The Daily Tar Heel

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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Muslim group to host blood drive today

A group of UNC students will host a blood drive today as a way to honor the thousands of victims from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. UNCs Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association is hosting a blood drive today as part of a national Muslims for Life Campaign, which is meant to both honor the victims of 9/11 and make a positive impact on the commu-

nity. The campaign is part of a national initiative led by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, which collected 11,170 pints of blood at the organizations third annual event last year on 9/11. The goal is to save lives. Theres such a need for it, said Marriam Azam, vice president of UNCs Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association. Thats the primary goal to do that service for the community. UNCs Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association became an official club in April, and the blood drive will be its first major event of the year. This year, the organization hopes to collect 50 to 60 pints of

blood, said Sofia Dard, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association. Blood banks are constantly running low, and they always need more blood, she said. The best way to remember 9/11 victims is to save other lives. Azam said she also wants to use the event to remember the lives that were lost 12 years ago. We want to remember the September 11 victims that were terrorized from the horrible attacks on that day, she said. No faith of God teaches or promotes the murder of people. The blood drive, which is being held at locations all over the country, is also meant to fight misconceptions of Islam in the United

States. We wanted to make sure people realize that the image portrayed in the media that Islam is all about violence thats not what Islam is about, Dard said. Dard said although she has encountered few instances of prejudice at UNC, Muslims in the U.S. face continued discrimination. The FBI reported more than 170 antiMuslim hate crimes in 2011. In the basic essence of what Islam is, its the sanctity of human life and preserving it every way we can, she said. Its another way to get the true message out about what we believe. Azam said the terrorist attacks 12 years ago had long-lasting

AMSA blood drive

implications for Muslims living in the U.S. Our religion was hijacked too because it portrays this violent image that this is what Muslims do, she said. We want to let people to know that there are millions of Muslims all over the world that are peaceloving Muslims. [email protected]

reimagining rosemary
dth/chris conway Tar Heal Cafe food court will be replaced by Alpine Bagel Cafe in the Thurston Bowles Building.

A planning event Tuesday focused on the future of Rosemary Street

Tar Heal Cafe to be replaced

Students who frequent the medical schools will gain a familiar dining option after the Tar Heal Cafe closes this November. Brandon Thomas, a spokesman for Carolina Dining Services, said the Student Dining Board decided to close the cafe and replace it with Alpine Bagel Cafe. Alpine Bagel, with its healthy options and breakfast and lunch items, was determined to be the perfect fit, he said. The Tar Heal Cafe, located in the Thurston Bowles Building on the corner of Manning Drive and South Columbia Street, is a food court serving Chick-fil-A, Montagues Deli, Starbucks coffee and Simply Fresh salads and sandwiches. Thomas said the driving factor for closing the cafeteria was the plummeting sales. Since the Beach Cafe opened (near the Health Sciences Library) about four years ago, sales started to go down, he said. One of the obvious reasons is that both Beach Cafe and the Tar Heal Cafe serve Chick-fil-A, and the two are really close together. Thomas said the University determined that it would be best to replace it with an Alpine Bagel by surveying customers as they left the cafe. He said the menu is likely to resemble the one in the Student Union, with similar prices and food options. Biomedical engineering professor Ted Bateman said the location was key to making Tar Heal Cafe his go-to spot for fulfilling his morning caffeine fix. Its by far the most convenient spot for me, especially to get my coffee, Bateman said. I eat here too, and they have good variety. A lot of my co-workers come here to grab something and go. Thomas said the University would begin informing customers of the cafes official closing changes when the details are confirmed. Employees were told recently that the change is scheduled to take place, and they will likely be dispersed to other CDS positions, Thomas said. Dominique Medina, a doctoral student in the School of Dentistry, said he was surprised the location would be closing. He said there are already limited food options in the South Campus area. Its either here or the hospital, Medina said. Theres the Beach Cafe, but thats a little far away. Id be upset if they replaced this with a bagel shop. I dont care for bagels I come here to get away from bagels. [email protected]

