by the next hitter, catcher Mitch Canham and score on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Darwin Barney.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

As the grounds crew coats the infield dirt with one final soaking, the “RIGHT FIELD SUCKS!” chant is back in full effect. The reserved seats are filling quickly and the crowd is now buzzing with anticipation.

The rains from this morning are nowhere to be found. It’s currently 84 degrees under mostly sunny skies.

Time for the national anthem and an F-18 fly-over to follow — this is what it’s all about.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

North Carolina just wrapped up their round of batting practice and Oregon State has taken to it. The Tar Heels appear to be loose and energetic, though in a different fashion than the Beavers, who made some noise as they trotted to their positions.

ESPN’s Harold Reynolds sat down in the home dugout to talk with tonight’s starting pitcher for UNC, Andrew Miller, and the two exchanged a discussion for about 10 minutes and ESPN’s Erin Andrews caught head coach Mike Fox as he came off the field for a quick exchange.

I’m sure they’ll talk about their discussions with each once ESPN’s coverage hits the air.

According to a source, head football coach John Bunting will arrive tomorrow to support the Tar Heels and head basketball coach Roy Williams has returned for tonight’s game after leaving for his annual summer press conference to back the team as well.

The outfield bleachers are nearly full now, while the reserved seats are nearly empty, but the fans are steadily filing in as we approach one hour to the first pitch.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

The team bus arrived in front of Rosenblatt Stadium just moments ago and the players are now stretching down the leftfield line. There weren’t many smiles on their faces when they came in, though shortstop Josh Horton had his little brother Logan, also the UNC batboy, in a WWF submission hold in leftfield before the team began stretching, so there appears to be a delicate balance between business and relaxation.

The team was greeted by a small group of fans, about half of which were dressed in powder blue. They filed off the bus at 3:37 p.m. CT and gathering in front of those in attendance, and were applauded by the group as they walked toward the stadium. Horton was alongside is younger brother and today’s starting pitcher Andrew Miller took time to sign autographs for a couple of young boys.

Infielder Joe Pietropaoli said that the team didn’t get much of pep talk. According to him, they already know what they’re here to do. A group known as the Cosmopolitan Club, the team’s host according to Pietropaoli, took them out for a while last night and they returned in time for an 11:30 lights-out curfew.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Oregon State right-hander Dallas Buck will be on the mound opposite Tar Heel starter Andrew Miller. Buck allowed seven runs, all earned, on seven hits, struck out two and walked four in five innings in the Beavers’ 11-1 loss to Miami in OSU’s CWS opener.

Buck was a 2005 first-team All-America, and a second-team this season. He was drafted in the third round (86th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

In somewhat of a comical medly, the grounds crew is currently taking the place of the Beavers and Tar Heels as ESPN is rehearsing the pregame starting lineup process.

It looks like something you would see on a behind-the-scenes show. The camera crew, public adress announcer and event coordinators are all in the same places that they’ll be just before the game as the lineups are announced and players and coaches jog to their respective baselines. When I watch the Super Bowl, NBA Finals or World Series my favorite part sometimes is having the stage set with drawn-out starting lineups and a telivised national anthem, but I’ve certainly overlooked the preparation that goes into that kind of production.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

Anticipation of the championship series is evident by those who’ve shown up to Rosenblatt Stadium early. Yesterday it looked like a ghost town, resulting from the day off. Today, many are already roaming the streets outside the stadium. The grounds crew has taken to its respective duties, manicuring the field, beginning some four hours before the first pitch is scheduled, an early start from days past.

As has been the case for most of the week, the wind is blowing in from leftfield, which thus far in the tournament has pushed a few would-be home runs into the leftfielder’s glove. There is a chance of rain in the forecast, though the sun is shining now after a morning of showers. Weather.com has listed the chance of rain at 40 percent, with the best chance of passing rains coming through in the early evening, so it appears that tonight’s contest isn’t in danger of being rained out, but could be subject to a delay.

Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

If you’ve never been to Omaha, let’s just say it’s an interesting experience. As was evident during my 2.5-mile walk from downtown to Rosenblatt Stadium, home to the CWS, this is a time of year when the entire city goes hog-wild, if you will. Though I’ve met a plethora of disappointed Nebraska fans (Nebraska, ranked No. 6 at the time, was ousted in the NCAA Lincoln Regional after consecutive losses to Manhattan and San Francisco), everyone has been exceptionally nice just the same.

Every corner, every story, every church and just about every light pole carries banners, flags, or signs to let you know that you’ve made it to the Mecca of college baseball.

After yesterday’s announced crowd of 19,161, on hand to see whether it would be Rice or Oregon State that moved on to face UNC, the total attendance to this point stands at 241,190.

And this ain’t your wine-and-cheese crowd, either.

