Serving the students and the University community since 1893
The Daily Tar Heel
VOLUME 117, ISSUE 35
monday, april 20, 2009
www.dailytarheel.com
Ferguson gives ‘last lecture’ Study
to cause policy review
Interactive talk focuses on passion By Katie Oliver Staff Writer
sports | page 10 CLEAN SWEEP The baseball team earned its first three-game series sweep in the ACC this season, allowing only five runs in its three victories over Miami.
city | page 3 OUT OF REACH Apartment rent prices in Orange County continue to increase, but employee wage rates are not growing at a similar pace.
To Paul Ferguson, learning is not about acquiring knowledge, but becoming inflamed with a passion for enlightenment. That was the central message the performance studies professor tried to get across in his lecture, “A Fire to be Kindled,” to a packed theater in the Morehead Planetarium. Ferguson’s “last lecture” — which was more of a performance than a talk — was a complex mix of dramatic art techniques that encouraged people to be enthusiastic about their lives. “I hope that when this evening is over, you feel like you’ve been
kissed and not like you’ve been poked in the eye,” he said at the beginning of his lecture. Ferguson is the recipient of UNC’s first Carolina Chiron Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award is inspired by late Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch’s last lecture before he died and is given to educators who inspire the pursuit of wisdom in students. A group of Ferguson’s students led an interactive introduction of the professor to kick off an evening in which Ferguson guided a crowd of about 200 students and faculty through a sample class.
See last lecture, Page 5
Colleges to talk immigration dth/Stephanie Tan
Paul Ferguson, a professor of performance studies, performs a poem to an audience Sunday night in the Morehead Planetarium.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
university | page 3 BACK TO BLACK Comedian Maria Bamford joined legendary comic and UNC alumnus Lewis Black to cap off the four-day Carolina Comedy Festival.
city | page 7 DEEP CUTS Nonprofit agencies are facing significant reductions in the amount of money they will get from Orange County — with some cut entirely.
online | dailytarheel.com SENIOR DECATHLON
Seniors tested their cafeteria and social skills.
SANGAM NITE
A high school hall is turned into a plane to South Asia.
EARTH ACTION DAY
Families learn how they impact the environment.
this day in history APRIL 20, 2005 … Robert F. Kennedy Jr., delivers a lecture on campus titled “A Contract With Our Future” as part of UNC’s Earth Day observance.
Today’s weather Showers H 76, L 52
Tuesday’s weather Partly cloudy H 68, L 43
index police log ...................... 2 calendar ....................... 2 nation/world .............. 5 opinion ....................... 6 crossword ................... 9 sports ........................ 10
dth/Jarrard Cole
Riley Matheson, the leader of Youth for Western Civilization, stands on the steps of South Building. The new campus organization has recently sparked controversy by sponsoring a lecture by former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, which was cut short after protesting got out of hand.
YWC leader steadfast despite protest By Anika Anand Staff Writer
Riley Matheson has always been interested in politics but never wanted to be in the political spotlight. Now, privacy is harder to come by for the president and founder of the new campus organization Youth for Western Civilization. Matheson and the rest of his student group is at the center of a controversial debate sparked Tuesday after they sponsored a talk by former Congressman Tom Tancredo. The talk was cancelled minutes in after student protestors clashed with campus police. “I don’t like the fact that every-
one knows who I am,” Matheson said, adding that he still holds fast to his ideals. “The only reason why I do this stuff is because I really believe in it.” Youth for Western Civilization, whose UNC chapter was officially recognized this semester, is a national cultural organization that focuses on the preservation of Western culture from a political front, Matheson said. He said the basis of his rightwing views stem from his traditional Roman Catholic faith and his respect for former republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. “I’ve always considered myself a
Buchanonite,” Matheson said. He started reading Buchanan’s books at a young age and met the politician last summer. Matheson may be fairly set in his views, but he is still close with those who do not share his opinions. “The way I handle friendships with people who disagree with me is similar to my political beliefs,” he said. “Your similarities with people are the things that draw you together, which is why YWC doesn’t like the idea of diversity because it doesn’t draw people together, it separates them.” Matheson’s friend Tristram Thomas, who worked on the local campaign for Barack Obama, said rather than debating Matheson, he
tries to find a common ground that will advance the conversation. “I respect Riley because we share a commitment to wanting to see our country and local communities improve,” Thomas said. Matheson said his political mindset is also influenced by his choice to be a Latin major. He said Latin is important because it has been the most extensively used language throughout Western civilization’s history. For example, Shakespeare and Galileo both wrote in Latin. While he has received offers to work in political positions in Washington, D.C., after graduation, Matheson said he is interest-
See matheson, Page 5
Documentary on free speech at UNC will play tonight By Kevin Kiley
Assistant University Editor
Hanes Art Center will host a lesson in UNC’s history of free speech tonight, which organizers hope can help students draw parallels to contemporary campus issues. Communication studies professor Gorham “Hap” Kindem is presenting a documentary he made in 2005. The film, titled “Beyond the Wall,” chronicles the fight by UNC students to repeal the Speaker Ban Law that passed the N.C. General Assembly in the ’60s. The ban prohibited members of the Communist Party or people who had used the Fifth Amendment to avoid Congressional investigations of “un-American” activity from speaking on campus. Me m b e r s o f t h e c a m p u s community have drawn parallels between the law and issues involved in Tuesday’s protest that prevented former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo from speaking, which is why Kindem decided to show it. “I think this is timely in that the topic is directly related to the current events about free speech on campus,” he said. “It even involves some of the same participants, notably the current SDS chapter.”
WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY Time: 7 p.m. today Location: Hanes Art Center
Kindem said he was inspired to make the documentary by campus events in 2005 like the controversial selection of “Approaching the Qur’án: The Early Revelations” as the summer reading book, as well as what he saw as civil liberties infringements by the USA Patriot Act. The event will feature a panel with three people from the speaker ban era: James Medford, former president of the Campus Y and roommate of then-Student Body President Paul Dickson, who led the charge to repeal the law; Jerry Carr, former graduate student and head of UNC’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society; and Daniel Pollitt, emeritus professor of constitutional law and former faculty chairman. All three were instrumental in the speaker ban fight, an issue that dominated campus. “There was a lot of different campus issues, and the speaker ban was one of the biggest,” Medford said. In addition to bringing a bad light to UNC, Medford said the ban also caused greater complications such
DTH ONLINE: Read the report on community colleges’ options for admitting illegal immigrants.
By Caroline Dye Staff Writer
The N.C. Community College System is reviewing its policy on the admission of illegal immigrants after the release of a study Thursday outlining practices of other states. The report describes the various options for the admission of illegal immigrants. The options include considering them as in-state or out-of-state students for tuition purposes and barring them from the system altogether. “The policy committee will be grappling with this over the next several months,” stated Stuart Fountain, the community college policy committee chairman, in a press release. He added that travel restrictions and new board members mean it will take time to work through the report’s findings. T h e U. S . D e p a r t m e n t o f Homeland Security said last year that states may deal with the issue independently. Last May, the community college system effectively barred the enrollment of illegal immigrants at the recommendation of the N.C. Attorney General. N.C. four-year universities currently enroll illegal immigrants as out-of-state students. The reports estimate that N.C. community colleges would net an average of $1,680 per student if they followed suit with the UNC-system policy. Only Pamlico Community College would lose money through that policy. But there is no clear national consensus on the issue. California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York and Texas currently subsidize the tuition of illegal immigrants. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Virginia admit them as out-of-state students. South Carolina does not allow illegal
See immigration, Page 5
Locals confront ‘green’ issues Find solutions for sustainability DTH ONLINE: Families learned about sustainability at the 2009 Earth Action Day.
By Jen Serdetchnaia Staff Writer
Students, nonprofits and businesses alike are tackling environment sustainability through innovative entrepreneurship. The waning economy means a new situation for everyone and an opportune time for students with creative solutions. Earth Week
Garden initiatives Courtesy of Jock Lauterer
Paul Dickson, then-student body president, introduces speaker Frank Wilkinson in 1966. The event is chronicled in today’s documentary. DTH ONLINE: Read former Chancellor William B. Aycock’s copy of the Speaker Ban bill and his accompanying notes from 1963. as threatening the library’s accreditation. The ban eventually was repealed when students brought a case through the N.C. courts on First Amendment grounds. Medford said he sees a lot of the same issues that were present on campus in the ’60s reemerging. “What we’ve got here is the dif-
ferent side of the same coin,” he said. “You have to let people speak. It’s only when people are denied the right to speak that their opinions become more important than they probably are.” Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Hope Garden is an example of green entrepreneurship oncampus. Hope Garden uses biointensive agriculture, a sustainable practice
See innovation, Page 5 EARTH WEEK: ATTEND THE GREEN ARCHITECTURE PANEL Time: 6:30 p.m. today Location: Michael Hooker Research Center Info: sustainability.unc.edu