May 2005

UNC Launches "Community" Web Site

In her guest column in yesterday's Chapel Hill News, Nancy Suttenfield announced the creation of Our Community, "a web resource for members of the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County communities."

As someone who has often found it difficult to locate UNC-generated materials, this is a most welcome resource.

Initial offerings include materials on UNC's position on OI-4 zoning changes to be discussed Wed. night and material on the waste disposal site.

"The power of having everyone at the table is limitless."

So said Aaron Nelson on announcing the creation of the Chamber of Commerce's latest in a series of high profile “councils” to further its work. What he meant was that the power of saying who comprises “everyone” is worth grabbing. As is the power to identify by omission the multitudes who are not part of everyone even if a place is reserved for a few of them to observe the goings on at “the table.”

What the Chamber fails to understand is that a self-interested organization like itself cannot identify an inclusive group. It is hamstrung by its reflexive assertion of its own narrow interests. Nelson is no more able to overcome this problem than Jim Heavner was with the Public-Private Partnership a decade ago. Nelson has benefited from years of Chamber experience in refining how to make a council look inclusive. Hence, the likes of Bernadette Pelissier, Robert Dowling, and Rick Edens in the current edition.

Hoe down or showdown?

Tomorrow (Wednesday) evening at 7 pm is the big, friendly hoe down between the Town and UNC to discuss proposed changes to OI-4, the zone that covers the entire main campus. This is intended to be a relatively-informal event which should allow UNC administrators and town officials to discuss issues in a non-confrontational format. There will be some audience participation, but I'm not sure how much.

Carrboro Book Fair

Internationalist Books is very proud to present the first annual Carrboro Book Fair, to be held from 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, May 7 at the Artscenter, located at 300 East Main St. in Carrboro, North Carolina. Participating book and zine publishers, writers and friends from across the country will converge on Carrboro for a day of reading, information exchange, community strengthening and of course, the buying, selling and trading of books.

Thirty-odd local and national organizations will be tabling with books and magazines for sale, including Daylight Magazine, Small Beer Press (MA), Garrett County Press (NOLA), Ivory Bell Books, John F. Blair Books, Ms. Film Festival, Crimethinc, Parcell Press (VA), Ugly Duckling Presse (NYC), The Drama (VA), Two Cranes Press, Winged Willow Press, Longleaf Books, Carolina Wren Press, AK Press (CA) and others.

Events during the day will include a screening of "Wizard People, Dear Readers" and other films, presentations from Daylight Magazine and Crimethinc, a hands-on zine workshop, readings by local authors and poets and more! All events are free and open to the public.

Nelson Guardedly Optimistic on Environment

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday April 30, 2005

After the Love-fest

At Wednesday night's town-gown soiree, all were on their best behavior. The only moment of tension arose when Will Raymond pressed the town planning director on a point. Two hours went by before Elaine Barney politely asked if the university still had a protest petition in place for the proposed OI-4 zoning changes.

But there was one particular bit of hogwash that should not go uncorrected. This was Jonathan Howes sanctimonious prattle about the need for the university to safeguard our tax dollars. That was the primary rationalization offered for UNC's push for a hasty town review of university development projects.

What Howes did not tell us, but surely knows, is that state funding accounts for only 20-some percent of the university budget (see, for example, UNC says state funds are just 25% of budget).

In misrepresenting this fact, Howes is playing on public misconceptions. In its Feb. 26, 2004 issue, the Triangle Business Journal reported on a UNC survey which found that

Say goodbye to Airport Road

This weekend the Town will be christening Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. I am very excited to see this name change finally hapenning, and the Town has put together quite a celebration to commemorate the event. The fun starts Sunday at 2:30 at the intersection of Stephens Street and MLK Boulevard (near Town Hall) and winds up at the Hargarves Center with performances by an interracial choir and Liquid Pleasure - who are probably Chapel Hill's longest continuously gigging party band. There'll be something for everyone.

Y'all come!

Faith & Family?

I was a bit turned off when I read the Herald-Sun's recent announcement that they would introduce a Faith and Family section to the paper. This smacked of the familiar right-wing conflation that would twist social relations to conform to some conservative religious viewpoint.

Based on today's debut of the section, it turns out to not be so bad. They've wrapped the religion pages around a page with a couple of secular articles on family matters (including a topic big in my household: kindergarten).

There was a bit of a tease presented in the form of a photo of two women embracing, looking as if they might be about to kiss. No it wasn't for an article on girl-on-girl faith&family fun. It was for a discussion of trends in baby showers.

Still, the section's title does not have the inclusive sensibility that I would look for in our local paper. It is offensive to those whose families follow the faith-free path.

Reflecting on Internationalist

adapted from Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday May 07, 2005

The great success of last Saturday's first annual Carrboro Book Fair led me to some reflection on the event's organizer, Internationalist Books and Community Center ("Ibooks").

Although the book fair was the brainchild of Ibooks volunteer and board member Ethan Clauset, sponsoring a high-profile event like this is reflective of the growth and organizational maturity of Internationalist over the past decade. A few years ago, Ibooks became an official nonprofit, increasing its options for fundraising. The nonprofit status dovetailed nicely with its member-controlled, volunteer-run collective organization.

Among Ibooks' recent accomplishments is its development of a Radical Lending Library for its members. The store also helped local activists attend anti-war rallies in Washington and Fayetteville, free trade protests in Miami and the March for Women's Lives in Washington.

How Many Open Seats in Carrboro?

Speculation about Carrboro's upcoming elections deserves its own thread. The Chapel Hill News today reported that Alderman McDuffee would almost certainly not run again and Gist quite possibly not with Herrera unknown. That leaves at least one open alderman seat and possibly as many as three. We already know that Mike Nelson will step down so there may be a competitive race for mayor as well.

The News speculated about three possible non-incumbent candidates, all fairly well-known: Catherine DeVine, James Carnahan, and Randee Haven-O'Donnell. All three are advisory board veterans, DeVine more associated with the arts, Carnahan and Haven-O'Donnell with planning and the environment.

All three are to some extent status quo candidates within the Carrboro context. The News did not report on any Steve Rose or Jeff Vanke type challengers. Reporter Dave Hart did not indicate whether he beat the bushes and couldn't find any.

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