During the OSU vs. Rice game Wednesday following the Tar Heels’ clincher, fans in the left-field bleachers tried to start the wave. There is a divide in the bleachers leaving about 100 feet of space in between left field and right field where there aren’t any seats. And if the fans in the right-field bleachers didn’t catch on at first, they certainly did when they heard a roar from across the field — “RIGHT FIELD SUCKS!” was shouted in perfect unison by what sounded like thousands.

It didn’t take long after that before the wave had circled the stadium five times by my count, each round engulfing more and more fans — participation that you’ll only see from people who just plain love baseball.

-Brandon Staton, Sports Editor

That’s because in the summer, our deadline is Wednesday morning — a few hours before Taheri-Azar’s hearing and well before the Tar Heels took the field against Cal State Fullerton.

Thankfully, the Internet has allowed us to subvert deadlines by letting us post breaking news to our Web site whenever we want. Not so thankfully, not everyone has 24-hour Internet access — and not everyone who picks up a print copy of the DTH wants to read the paper online.

That’s why you’ll see a story about Taheri-Azar’s court hearing in next week’s DTH, though it will probably contain updates from throughout the week. You’ll also see a baseball story or three, though they’ll be less about yesterday’s win and more about the games the Tar Heels play this weekend.

It’s not a perfect solution, but we think it’s the best way to serve the people we ought to be serving — our readers.

If you subscribe to The News & Observer, you may have noticed the newspaper’s lead Sunday story. By higher education reporter Jane Stancill, the piece is an excellent look at the state law, passed last year, that saves booster clubs and scholarship foundations millions by allowing UNC-system schools such as Carolina to charge in-state tuition rates to out-of-state scholars and athletes.

I am sure the story will attract lots of attention and letters to the editor. That’s what placement above the fold in a Sunday newspaper read by hundreds of thousands of people will do for you. And Stancill, a savvy reporter who actually has interviewed me before, did a good job; she deserves the kudos.

But I think I should point out to DTH readers that we had this story exactly one month ago.

Unfortunately, our summer papers are quite small, so we couldn’t devote the kind of space to the story that Stancill did — making her story a rather useful companion piece to ours. But I am proud that we were able to get the information out to our readers much earlier courtesy of reporter Eric Johnson, for whom this phenomenon is becoming almost commonplace. (Another front-page Stancill piece from this week — an article on online education — echoed a story Johnson had published in the DTH a few weeks prior.)

The DTH has improved noticeably in my four years at Carolina in the number of stories it has reported before other local media. That’s good; we’re the student newspaper, smack in the middle of campus, and so we should get those stories.

We are young, and we will make mistakes. Pretending otherwise is silly. What we can do, however, is work on minimizing those mistakes — and maximizing our best reporting.

-Chris Coletta, Summer Editor

As a journalist, there’s nothing more frustrating. Take the correction in this week’s DTH, in which we report that a story (not online), written by yours truly in a frantic rush last Wednesday morning on deadline, misidentifies the person who was offered the deanship of the journalism school almost a year ago.

Mind you, that’s not what the story was about. The article was a piece that, based on the kind reporting of multiple anonymous sources, allowed us to report the fact (that had become pretty much common knowledge among law students) that popular professor Jack Boger would be named dean — of the law school, not the journalism school. The j-school information was simply added to the end of the story as background information.

We beat the local papers to the punch on the Boger story; we beat the University’s own announcement by four hours or so. But because of the incorrect background information on a different dean search, readers had every reason to wonder whether the rest of the story was right.

Thankfully, it was. But you can’t write that in a correction — no matter how much you might want to! — and the implications of our mistakes are disturbing nonetheless. That’s why I was pleased to see only one correction in this week’s paper, down from 3 in the two previous weeks. Our staff is young and inexperienced, but we’ll continue doing everything we can to prevent errors.

-Chris Coletta, Summer Editor

Wallsten actually was the longest-serving DTH editor in history because the year he served, the paper changed the way one became DTH editor from a campus-wide election to a more orderly selection process. Rather than being elected in February, the DTH editor is now selected in April. So Wallsten served from his February 1992 election until the the end of April 1993. As a senior, he served as president of the DTH Board of Directors.

It was not long after his graduation while in the first stop of his career at the St. Petersburg Times that he was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, a form of macular degeneration that causes progressive vision loss. But that didn’t slow Peter down. He became St. Pete’s youngest reporter ever to cover the statehouse in Florida, then jumped to the Miami Herald and finally landed where we all knew he’d end up — covering the White House for someone — in this case, the L.A. Times.

And the timing of his attention from W. could not have been better. He has a book coming out later this summer, and in 24 hours it had moved from about 500,000th on Amazon’s preorder list to 2,500th. He promises to arrange something in Chapel Hill on the book tour, probably in August, so stay tuned.

