Waves of Change

August 22, 2018

On Monday night, Confederate monument Silent Sam was pulled down by demonstrators in the first protest against the statue for the 2018-2019 school year. There seem to be millions of opinions surrounding the statue, and the debate has been at the forefront of conversation for most of my college career.

For the past 24 hours, the DTH’s timeline and comments section has been more active than it’s been in a very long time (I should know, I get notifications for every account). Despite differing comments and opinions, and certainly different levels of anger or pride over the subject, one thing is abundantly clear: the community cares.

In a time of a lot of political and social division, I like to think about that to keep me a little grounded. That among the arguments, Twitter threads and waves of change, I’m witnessing history be made. I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for these stories today.

Silent Sam updates

The Daily Tar Heel spoke with UNC graduate student and activist Maya Little on Tuesday regarding the protest that occurred on Monday night. Little was one of the speakers at the beginning of the protest, though she denies organizing the event.

Things happened very fast on Monday night. If you're wanting to make sure you're up to date, we've made a timeline of the events that transpired from the protest itself, to statements made by officials.

In a joint statement among Chancellor Carol Folt and other UNC-system officials, UNC has announced that the State Bureau of Investigations will be assisting in the investigation regarding the protest. Read more about what that means here.

In other news

Three UNC Board of Governors Special Committees officially met for the first time on Tuesday, including the Committee on Military and Veteran Affairs, the Committee on Historically Minority-Serving Institutions and the Committee on Healthcare.

Women's soccer head coach Anson Dorrance made history by earning the 1,000th win of his career on Sunday. Senior writer Chapel Fowler collected 10 major statistics to help paint a picture of this monumental success.

The N.C. Promise Plan is bringing tuition decreases to three UNC system schools in the hopes of developing the North Carolina economy. Read more about the program here.

Things to do

Listen to this playlist from our Office DJ to get you to the second half of the week.

"Summer is as faded as a lone cicada call"

St. Vincent

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A storm's a-comin'

September 12, 2018

When Chapel Hill had a short-lived water crisis in 2017, my roommate Maddy and I were in my car and on the way to her parents' house near Asheville within 30 minutes of learning the news. This storm was no different. Today, we packed up the Babe Mobile™ and drove to my grandparents' house without batting an eye.

We were in their house for a good 10 minutes before we reverted back to exactly how we spend every other night in Chapel Hill — slouching in a chair and working on the DTH. Ah, the change of pace is nice.

If you're staying in Chapel Hill and on campus through Hurricane Florence, remain aware and safe. To prepare, check out this story on staying safe and prepared on campus, from dining halls to transportation around town.

What other hurricane info are you looking for?

General preparedness? University assistant editor Taylor Buck has got you covered. To find information on what foods to have on hand, how to prepare for flooding and how to save battery life on your electronics, look here.

An update on your plans? Here's a running list of what has been canceled or postponed so far, including UNC football's game against UCF that was originally scheduled for this Saturday. P.S. If you bought tickets to that game, you should be getting automatically refunded.

In remembrance of Sept. 11

Yesterday, UNC's General Alumni Association honored the six UNC alums whose lives were lost on Sept. 11, 2001. One of those alums was the uncle of Dylan Melisaratos, a first-year at UNC, who spoke of his uncle at the event.

First responders and Town officials gathered yesterday morning to honor first responders past and present — both those who gave their lives during Sept. 11, and those who are preparing to provide aid during Hurricane Florence this week.

Things to do

Call up your friends and tell them it's Sept. 18, not Sept. 15, now. PlayMaker's "Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood" will now be opening next Tuesday, after it was postponed due to the hurricane.

"This is the only thing I've ever had any faith in"

Florence + The Machine

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Winter is coming, and I am scared

March 6, 2019

For someone who considers herself up-to-date on pop culture, I have completely, totally missed the Games of Thrones train.

My whole family watches it; it goes completely over my head. All the merch, the tweets, the anticipation for the final season, means nothing.

So, when the trailer came out yesterday, I was so confused. So confused, I'm compiling a list of words to mute on Twitter in anticipation for April. So far, I've got: dragons, throne, thrones, iron, siblings, red wedding, medieval, HBO, snow, winter, white, walker, zombie, wild, crazy, series, finale. Let me know what to add!

(Arts senior writer Zach Goins, on the other hand, is very excited for the final season to start. You can read more about that here.)

Here's what to know about men's basketball:

UNC beat Boston College, 79-66. Here are the top three takeaways of the game.

Here's what to know about UNC today:

Chances are, you probably follow an Instagram influencer or two. But do you know a few fellow Tar Heels are in on the influencer game?

Meet Tyla Gomez, Maddi Lane and Haleigh Somberg, all Instagram influencers (and my fellow classmates).

The University has filed a response to Students for Fair Admission, the group that is currently suing UNC for their admissions policies. According to the University, the group has misrepresented the facts of the case.

In a meeting on Sunday, the Carolina International Relations Association's Executive Board impeached Denton Ong, the editor-in-chief of their affiliate publication, The Internationalist, following allegations of misconduct. Ong also resigned as VP of CIRA, and was removed completely from the organization.

In a meeting last night, the Executive Board discussed the decision and fielded questions from members of the organization, including discussion on how to move forward.

