I couldn't be happier to see students energetically pursuing more involvement in local government, and to see the Town Council welcoming them with open arms. There is clearly a need for more students to serve on Town advisory boards. But I have to ask: Where you been, students?
Student voter turnout in local elections seems to be getting worse, in spite of the fact that there have been candiates that were under 30 in the last 3 municipal elections, and an actual real-live student in the 2003 race! In fact, I campaigned on these issues myself in 1999, but got no traction with students.
So now they are asking for reserved seating on the Planning Board and boards. Students might want to try applying for it like every one else does.
With permission of the Daily Tarheel, we are reprinting a collection of viewpoints they published yesterday about Carolina North. The final essay was by me, and I am including my original, undedited version. The collection also included am editorial cartoon featuring a statue of "Silent Cam."
Carolina North -Elliott Dube, Editorial Page Editor
Another stage has begun in the long history of relations between UNC and the two towns that co-exist with the University. At the center of the action is the Horace Williams tract, a significant portion of which has been earmarked as the foundation for Carolina North: UNC's future satellite campus. From a University standpoint, Carolina North represents progress. It is a giant, 240-acre symbol of UNC's drive to expand its academic...
In addition to a number of other good ideas on the Chapel Hill Town Council's agenda, I'm told they will hear a proposal tonight to rename Airport Road to Martin Luther King Boulevard. When I was first exposed to this idea (at a candidate forum last fall), I was taken aback. I've known that road for a long time by only one name.
But actually, it makes a lot more sense to me than naming the road after an aiport that hardly anyone uses, and most people expect to be closed within a few years. And It's especially appropriate that the street that will be the future grand entrance to Carolina North should be named after such a great American. I hope it will serve as a daily reminder to all of us to do whatever we can to live up to the moral challenges of our times (of which there are many).
Lots of conversations naturally stray off of the original topic. We have a problem when people intentionally try to disrupt conversations, incite flame wars, or generally aggravate readers. These people are trolls. Personally, I try to ignore posts if they're not on-topic or at least interesting. I encourage others to do the same. This is the best way to fight trolls.
In my continuing effort to improve the quality of discourse at this site, I am experimenting with a system to test the addresses of people who post comments. If the address given is fake, the post will be removed. Your addresses will not be used for any other purpose, in fact they will not even be stored anywhere.
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