Kevin Schwartz, GM

In the last few years, the DTH has made strides toward becoming more of a local newspaper — reducing our coverage of national issues, which you can get elsewhere (and better than we could ever possibly do it), and increasing our coverage of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the surrounding area. In other words, we’ve focused more on our franchise: covering things that only papers based in this area would cover.

Personally, I think we could do a better job of covering the group that’s even more local to us than Chapel Hill — the University. I’d like for us to ratchet up our coverage of campus minority issues and campus organizations, in particular — something we’re trying to do this summer with articles, for example, about Project Uplift and a piece planned on the campus NAACP’s summer registration drive.

Why? Because if we don’t cover these groups, nobody else is going to.

The DTH has done a good job, I think, in improving and augmenting its coverage of Orange County. It’s a valuable service, and often, we’ve actually beaten the two professional newspapers in the area to stories.

But I don’t think of the papers in Raleigh and Durham as competitors. That’s because we have a unique niche: UNC. Nobody covers the University quite like we do, and for that matter, our coverage of other issues (whether it’s the state budget or the Town Council) also reflects the fact that we are a student newspaper with an office in the Student Union. Carolina’s our bread and butter.

Former Duke basketball players, on the other hand? Everyone is covering those guys. And by the time we publish a print edition Thursday, J.J.’s legal woes will be old news — and, perhaps, the schadenfreude will have worn off a bit.

Anyone who cares about Mr. Redick’s troubles is going to hear about it elsewhere — and isn’t going to get a unique perspective on the issue from the DTH. You’ll see it in our pages, but as a brief.

-Chris Coletta, Summer Editor

1. Mohammad Taheri-Azar, the alumnus who drove a car through the Pit earlier this year, will be in court on June 20. We’ll update his case.

2. It was a good week for Tar Heel sports, as both the men’s baseball team and the track and field squads performed impressively. We’ll look forward to the baseball team’s first College World Series game — and talk to UNC’s three individual NCAA champions in track and field.

3. The UNC-system Board of Governors christened a new president at its meeting Friday. In our pages, you’ll meet former Student Body President Jim Phillips and find out how his appointment could affect Carolina and the rest of the state’s public schools.

4. For seniors (or super-seniors like me) with student loans, the deadline to consolidate that borrowing — and, possibly, to owe lenders less money every month — is fast approaching. We’ll give you the quick and dirty guide on why you might want to consolidate and what it could mean for college graduates who are already getting by on PB+J.

All that — and more! — in this week’s DTH. We hope you’ll read.

-Chris Coletta, Summer Editor

I’m as pleased with that as I’ve been with any development we’ve had all summer. Because we only publish once a week, we frequently don’t get the chance to talk to readers as much as we’d like. Now, however, we can carry on that conversation every day.

And I would like this to be a conversation for the five weeks during which we’ll still be publishing. As John Robinson, editor of the Greensboro News & Record (full disclosure: I was an intern there last summer), wrote on his blog way back in the dark ages of 2004: “This blog opens the door wider to the way we work. Come on in.”

So if you have any questions about the DTH — why we reported a story the way we did, why we did or didn’t cover something, why we’re godless Democrats or heartless Republicans — feel free to ask them here. Or just visit once in a while; I’ll be making a variety of posts that will include information about our weekly paper, news tidbits, ruminations on UNC and the Carolina community, and more. Our section editors will also get into the act, though (unlike in the past) we’ll leave everything on one blog for the sake of expediency.

We’re looking forward to chatting with you.

-Chris Coletta, Summer Editor

It’s tough to give up this post and all the bags and tricks it has brought with it, but it is time. It’s time for Joe to come in and try his hand at this thing. I have no doubt he will do an amazing job. You all will enjoy interacting with him in this space.

So, thanks for the year - every second of it. It’s been quite a ride. Look out for me along the Moore County information superhighway .

Kind of like going to Sunday School every week and then meeting Jesus (actually, that’s probably an overstatement.  Let’s go with Noah).

After being welcomed with a thunderous round of applause, Bill supplied a quick jab at Duke - ah, pandering to the audience - before launching into a crash course on the dangers of global warming and the indifference our nation’s leaders greet it with.

This wasn’t smarmy soapboxing, however - a lecture on what we already know.  Nye was light, unpretentious, and even moving in his honest plea for the people of America to face the cold facts of this dire situation (sticking your head in the sand probably wasn’t what Darwin had in mind).

So what say you all?  Comments?  Criticisms?  It was a sold-out show; at least one audience member has to be reading this.