Here's what to know about our K-12 schools:

Margaret Samuels, the chairperson for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, resigned yesterday.

Her resignation comes after parents and community members created a website, calling for her resignation and citing in her involvement with Glenwood Elementary becoming a Mandarin dual-language magnet program.

On Feb. 25, the Orange County School Board unanimously approved a resolution in support of immigrant children, with the interest of protecting the privacy of the children and their families. Read more here.

Here's what to know about graduating seniors:

Here's a statistic I'm hoping to be part of: according to a 2017 report, 91.1 percent of UNC undergraduates have a job within six months of graduation.

Things to do

Figure out what the protest throughout campus was for yesterday. Here's why the "4 for Fair Food Tour" is coming to UNC to protest Wendy's.

"Feel like I'm dreaming, but I'm not sleeping"

Mariah Carey

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Thanks a latte

March 29, 2019

I love coffee. I wake up every morning thinking about coffee. I nearly do a dance every time I take a first sip in the morning. Sometimes, when I'm pouring my first mug, I swear I can hear "Someone To Watch Over Me" by Ella Fitzgerald playing faintly in the background.

But, let's be real: liking coffee is not a personality trait. I am not unique or special for liking coffee. We all do, or we all should, else we lead miserable lives.

So, fellow coffee lovers, I'll share this with you: tonight, Open Eye Café is screening the documentary, "Gender in Coffee" to shine light on the gender inequity in the coffee industry.

Bills, bills, bills

Medical marijuana might be legal in North Carolina soon.

On Monday, a federal court ruled that North Carolina's law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy was unconstitutional. What's changed?

Yesterday, three separate bills were filed in support of LGBTQ rights, including banning conversion therapy, employment discrimination and getting rid of the last remnants of House Bill 2.

In sports news

What are Tar Heel legend Brendan Haywood's thoughts on this year's NCAA Tournament?

Remember earlier this week, when assistant Jack Frederick said that a UNC-Duke national championship would be great? Assistant Ryan Wilcox is here to tell you that Jack was wrong (very, very wrong).

A campus update

Following a recent event on campus, the group Defend UNC has written a letter to interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, calling for a disarmament or disbandment of UNC campus police.

One important read

Who's behind the 514 UNC students that are registered on SeekingArrangement?

Things to do

Text us! As long as UNC plays, we'll be here. Join the conversation by texting DTHCOURTSIDE to 984-237-2123.

"We don't look for heaven and we put our love first"

Lana Del Rey

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So long, farewell!

April 26, 2019

Well, this is weird: today is the last time I'll be writing this newsletter.

I have tried to write this intro maybe six times: each time trying to articulate how this year has simultaneously lasted a lifetime and has gone by in the blink of an eye, or how much the DTH has given me during my time here.

But I'm not going to be able to articulate it. No way. This place means too much, and I don't really know if I'm going to be able to put it into words right now. But all the same, thank you all so much for letting me invade your inboxes every morning; it's truly been one of the best things I've ever done. Let's keep all that embarrassing stuff I shared between us, okay?

I feel like I should leave this off with a few things I learned in college — how does that sound? Here they are:

I'm not entirely convinced that anyone actually likes Spring Break cruises or any other scenario where you binge drink for extended periods of time. If you feel like you'd rather be waterboarded than participate, don't feel like you have to do it.
Absolutely nothing you do exists in a fishbowl, or a vacuum, or any other household object that implies isolation. Figure out how your actions affect other people and act accordingly.
There's no easy way to tell someone that they drunkenly tried to pee in your room, so just don't acknowledge it.
Sometimes it's better to just sit back and listen to how someone feels. We have a tendency to try to tell people how hard we have it or how they should feel when sometimes, we probably should just put a sock in it.
Mandy Moore thinks I have good cheekbones — sorry, I've just never found a way to slip that she complimented me on them last summer into any other newsletter and this was my last chance.

You may have noticed that there's a quote at the bottom of these newsletters, usually songs. They're snapshots of what our managing staff was feeling each night. We've put them into a playlist here.

Campus updates

After extending the deadline for the future of Silent Sam from March 15 to May, there hasn't really been any updates on what to maybe expect from the BOG's decision. What do we know?

The four suspects who were accused of toppling Silent Sam had their trials in court, leaving only two acquitted, yesterday.

Yesterday, Student Veterans Assistance Coordinator Amber Mathwig was charged with second-degree trespass and resisting an officer, and has been placed on paid investigative leave.

Mathwig refused to leave the steps of the abandoned Odum Village, which was being used for an unannounced police training exercise, simulating an active shooter situation.

UNC Athletics

Yesterday, UNC men's basketball guard Seventh Woods announced that he would be transferring from the University, but didn't say where he'd be going next.

So, with this departure, what does the men's basketball roster look like for next year?

One important read

The Honeysuckle Tea House in Chapel Hill and The Honeysuckle Cafe & Bar in Carrboro are well known and loved by the community. But some employee complaints raise questions of the intentions of the business and related non-profit.

Things to do

Graduate. On May 5, the LGBTQ Center is hosting Lavender Graduation for LGBTQ-identifying students and sexuality studies majors.

"Many precede and many will follow, a young girl's dreams no longer hollow."

Dixie Chicks

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