The Daily Tar Heel‘s editor-in-chief for the 2013-14 school year, Nicole Comparato covered an academic scandal and reports of sexual assault on UNC’s campus, among many other things. But in her coverage, trying to get comments from first-year Chancellor Carol Folt or other administrators wasn’t always an easy endeavor.
“I think that it would benefit them more to be a little bit more open, a little more transparent, even though they’re saying this new website, Carolina Commitment, is what’s supposed to be transparent, and all that.” Comparato stated. “Of course, it’s frustrating.”
On a more personal level, Comparato spoke out about how she has witnessed the rest of the UNC student body handling these scandals. She claims that these problems are not going to be solved until the whole truth is exposed.
“I think students have been frustrated with it. I think that at the end of the day, they’ll still love the university.” Comparato explained. “But every time it gets dragged into the national headlines, and you see it on the scroll on ESPN, or something else coming up, I think it hurts a little bit. And I think that’s something that’s not going to go away.”
In her pursuits to be honest on all that has transpired with the university, Comparato says she has also encountered individuals who feel that her contributions are not impacting UNC in a positive way.
“People are always like, ‘Why do you want to expose all this stuff?’ It’s not that I necessarily want that, but I really care about this university, and I care about my degree, and I care about its reputation. So, I think it would be just better if everything was just out there, and we move on.”
Comparato stated that she is also eagerly awaiting the results of the Wainstein report, in order to finally have all of the answers.
Comparato joined Ron Stutts and Ran Northam on the WCHL Morning News Thursday to discuss her time leading the campus newspaper and her four years as a Tar Heel.
***Listen to the Interview***
http://chapelboro.com/sports/unc-sports/unc-administration-quiet-dth/Authorities say the man who was arrested for pulling a knife on a UNC student Sunday afternoon has been involuntarily committed to UNC hospitals.
According to the Daily Tar Heel, Chapel Hill resident and 31-year-old UNC graduate, Jesse Alan Kister was committed in UNC Department of Public Safety’s custody on Sunday. When he’s released, he will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Chapel Hill Police and DPS coordinated the search for Kister. CHPD found him in The Chapel of the Cross on East Franklin Street. He was taken to the Chapel Hill Police Station and quickly turned over to DPS since the crime took place on campus.
Kister was found in possession of four knives valued at $100, according to the incident report.
Alert Carolina issued an emergency warning shortly after 4:00 p.m., when the incident first took place. Buildings on campus were locked down—including Carmichael Arena, where the UNC women’s basketball team was playing its first-round NCAA tournament game.
Alert Carolina issued the all-clear at 5:18 p.m. Sunday afternoon. There were no injuries.
The DTH interviewed one of Kister’s former professors who said he only knew Kister in the classroom and didn’t know him on a personal level.
Kister received his bachelor’s degree in information science from UNC in 2005. He also earned a master’s in health care administration in 2008 and information science in 2011.
http://chapelboro.com/news/crime/knife-wielder-committed-unc-hospitals/CHAPEL HILL – The Daily Tar Heel celebrates its 120th birthday Saturday.
“We think it is a big deal,” says Editor-in-chief Andy Thomason. “We were called for a large portion of the 20th century the only college daily in the South, so we believe we have a very proud history of independence and journalistic integrity and excellence. We are proud to look back on 120 years of work, to do more learning and really celebrate that history.”
The Princeton Review awarded the paper with the best college newspaper award in 2010 and 2007.
The paper has not used student fees as a source of funding since 1993. Thomason says that independence was a huge step for the paper.
“It was a really big deal, because every year the staff had to go in front of Student Congress to present the budget,” says Thomason. “It was just a huge problem. Editors admitted to having pulled punches about Student Congress in coverage around budget time. So they admitted to compromising their own journalistic honesty.”
Prior to becoming independent, about $100,000 of the paper’s $600,000 budget came from student fees.
The most recent example of that independence came in 2010 when the paper joined 7 other media outlets in suing the University over public information. But Thomason says the paper was able to break stories even before becoming financially independent.
“I’ve been told by Ken Zogry, the historian who is writing a book about the history of the Daily Tar Heel, that the first one they every broke was about a cheating ring –I believe that was in the 30s,” says Thomason. “That’s just one example of how being a student at UNC has benefits because you are on the ground all the time and be able to report on your peers.”
Thomason says journalists from the Daily Tar Heel have also gone on to make further impacts in the news world.
“I could go on and on,” says Thomason, “but I think the ones that people might name most quickly are Charles Kuralt, Peter Gammons worked here, Peter Wallsten, who covers the White House for the Washington Post, Thanassis Cambanis, who’s a correspondent in the Middle East and covered the Arab Spring, and Thomas Wolfe.”
Wolfe initiated the paper’s change from a weekly to a semi-weekly in 1920. The paper became a daily in 1929.
CHAPEL HILL – The fifth Murphey School Radio Show returns to Chapel Hill Saturday for two showings to support local non-profit agencies.
The show is billed as “A Celebration of Triangle Wit, Lit, and Music”. It will feature Triangle jazz favorite John Brown, novelist Michael Parker, and editor of Our State magazine Elizabeth Hudson.
The show is completely volunteer-run and has raised more than $60,000 for non-profits in Durham and Orange counties. It also works to raise awareness about community issues.
Shows can be seen at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Saturday the Historic Murphey School on Murphey School Road in Durham. The evening show will be recorded to air at a later date on WCHL.
For tickets and more information, click here.
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The Daily Tar Heel turns 120 years old Saturday.
The DTH has been self-sustaining since 1989 when it began operating solely on its advertising budget. It is also separate from the University as its student editor-in-chief, currently Andy Thomason, oversees all content.
The business operations are managed by a 12-member student majority board.
You can pick up one of the Daily Tar Heels 17,000-business-day copies at 215 throughout campus, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Chatham, and Durham.
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The UNC men’s soccer team and the Columbus Crew will compete in an exhibition game Sunday at 1:00 p.m. to benefit the Crew Soccer Foundation’s Kirk Urso Memorial Fund.
Urso, a former Tar Heel, died in August of a genetic heart condition he likely did not know he had. Urso was 22.
The Urso Fund was created in late 2012 to support heart-health research and programming.
The match will take place at Macpherson Stadium in Browns Summit, N.C. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. Student ticket prices will remain at $10 the day of the game.
For information on how to get tickets or to donate to the Urso Fund, click here.
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Chapel Hill Transit will provide a Tar Heel Express shuttle to the UNC men’s basketball game against N.C. State on Saturday.
The shuttles will begin at 2:30 p.m. from the park and rides located at the Friday Center, Southern Village, University Mall, and Jones Ferry for the game, scheduled at noon. The Carolina Coffee shop will also have shuttles available at 138 East Franklin Street. The provided shuttles will drop off and pick up on Bowles Drive in front of the Dean Dome.
Shuttles will run every 10 to 15 minutes between the park and rides and the Smith Center and will operate for approximately 45 minutes following the game. Rides are $3 one-way or $5 round-trip.
For additional information, click here or call 919-969-4900.
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