–Will “2% noise, 98% funk” Fonvielle.  A&E staff writer–

-Daniel Malloy

Josiah Drewry
Graduate student
Info. and Library Science

Poor behavior on part of athletes is not acceptable
TO THE EDITOR:
In light of Wednesday’s coverage, which detailed a number of citations issued to members of the men’s lacrosse team, I want to assure the University community that Coach John Haus and I find these actions to be completely unacceptable.
Even one violation of the law is too many. Thus, the number compiled by men’s lacrosse is out of step with University and athletics department standards. We have dealt with them seriously and in almost every instance brought forth a suspension. Future violations, should there be any, will have severe consequences.
Almost all of the citations are related to the use of alcohol. That is not an excuse. Colleges across the country are faced with issues of underage drinking and abuse of alcohol. The UNC athletic department continues to work with campus leaders in student affairs and student health to combat these problems. We educate our student-athletes about the dangers of alcohol through lectures, seminars and other programs. The Carolina Leadership Academy was designed specifically to help train our student-athletes to lead themselves and their peers and to learn how to make better decisions in social settings. We are examining those programs to see what else we can do to further educate our students.
We recognize it is a privilege to represent the University in athletics. Our student-athletes, coaches and staff will work even harder to do so in the first-class manner that you expect.

Dick Baddour
Director of Athletics

Better name for courtyard could have been found
TO THE EDITOR:
The University should reconsider naming the Boshamer Stadium courtyard after the Steinbrenner family.
The powers that be should name the courtyard after someone who is much more suitable than the Steinbrenners. The family has no real ties to the Carolina baseball program other than the recent donation. B.J. Surhoff’s name would be a much more appropriate selection for the courtyard. Surhoff holds the UNC career batting average record, had an illustrious career in the Major Leagues and was on the inaugural ballot for the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.
Walter Rabb, who coached the Tar Heels for more than 30 years and won more than 60 percent of the games he coached, would also be a very honorable selection.
Naming the courtyard after the highest bidder would hardly represent Carolina’s history and baseball tradition. At a time when the Carolina baseball team is ranked No. 3 in the country and is poised to cement its place among college baseball’s upper echelon, we should celebrate our past and maintain our character, rather than simply selling out.
I am sure that everyone at the University appreciates the generous donation from the Steinbrenner family, and I assume that they did not donate the money just to get their name on the courtyard so I am sure they will understand our desire to maintain tradition.

Billy Scott
Junior
Journalism

Letter writers wrong to question end of Apple Chill
TO THE EDITOR:
This letter is in response to those who think the decision to end Apple Chill was premature. Like many others, I walked the streets during the afternoon and had a fun time. But everything changed when it got dark.
When I left my apartment on Rosemary Street at 10:15 p.m. to pick up a friend, the experience was truly miserable. I witnessed a complete disregard for traffic rules, verbal harassment directed both at me and others walking along the streets and a fist fight. Furthermore, my two-mile round-trip drive took no less than 45 minutes. I can say with complete confidence that a vast majority of the people in my apartment complex did not feel safe enough to walk along Rosemary Street alone after dark, and rightfully so. After all, if policemen didn’t feel it appropriate to walk alone, neither should students.
Simply put, that is unacceptable. It was clear to me that a significant portion of the After Chill participants had made a choice to embrace a culture defined in large part by intimidation and trivial one-upmanship based (among other things) on the size and expense of one’s car tires. Many of those who were loitering demonstrated a blatant lack of respect and consideration for fellow humans, which is something I find to be deplorable. I have only felt fearful to leave my residence twice during my time in Chapel Hill, and both times were on nights following Apple Chill.
Before you dare say Apple Chill shouldn’t have gotten axed, you better have spent a portion of the evening on Rosemary and Franklin streets. If you showed up to Apple Chill and left before dark, don’t pretend you have any clue as to the consequences associated with this event. The people who live in these areas can’t just up and leave when it’s convenient.

Michael Welsh
Sophomore
Business administration

DTH was not racist in its coverage of After Chill
TO THE EDITOR:
Letters like Nick Shepard’s cause the University community to view Sunday night’s violence in terms of black or white. Students are consistently itching for controversy, and I am amazed how we search for racism in any word The Daily Tar Heel prints.
It is right to label a crowd that engages in lewd acts, violence, and unruly behavior a bunch of thugs, and in no way does this comment on the race of the individuals involved. It is people like you that cause “thuggery” to be associated with the black community as you are determined to point out the fact that the majority of the crowd was black.
Racism doesn’t stem from language such as “thuggery” and “urban” — these words can apply to anyone whether white, black, Latino, or Asian. Racial stereotypes are continually illuminated by people who claim racism no matter what the situation.
Sure, the event was “predominantly African-American,” Mr. Shepard, but as a community we’re a little more worried about staying safe than discussing the race of the perpetrators.

