Columnist Draws From Summer Job

Not that I wasn't expecting to wake up here -- I mean, I had gone to sleep here, after all, so I would have been mildly surprised to wake up anywhere else.

But waking up on that familiar scratchy mattress (I had forgotten to pack sheets again) really brought it home to me: I'm back.

Man! It seems like summer vacation went by in just a couple weeks!

This might be because, for me anyway, it did. I spent most of the summer right here in Chapel Hill, taking summer school and acting as University editor for the summer edition of The Daily Tar Heel.

Forgive me for not introducing myself right away. I'm a junior philosophy and international studies double major from Duck, N.C., and I'll be your University news columnist this semester, every Monday -- starting next week -- right here on page three of the DTH. I've been working on the paper since I first came to Carolina, culminating, as I just mentioned, in a stint as University editor.

It was a wild summer, friends. True, every week when deadline approached I came closer and closer to going insane. True, I barely had time to get a sunburn and cajole some money out of my parents before turning the car around and heading back to Chapel Hill. Still, I'd do it all over again in a minute.

One summer with the DTH taught me a lot. I got to see the University and the town of Chapel Hill go head-to-head on rezoning the campus to allow for Master Plan construction. But I'm not going to talk much about the Master Plan here, partly because there's just too much to say, partly because most of it's already been said.

Another topic that will show up a lot on these pages is a potential tuition increase on top of a 4 percent increase recommended by the Board of Governors last semester. There are two proposals under consideration by the state legislature as it works to pound out a budget. Student anti-tuition-increase campaigns have been in full swing. While legislators work to balance an unusually tight budget, the weeks ahead will determine whether both sides can reach a compromise on tuition that will be fair for the state's taxpayers, for UNC students and for the University itself.

The past summer also brought the University a new Black Cultural Center director and a new vice chancellor for research. Welcome to Chapel Hill, Joseph Jordan and Tony Waldrop.

Then there was the student who was assaulted on campus near the end of the summer. Campus police took the opportunity to remind students of the importance of using common sense -- not walking alone at night, staying on lighted paths and other such gems of public safety wisdom.

Police told the campus community that UNC is a fairly safe place to live, work and learn and that as long as you remember to keep doors locked you can rest easy. All this is true, of course. At the same time, last month's assault took place on a well-lit stretch of Raleigh Road where students walk alone without incident all the time.

No matter how many lampposts and officers the campus boasts, when this many people are gathered together there will be a little bit of crime. As it is, there is very little here -- the Department of Public Safety does its job well.

So while of course it makes sense to follow their safety advice, at the same time it makes just as much sense to remember that if you do have somewhere to be in the wee hours that isn't directly accessible by crowded and well-lit paths, a simple walk shouldn't be cause for too much alarm.

I'm not saying you can leave your laptop on the stone wall by Raleigh Road overnight and expect it to be there in the morning. Just don't hide in your room when the sun goes down either.

These are the sorts of issues I hope to explore with you here every week. This column is a perfect place to examine in depth some of the stories that make our University such an exciting place to be. Feel free to send me suggestions, feedback, basketball tickets or whatever you like.

Here's to the beginning of our relationship, dear reader. I for one am looking forward to every minute of it.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go buy some bedsheets.

Geoff Wessel can be reached at vroomsplat@hotmail.com.