June 2005

Local alternatives series

Guest Post by Michal Osterweil

Chapel Hill and the surrounding areas are filled with organizations, groups and businesses that are experimenting with and practicing alternative ways of living on a daily basis. Whether as a collective bookstore, a cooperative living community, bio-fuel collectives, or experiments in public television, we are all working to make the world a better place, not only through protest and opposition, but through different ways of going about our daily lives and work. We are in effect enacting social, economic and ecological alternatives both within and against the current status quo.

Too often, however, we do so without recognizing how many others are out there doing similarly amazing things. We miss out on the potential learning and growth we could all gain from one another if we told our stories and thought together about the possibilities, problems and goals of our projects—both individually and collectively as part of a larger movement and community.

Response to Durham cross burnings

The following announcement is circulating by e-mail:

A Community Response to the Recent Cross Burnings in Durham, NC

An Unlikely Friendship, an award-winning documentary film, will be shown in conjunction with a panel discussion with local community and
civil rights leaders.

When: Thursday, June 2nd from 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Where: B.N. Duke Auditorium at NC Central University in Durham
Donation: $1.00 to help offset security costs for the event
Organizing Partners: Character Development Group, The City of Durham, NC Central University, and Duke University

Contacts: Stacy Shelp-Peck, Character Development Group (919) 967-2110 or sshelp@charactereducation.com

Security Note: All attendees will have to go through a metal detector prior to entry into the bldg.

About An Unlikely Friendship
"Their story is one of redemption. It's one of the most important documentaries I've seen, and may be the most hopeful film in years." ­Studs Terkel

Election plans

Every time elections start looming, I get big ideas for OrangePolitics. I would really like to provide some useful on-going information for voters throughout the campaign season.

Last year, I put together the first-ever OP Voter Guide, but all it contained was candidate websites, endorsements, and a few related OP threads. In 2003, Will Raymond posted a post-mortem on campaign contributions. These were great, but we can do more! I am thinking of selecting key issues and publishing candidate positions. Perhaps a weekly column in October about the races. What else?

I would like to hear suggestions from you, readers. What kind of information would be helpful for you (and your less-informed friends) at election time? And would you be interested in helping to collect and assemble it?

Umstead Act Should Not be Weakened

Well, the go-go-growth crowd is not as monolithic as I recently suggested. Sometimes competition can split even the most steadfast of allies. The Herald today reported that a

113-6 vote in the House endorsed an amendment to the state Umstead Act to allow the UNC system's 16 campuses to sell goods and services in competition with the private sector when doing so would further the teaching, research and service mission of the university.

Hackney and Insko voted in favor. Bill Faison voted against thereby joining the "anti-university" crowd that for the moment also includes Aaron Nelson. From the Herald report:

Correction?

Oh well, that was quick. Now that the Chapel Hill development ordinance has been updated to reflect that fact the town has regulatory power over non-building development (eg: parking lots) on UNC property, the legislature may change their mind again.

The N.C. Senate has voted to repeal a 9-month-old law that gave Chapel Hill and other communities more power to control the development of state property.

The repeal measure, which passed the Senate last week on a 44-6 vote, is moving through the General Assembly at the request of the UNC system's Board of Governors, legislators and system officials said.

"All 16 campuses are very supportive of this," system lobbyist Mark Fleming said, adding that the initial request for a repeal drive came from officials at UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University.

Contemplating Carrboro's Campaign Issues

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday June 04, 2005

Recently I was asked what I thought the issues would be in this year's Carrboro elections. I didn't have a ready answer. As I considered the question, it seemed that no one has been putting new ideas on the table for Carrboro lately.

Recent elections have functioned as referenda on the policies of the existing board, policies that have evolved over the past decade or so. This year, things have been pretty quiet.

Alderman Alex Zaffron hit a nail on the head recently when he suggested that the best thing the board had done lately might have been hiring Steve Stewart as town manager. Stewart has brought in his proposed 2005-06 budget without a tax increase.

It has long seemed that if there was an issue that could unite the diverse groups who are unhappy with the status quo, it was Carrboro's tax rate. Property taxes in Carrboro have tracked at some 20 percent above those of Chapel Hill despite the smaller town turning to its larger neighbor for a number of amenities.

This year, under Stewart's proposed budget and thanks to a modest increase in Chapel Hill, the gap will close a bit.

Goodies

I have a few cool new things to announce for OrangePolitics users.

First, you can now preview your comment before you submit it. Just look below the Submit button and you will see a live preview that updates as you type!

Second, user registration is now open to all. You may make your own account here by clicking on the Register link near the top of the right-hand navigation bar. Right now, the only thing this enables you to do is create your own user profile and write draft guest posts. If you do register, be sure to click on the Users tab to fill in your profile. And if you write a guest post, drop us a line to let us know it's there.

In the future, there may be other advantages to registering here, but right now it's mostly a novelty.

Development Rights Taskforce

The Orange County Board of Commissioners is recruiting citizen volunteers for the Orange County Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Taskforce. This taskforce will evaluate the feasibility of establishing a TDR program in all or portions of the county. The taskforce will address: Sustainably balancing rural and urban areas, directing growth and development away from important natural and cultural resources and toward areas with municipal service potential and able to support urban densities, providing working farms with an alternative income potential, and developing policies to accommodate the sending and receiving areas of housing density and economic development to be added to the Comprehensive Plan. The County has hired a consultant to help in this endeavor.

Why aren't you blogging?

Forget all those excuses. If you're engaged enough to be reading this site, you probably have some opinions to share with the world.

This Saturday Anton Zuiker of BlogTogether is organizing a Blogging Teach-In! Come with your ideas and opinions, he'll help you with the rest. The event will be in a computer lab on campus so you can get help setting up your blog on any platform you choose. Anton and his volunteers will even help you choose a template or design for your snazzy new site!

One-on-one tutorials for anyone who wants help becoming a blogger, or new bloggers who want help improving their blog or making the most of their blogware.

* Saturday, June 11, 2005
* 12 noon—2 p.m.
* UNC-CH Health Sciences Library Biogen Idec Classroom (computer lab with 40 seats)
* Park in the UNC Hospitals parking deck or find nearby street parking.

The more blogs, the merrier.

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