Rob Sellers
Sophomore
Mathematical Decision Sciences

Some are too quick to see racism where none exists
TO THE EDITOR:
In response to Nick Shepard’s letter, The Daily Tar Heel’s coverage of After Chill did not reveal “journalistic racism,” but reflected the event’s reality.
Shepard claims that it was racist for the DTH to report that After Chill was marked by “thuggery”, because thuggery is simply “a racist code word for young black men.” However, “thuggery” accurately characterizes any event in which three people are shot, multiple gunshots are fired, and laws are broken in public (blatant drinking and driving and drug use come to mind). If the above mentioned conduct occurred at a predominately white event it would rightly be described as marked by thuggery, yet the same characterization of a predominately black event proves “racist.” Today, nobody, black or white, can criticize anything predominately black without being labeled a racist.
Does anyone believe that the town of Chapel Hill or UNC would have tolerated a student-dominated event for as many years as it has After Chill, if the student event produced the same violence as After Chill? I believe the student event would have been canceled immediately, and rightly so.
However, I believe Chapel Hill is taking the easy way out by cancelling Apple Chill as a means of ending After Chill’s violence, since the two have nothing to do with each other.
Instead, the town should implement strict anti-cruising regulations after Apple Chill ends. However, many would consider this action as unfairly targeting a largely black event — an event, where young men just happen to sport gang colors (not gang members, mind you) and where persons are shot and/or stabbed annually.

Barnes Stephenson
Senior
Political Science

For this very reason, I don’t like a lot of contemporary R&B. It so often seems so explicitly, and adolescently sexual. Otis Redding wants to hold you in “These Arms of Mine,” R. Kelly wants “Sex In The Kitchen.”

See what I mean?

Even so called neo-soul artists tend to slip into the mire of generic hip-hop clichés of materialism and picking up “shorties.” (cough, Jaheim, cough).

Leela James, however is a delightful exception to the rule.

With a voice that brings back memories of bygone days and production that helps her achieve the feel, her album A Change Is Gonna Come (catch the reference to Sam Cooke) is a breath of fresh air.

Even though her soul-purism borders on pretentious, she wanders confidently through a generous album touching on the timeless subjects of love, and the state of the music industry. She also does heartfelt renditions of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and – surprisingly – No Doubt’s alt-rock hit “Don’t Speak.”

With production from the likes of Wyclef Jean and that Kanye guy everybody’s been talking about, James’ record bursts with retro horns and old-school hip-hop beats that create a modern sound, while still paying tribute to her influences (who she is none too shy to list in “Music”).

With the syrupy sweetness of classic soul, but enough modern sensibilities to stay current and accessible, James shows herself to be a promising new artist.

Leela James brings her unique brand of neo-soul to Memorial Hall on Friday, April 28 at 8pm. Student tickets are $5. General Public tickets are $10.

-Bryan Reed / Arts Desk-

A. Jarrod Jenkins
Senior
Political Science

Apple Chill isn’t like all the other Franklin gatherings
TO THE EDITOR:
As we have all seen with the recent events at Apple Chill, the events held on Franklin Street can easily get out of hand. But I implore everyone to not make connections between Apple Chill and all of our other gatherings on Franklin.
The history of Apple Chill and the violence associated with the unsanctioned After Chill clearly indicates that it should have in fact been canceled for several years.
But this should not spread to other events, especially Halloween. The fact that Mayor Kevin Foy even mentioned consideration for permanently canceling Franklin’s other mass gatherings really bothers me.
After Chill in no way reflects the spirit of these other events and should be taken as a separate occurrence. As soon as three people are shot on Halloween or on a night when we beat Duke, then special consideration can be taking to canceling such events.
Until then, just get rid of Apple Chill and leave the other events alone.

Kendall Silver
Freshman
Biology

DTH coverage of After Chill reveals journalistic racism
TO THE EDITOR:
The Daily Tar Heel’s Tuesday coverage of the Apple Chill fiasco represented the most blatantly racist excuse for journalism I have seen in my four years on campus.
The lead article alludes to “young, urban people, many of them purported gang members.” What does “urban” mean? From Durham? And purported by whom to be gang members, on what grounds?
What these code words really refer to are young black men. The editorial page seems to suddenly have become full of experts on “blatant gang culture,” as they call it, as they claim the event to be marked by “thuggery” — again, a racist code word describing young black men.
And to print a letter that goes so far as to refer to the only time of year when white people do not completely dominate the streets of Chapel Hill as turning “a beautiful college town into a ghetto” crosses the line from subtle to blatant.
That the DTH could cover a predominantly black event using such loaded and coded language without once openly mentioning the racial dynamics at play is dishonest, misleading and racist.
What needs to stop immediately is not just violence at Apple Chill, but racist portrayals of blacks by media.