Rosemary Street is more to Chapel Hill than parking lots the town wants to turn it into a hub for business and community. Residents and students came together Tuesday night at TRU Deli + Wine to discuss their visions for Rosemary Street. Rosemary Imagined, part of the Chapel Hill 2020 initiative, is a community-led planning program working toward transforming the street. Meg McGurk, the executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, said she wanted community members to come and share ideas and hopes for the area. Downtown is the heart of the community, McGurk said. We need community input to make it great. Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said the initiative will craft a new vision for downtown. This will activate a new main street, he said. We need to tie the entertainment district of Franklin Street to the residential area of Rosemary. Bernadette Keefe, a Rosemary Street resident who attended the event, said she has been waiting for a program like Rosemary Imagined for a long time, and she cant wait to be part of it. This street has incredible potential, Keefe said. It has a combination of all ages, all walks of life and incredible creativity in the students. And Keefe said the uniqueness of the street makes it perfect for a initiative like this. All the fabric and richness and diversity make it phenomenal, she said. Many UNC students also attended the event and shared their ideas with residents and town leaders. We are students and we do care, said sophomore Laura Hoerning. Hoerning and sophomore Katharine Mather both said they want to see a safer Rosemary Street. We need better crosswalks, Hoerning said. We also need space for more food trucks. Kleinschmidt said the town needs to encourage more retail in order to support those who are already living in the area. We dont need more burrito places or

dth/kathleen doyle Bernadette Keefe (left), a Chapel Hill resident, attended a Rosemary Imagined event at TRU Deli + Wine. Community members gathered to discuss ideas of how to add value to Rosemary Street.

more bars, he said. We need everyday things like a grocery store and a dry cleaners basic retail. After a brief social session, attendees pitched their ideas, which included a park, market, wider sidewalks, affordable student housing, a trolley system and a rock climbing center. Graduate student John Perry said the area needs fewer parking lots in order to make it a more enjoyable space. Right now, Rosemarys function is

parking for Franklin Street, Perry said. It needs to complement it, not support it. Kleinschmidt said Rosemary Street is the obvious next step in the Chapel Hill 2020 initiative since it is the second main street that connects the area to Carrboro. If we want our downtown to be the center, we need more than one main street, he said. We need blocks, people and businesses. [email protected]

Plus One concerts to bring new acts

the underachievers
Time: 8 p.m. tonight Location: Gerrard Hall Info: cuab.web.unc.edu

inBRIEF
city brief
Good Neighbor Initiative to hold block party Thursday at the Hargraves Center
The annual Good Neighbor Initiative Neighborhood Night Out will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hargraves Center at 216 N. Roberson St. The event will bring 400 community members students and non-students, on-campus and off together to celebrate living in harmony with one another. Buns and Ben and Jerrys will cater the event, and there will be music, games and raffle prizes. From staff and wire reports

Slacking off in college might not be applauded, but the Carolina Union Activities Board is still celebrating the hiphop duo The Underachievers as the board kicks off its new monthly concert series, Plus One, today. The series, which features a student deal of two tickets for $5, is the result of CUABs efforts to more consistently host shows throughout the year. The shows are slated to be held monthly, with the first show featuring The Underachievers. Gabe Chess, music chair for CUAB, said not every concert is going to feature an act that people on campus have heard of because of the budget they have to stick to. But he said he hopes students will come anyway and discover new bands they might like. Students should come to these shows because they give you a real chance to see something new and interesting that might really catch your attention, he said. Chess said he hopes the inexpensive ticket prices will encourage students to go to the concerts. With tickets being so cheap at $5 for two tickets for students, we made it a low-risk thing you can go see a new concert without making a huge investment, he said. And this way we hope people would encourage their friends to come see new shows.

Chess said to encourage students to go to the concerts and see artists they may not have heard of, CUAB created the Plus One brand, hoping people would begin to trust that the series has good shows. To help market the concerts, CUAB partnered with the Student Unions marketing and design department and student radio station WXYC, Chess said. He said the Unions design services came up with a logo and helped CUAB develop the look for the series. He said they also helped create the advertising plan. Caroline Pate, promotions manager for WXYC, said CUAB and the radio station have partnered together numerous times in the past. Pate also said WXYC has good relationships with musical artists, and she hopes they will be able to incorporate those acts into the concerts. Lauren Sacks, the Unions assistant director for student learning and activities, said it is exciting for students to come to the concerts because they might find a new favorite artist. Certainly the bands that are a part of the Plus One series some people are familiar with, but they are not by any means mainstream bands, she said. But these artists are really talented performers who just dont have the name recognition. Chess said the concerts are conveniently

courtesy of Gabe Chess CUABs new monthy concert series Plus One begins tonight with The Underachievers, a Brooklyn-based hip-hop duo.

located on campus. He also said that the series will feature a wide variety of genres not just hip-hop. Pate said she is excited to see The Underachievers for the first concert because they represent fresh, up-and-coming hiphop. She said students should come out to see them because they could be the next big act. Itd really be a shame to see students pass this up because the band is somebody they dont know really well, she said. Sacks shared Pates enthusiasm. Im excited to discover some new music myself. [email protected]