Niner Times - September 8, 2011

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NINERONLINE.COM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

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9 / 1 1 : A G E N E R AT ION T R A N S F OR M E D P. 9

NINERTIMES Thursday, September 8, 2011

Published twice weekly and online at www.nineronline.com

A product of Student Niner Media • The University of North Carolina at Charlotte • Partially funded by Student Fees • Breaking News? Email us at editor@nineronline.com or call 704.687.7148

New on NinerOnline.com: Check out the “Ten Years Later” page to hear what students have to say about 9/11

SGA member makes social media slip

Veteran to talk about effects of war

Corbin Peters

Eden Creamer

COMMUNITY EDITOR

A S S T. N E W S E D I T O R

Student Government Association (SGA) Senator, Keith Chanakira, privatized his derogatory and sexually explicit Twitter account Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011, only one day before being confirmed as the Organizational Ways and Means Committee Chair. The formerly public account entitled @itweethotfire narrated Chanakira’s underage drinking, frustrations with UNC Charlotte administration and impatience with UNC Charlotte parents. Racial slurs, sexual innuendos and various other profanities decorated the feed which has over 5,000 tweets and 200 followers. As Organizational Ways and Means Chair Chanakira leads the committee in allocating $194,290 of the UNC Charlotte 2011-12 budget which helps fund the university’s 350 student organizations. Despite his status as a student leader neither the university or SGA can take any action against his tweets. “This doesn’t violate any university policy,” said Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Michelle Howard. “Now as Dean of Students and having a student leader doing this I feel it warrants an educational conversation with Keith”. Student Body President Dave Craven said that he has seen worse on Twitter and does not plan to take any action. “Maybe I just run with the wrong people; I don’t know, but I’ve seen a lot worse on Twitter than this,” said Craven. Before being confirmed Chanakira already helped allocate over $42,000 during his two weeks as Acting Chair of the Organizational Ways and Means Committee. This money was given to 30 groups including College Democrats, International Club, Model United Nations, PRIDE and Veterans Club. Chanakira said these tweets did not affect his past decisions in SGA and will not affect his future decisions as Organizational Ways and Means Chair. “My tweets have nothing do with SGA. My constituency has nothing to worry about,” said Chanakira. Student Body Vice President and President of the Senate, Amanda Markham, defended Chanakira describing him as a “senator who stands out among the rest.” “He’s definitely taken on a position of leadership not just because he’s handed a title. He sets an example about being engaged and knowledgeable about our system. The chair is a very taxing job to have but he does a good job at keeping everyone upbeat and positive,” said Markham. Chanakira explained that these tweets do not directly reflect his personal charac

In remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001, UNC Charlotte will host a series of events during the days surrounding the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks aimed against America. One of these events, titled “Face of War,” brings veteran Jennifer Crane to UNC Charlotte in order to speak about her experiences serving in Afghanistan. The event will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011, at 7 p.m. in Norm’s, and Crane will speak of her experience in Afghanistan and her struggle to cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) when she returned home. “My story just runs the whole entire gamut of stories and issues,” said Crane. “And I think it is just very important to be aware of what is happening in society, whether it is you or the person sitting next to you.” Crane enlisted in the military at the end of high school, and her first day of basic training was Sept. 11, 2001. When planes struck the Twin Towers, Crane was unaware of what had happened. “I was 18 years old, standing in the middle of a whole bunch of strangers and the drill sergeants tell us that America’s been attacked,” said Crane. “We were going to war, and that was it. Part of me, that solider part, was excited.”

SOCIAL MEDIA p. 3

VETERAN p. 3

Students kneel together at the Belk Tower on Sept. 11, 2001, to honor those that were lost in the terrorist attacks that day. FILE PHOTO

Honoring the lost Ciera Choate NEWS EDITOR

Sept. 11, 2001, a day that many Americans will never forget. Dr. Cindy Combs, a professor at UNC Charlotte, remembers exactly where she was when she learned what was happening in New York City 10 years ago. “It was reported on the radio that the first plane hit, and I walked in and [professor] Harry Chernotsky was walking in with me and asked if I thought it was terrorism,” said Combs. “I said, at this point all that we know is that a plane has crashed, for all we know it could have been an accident. By the time I got in it was confirmed that there had been a second one had hit.” News spread quickly across the world that four planes had crashed: two into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York City, another into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. and the fourth in a field in rural Pennsylvania. Exact details were

hazy for days, while some today still insist that not every question has been answered. “Even until mid to late afternoon people were trying to figure out what was going on,” said UNC Charlotte professor, Richard Leeman. “It was very confusing initially. Remember that they were a little reluctant to say that it was Middle Eastern terrorism involved because they had jumped to that conclusion in the Oklahoma City bombing a few years earlier.” Officials soon confirmed that it was an attack on America by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. Nineteen members of this organization hijacked four planes in hopes of crashing them into high-value targets in America, including the White House and Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Nearly 3,000 people died that day between the time the first plane crashed into the North Tower in New York at 8:46 a.m. and the last plane crashed in a field at 10:03 a.m. REMEMBER p. 4

Cone Center brings more options Molly Mulhern R E P O RT E R

The newly redesigned Prospector building, with its full service Chick-fil-A and new additions to campus like Feisty’s have drawn students in. Many are left wondering what the Cone Center’s Main Street Market still has to offer. Many students are unaware that Bojangles has moved from the Student Activities Center to the Cone Center and has changed its hours of operation to 10:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. to accommodate students eating later lunches in between classes. “I’m glad Bojangles finally changed its hours. It’s easier to eat later, since a lot of students don’t have classes until 11:00 anyways, and going up and down all those stairs to get to the SAC was annoying. Cone is definitely a better location because its closer to most peoples’ classes,” said Construction Management major Parker Guffey. Bojangles isn’t the only new addition to CONE CENTER p. 4


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