Nick Shepard
Senior
History

After Chill provides us with many diverse perspectives
TO THE EDITOR:
Following this year’s After Chill celebration, many students have called for the town to put an end to the event. They claim that it is an inconvenience to residents and unsafe.
I think these opponents of After Chill have overlooked the positive effect the event has on the University.
Chancellor James Moeser and others are constantly talking about the importance of diversity and cultural awareness in the University community. After Chill provides for these goals.
It is an event where people from the cities around Chapel Hill come to have some fun. They ride motor cycles and show off spinning chrome rims on their 1970s Oldsmobiles.
This year there was even a pick-up truck with four televisions in its bed blaring rap music videos. Residents of Chapel Hill do not often experience this kind of event.
The Daily Tar Heel editorial board pointed out that a woman was posing topless while people videotaped her and that three people were shot. But are these things really bad? Isn’t condemning them forcing cultural values and morality on others?
Maybe the shooters were simply nostalgic for the Old West. The “victims” of the shooting might have used coarse language in the presence of ladies, and the shooters thought it would be just to avenge those young ladies’ honor.
Furthermore, the topless dancing may not have been sexual expression but rather an effort by the young woman to become more in unison with nature. And the cameramen were simply capturing this natural expression.
In short, let us not be insular in our cultural understanding. After Chill is an event that allows students and residents to experience culture in new ways and participants of the celebration to express their nostalgia for bygone days of chivalry and a more natural world.

Brian Sopp
Junior
Journalism

Superintendent Neil Pedersen’s message:
http://www.chccs.k12.nc.us/echhs/Easthostageletter.pdf

From the student victim:
All I need to say is I feel blessed to be alive. Even though I was very scared at the time, I want to thank my civic teacher, Mrs. Kukla for staying behind me and keeping my courage up. I did my best to talk to him and understand what his problems were. I appreciated the support from the police and officers, especially Officer Gibson. I’ve receive a lot of support and I thank everybody for their kind thoughts. Please respect my wishes for privacy and calm as I try to get my life back to normal. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Chelsea Slegal

From the teacher Lisa Kukla in a press release from city schools:

“Chelsea was very brave and stayed calm. I am very proud of her actions. We tried to personalize things so that he would see us as people and not objects. I am thankful that no one was hurt, including the suspect. I am thankful for all of the support from friends and coworkers and from the Chapel Hill Police Department, especially Officer Rex Gibson. Today, I’m thankful to be alive.”

“Too soon,” people would jeer at the idea. But amid the cinematic hysteria, director Paul Greengrass’s film about Sept. 11, “United 93,” slipped under the radar and into pre-production.

And just as quickly and quietly as it went in, the film is making its way into theaters with glowing reviews riding on its coattails.

Here are a few:

David Denby, The New Yorker: “Greengrass’s movie is tightly wrapped, minutely drawn, and, no matter how frightening, superbly precise.”

Claudia Puig, USA Today: “An unflinching, powerfully visceral and haunting portrait…”

David Edelstein, New York Magazine: “Brilliant, tightly focused, and momentous.”

David Ansen, Newsweek: “This is first-rate, visceral filmmaking, no question: taut, watchful, free of false histrionics…”

And those are just a few. So why is this film being met with such critical enthusiasm?

Contestants to the film would have you believe that no reviewer, in good conscience, could give this movie a bad review; proponents could tempt you to see things in the opposite light. So where’s the middle ground.

For as long as it’s been an industry, Hollywood has profited off of tragedy, heartache and cultural demise — look to the war movies of the ’60s and ’70s that relayed the untold stories of World War II.

But is “United 93″ too soon? A mere five years after the collapse of the metal and mortar that was a symbol to our nation, this film isn’t out to tarnish our memories — it’s out to solidify them, to memorialize them and those who died bravely.

I won’t propose to tell you what to believe; I’ll only encourage you to see the movie for yourself. Early indications are that it’ll shake you to your core.

“United 93″ premiered Tuesday night at the TriBeCa Film Fesitval in New York City and opens nationwide on Friday, April 28. Classes will be over — go out and see this film.

— Harry, Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor

Meredith Ann King
Freshman
English

Congress would like your testimonials on Apple Chill
TO THE EDITOR:
Many of you experienced the violence, congestion and disturbances associated with Apple Chill and After Chill this past Sunday.
Even if you did not see this first hand, you have no doubt heard stories, seen the news and read accounts from The Daily Tar Heel.
Student Congress plans to take action to investigate these concerns. While things are fresh in your minds, we’d like your input.
If you have personal accounts you’d like to send us, please send them to Speaker of Student Congress Luke Farley at ljfarley@email.unc.edu. Please include your name, contact information and your residence.
Congress will be compiling these reports and the student affairs committee will hold public hearings in the fall.
Look for an informational e-mail to go out soon for more information.

