After what seems to have been a heated month of politics on OP, I thought I'd start December with a few questions about crosswalks, speeding, sidewalks, road design, and other issues that impact the walkability of Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

First, I've noticed that when I'm stopped at a crossswalk (particularly on Rosemary Street), cars rarely stop to let me cross, even if they see me patiently waiting. My understanding is that they are required to stop for pedestrians. What recourse do I have when they don't? How does one go about getting additional crosswalks put in? 

This semester I have served OrangePolitics as a student intern to complete a minimum 30-hour service-learning requirement for a sociology class entitled “Social and Economic Justice.” The course is a capstone requirement for all social and economic justice minors like myself and has allowed my professor the opportunity to chronicle the development of the Occupy movement over the course of the semester. Admittedly, I am privileged. But, having studied the birth and spread of this movement, I was shocked when a local demonstration against corporate hegemony of the wealthiest Americans (unaffiliated directly with the Occupy Chapel Hill demonstrations) took a dramatic turn a little more than a week ago, as a police tactical team of more than 25 officers arrested eight demonstrators in a vacant Franklin Street building.