Tyler Younts
Chairman
Student Affairs Committee

Caroline B. Spencer
Chairwoman
Rules & Judiciary Committee

Apple Chill reduced Chapel Hill to a gridlocked ‘ghetto’
TO THE EDITOR:
Once a year, there is a mass migration to Chapel Hill for an event called Apple Chill.
But what is the purpose of this mass migration? All I noticed were a bunch of vehicles with rims too big and tires too thin, not to mention the endless noise of sub-woofers turned up too high.
In an earlier article about Apple Chill in The Daily Tar Heel, we were informed that it was an event to enjoy local arts and crafts and other homemade products.
I’m guessing that these “arts and crafts” refer to motorcyclists breaking traffic laws and essentially an episode of “Pimp My Ride” right before our eyes.
Oh, and perhaps the “performers” that were supposed to be here are the ones who carry guns and shoot them at people?
Apple Chill has proved to be an unsafe event year after year, and I propose that the tradition not continue. It turns a beautiful college town into a ghetto and the only thing it does is back up traffic.
I would also like to say a special thank you to all of our law enforcement officers who risk their lives every year for this event. Without them, the violence would clearly be more out of hand than it normally is.
Please join in the effort to “Chill with Apple Chill.” This is a tradition that needs to stop — immediately.

Andrew Sanctis
Senior
International studies, Spanish

University must re-examine its role in ‘annual violence‘
TO THE EDITOR:
Three people shot during After Chill? If a student had been killed at After Chill, I imagine University administrators and city officials would have a hard time convincing parents and CNN reporters that they are serious about safety.
Let’s hope such a tragedy isn’t a necessary prerequisite for city and University leaders to re-evaluate their role in perpetuating this annual violence.

Matthew Freund
Senior
Business

Chapel Hill does not need the ‘fairs‘ and the vandals
TO THE EDITOR:
I am strongly in favor of not having any of the street fairs including Halloween.
Polling people at the fairs as to whether they would like the fairs to be held is like polling Republicans on their opinion of George Bush. Ask the whole town.
At the very least, if a street fair is to be held, ban all car and motorcycle traffic from the center of town and bus people in from peripheral parking areas.
Last night, I had the misfortune to go shopping at about 6:00 p.m. My return trip home up Franklin Street, a two-minute to three-minute ride, took me an hour.
We don’t need these fairs and the hooliganism that goes along with them.

Barry Goz
Chapel Hill resident

Ever since I heard about The Cyclone Scoop incident I wanted to help in some way, whether that be by writing editorials, re-running their articles or paying to print their entire newspaper and distribute it ourself. The argument, at the heart of Hazelwood , that children are somehow less entitled to freedoms than adults always has struck me as hypocritical — I take that view into the debate of the press freedoms of my “junior” colleagues.

For me, there is no danger in allowing press freedoms to any publication whatever the age of its publisher. Sure, those people might print something risque, something in bad taste and something that is less than quality journalism, but is that age specific? Are we to piece-meal protect against inappropriate journalism by cutting the industry up into age groups, to which varying degrees of freedom apply.

I am a political science major and constitutional law has been a hobby of mine. Reading Supreme Court cases about restricted rights in the name of “protecting the children” always has troubled me. Sure, we have a right to protect our children — we want to educate them. But does not that education carry with it the responsibility to teach them of all the things they can enjoy, at least in this country?

Yes, I’m naive. Yes, I’m idealistic. But I put a great deal of trust in the process of things — the natural settling of information. If someone reads or hears something that is inappropriate, I trust that they can reject or accept that information; they can decide to react or trust the marketplace of ideas.

Let’s leave the marketplace unfettered and call a spade a spade, or, in this case, an amendment an amendment. “Shall make no law that abridges” does not go on to break that liberty down by maturity level.

Shame on the Smith officials and everyone of you, I’m looking at a few of you letter writers here, for the dirtiness of this whole incident. I’m sticking to the process — in the name of the very children you hurt in the name of protection.

I personally welcome the chance to rid our fair town of hoodlums that come to town. Some have said this might be killing an “African American cultural event” (*cough* Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton *cough*). But quite frankly it’s silly to say rampant thuggery that results in armed robberies, three shooting victims and who knows how many fights and incidents of sexual harassment and assault is a cultural event. And if it is, then maybe we should think carefully about whether that really makes it any better.

Because it doesn’t. Yes, there are racial overtones here. But race has nothing to do with it. Gang activity and lawlessness are bad things no matter what the miscreants’ ethnicity is.

Those are my thoughts. What say y’all?

I must say, it is a pleasure to drop a few words. The EP is solid. No Pronto plays a riff-based style of rock and roll, which they refer to as blues-punk, bringing to mind blues-based riff rockers from the 1970s, like Deep Purple or maybe even early Led Zeppelin. But the band’s sound is more rooted in 1980s post-hardcore, in the vein of SST bands like Hüsker Dü or maybe even a little Sonic Youth. 

In the band’s own words, “From music production to booking a 1,000+ miles tour, No Pronto is as DIY as they come.” 

In my own words, “They’re definitely worth checking out.” 

No pronto will be at Wetland’s Dancehall in Chapel Hill on May 10 with The City Drive. Doors at 9pm. $6 cover. 

Check out No Pronto at their website or their MySpace.

-Bryan Reed / Arts Desk-

Ben Lundin
Junior
Religious Studies

Everyone, partisan or not, should vote in the primary
TO THE EDITOR:
I am writing in response to the recent articles about primary voting in Orange County.
First, I would like to thank you for your information on early voting, you are providing a valuable service to the campus community. Secondly, I wish to clear up a misconception.
In both articles you mentioned that “to participate in the primaries, voters must be registered with a party.” This is not the case. The Orange County Board of Elections Web site states: “Unaffiliated voters may vote in Party Primary Elections by choosing one of the party ballots that is being voted on. Doing so will not change the voter’s party affiliation.”
Unaffiliated voters can vote in either the Democrat or Republican primary — they just have to choose one or the other, and not vote in both. Therefore, I hope to see all voters — Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated — at Morehead Planetarium starting today.

Jill Trufant
Secretary
Orange County Dem. Party

Turn to the printed media for accurate information
TO THE EDITOR:
Recently it struck me that this spring has been a very tumultuous time for the academic world here in the Triangle. What I mean is that we are facing shocking, controversial events in our local community which might cause us to re-evaluate our world view.
I am referring specifically to two events: the SUV attack in the Pit that some people have chosen to label as terrorism, and the charges being pursued against members of the Duke men’s lacrosse team.
We all have to be aware that the printed word is our most important source of information in this kind of situation. The national media can’t tell us what to think, because although these things are very important to us, they’re not that important to the rest of the country. And we can’t let rumors or secondhand information cloud our judgment, either, because our peers are bound to no standards of objectivity or truthfulness.
As bystanders, no one says that we have to hold an opinion on these matters. But if we want to hold an opinion, then we have a responsibility to be reliably informed. And the most reliable source we have for information is not our peers, or our teachers, or television, or the Internet, but the printed press. There’s a reason the right to a free press is listed specifically in the Bill of Rights — this is the reason.

Tyler Boyd
Junior
Psychology

Cartoon wasn’t sensitive in lynching comparison
TO THE EDITOR:
I am writing in response to the publication of the April 20 editorial cartoon that likened the recent Duke lacrosse rape case to the numerous lynchings that occurred in the New South, 1880-1920.
Such a comparison was done in poor taste and was a gross historical misrepresentation. Blacks were lynched based on false accusations of rape without any judicial due process and had no opportunity to refute these claims legally.
The two lacrosse players have the exceptional ability and access to both legal representation and due process under the law. Contrary to the cartoon’s implications, the players have not been strung up, killed, burnt alive, castrated, mutilated or made into souvenirs by the media or black community.
Before making such comparisons in the future, I highly recommend that you consult the numerous scholarship on lynching, a general textbook, a historian or an individual who has been directly affected by lynching.

Hilary Green
Graduate student
History

Predecessor: Brewer will make good BOE chairman
TO THE EDITOR:
I am writing to express my support for Jim Brewer as Board of Elections chairman.
I know him to be judicious with his decisions and fair with punitive actions. His hard work has been displayed in our organization of the many polling places during the previous election and will continue to be prevalent in his movement to replace faulty elections software. Jim is not only the right man for the job but also the best man for the job.

Nicholas Mosley
Junior
Economics, Political science

Senators put forward a resolution calling on the ASG to amend its non-discrimination policy to include a whole range of interesting categories, since the current version, they claim, “creates an enumeration of characteristics that is incomplete and implies that all characteristics not listed are legitimate grounds for discrimination.”

The current policy lists race, color, creed, religion, sex, age, national origin, ethnic origin and disability. (Please see correction posted in the comments section).

The UNC-G resolution would have expanded it to include political beliefs, political affiliation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, socio-economic status, physical appearance, height, weight, life experiences and place of residence.

When the ASG General Assembly opened debate on the resolution Saturday, it was fairly clear that most delegates weren’t keen on the more comprehensive policy. One delegate noted that he’d never been asked to submit a tax return to the ASG, and therefore didn’t understand how socioeconomic discrimination could possibly be a problem. Another pointed out that there were pretty obvious differences in the height and weight of various delegates, and no one seemed to be discriminating against them.

While it was apparent that the motion was headed for defeat, the assembly ultimately decided to table it until next year. In the meantime, the UNC-G student senate might want to consider a petition to the state government. After all, the non-discrimination clause in the N.C. constitution prohibits only four kinds of discrimination (race, color, religion, or national origin), which is only about 1/5 as much non-discrimination as UNC-G senators would like.

- Eric Johnso