Amid frenzy, campus calm

Since 03-13-06

Matt Dees, Staff Writer

March 13, 2006

The story about the young man who drove an SUV into a crowd of students on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus appeared at least twice on the Today Show, was reported in newspapers across the world, and was bandied about on talk radio for a week.

Conservative radio host Michael Savage harped on the incident numerous times from New York, calling it "a terrorist attack in the heartland of America."

In the town where it happened, though, the reaction to the driving rampage by Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar has been much more muted.

At Ham's Restaurant on Franklin Street late last week, two law students sipped beer, watched basketball and discussed the March 3 event in detached tones.

"I don't think there's any fear this is going to happen again," said John Livingston, 25. "It's easier to say he's a wacko."

Fellow law student Danny Merlin, 24, was asked what has consumed his thoughts more over the last week, the Tar Heels or terrorism?

"Definitely the Tar Heels," he said. "The simple fact that he failed so miserably is what makes it so easy for me to ignore it, to write it off."

This leads to reason No. 1, in many people's eyes, for the lack of hand-wringing: No one died.

That stands in contrast to the town's most notorious act of violence, Wendell Williamson's 1995 shooting rampage through downtown that left two people dead,

"Wendell did real harm to this community," said Cori Dauber, a UNC-CH professor for 15 years who teaches classes on terrorism.

"If [Taheri-azar] had been more effective, it would have been the lead story for days," she said. "What are we going to mourn? I mean, nobody even spent the night at the hospital."

Some parents of UNC-CH students express concern, though their offspring don't seem to share their worries.

Andy Nassef, 54, has two children either enrolled or about to enroll at UNC-CH. They're not afraid, but their father said he fears "copycat activities."

Nassef blamed the student paper, The Daily Tar Heel, for publishing a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad. (Authorities said that does not appear to have been a motivating factor for Taheri-azar.)

"I'm very concerned that publishing those cartoons really sets the university up for a terrorist attack," Nassef said from his home in Pennsylvania. "What better statement to make than to bomb the Student Union where The DTH office is?"

Student Body President Seth Dearmin said the campus has remined generally calm. "This is one individual acting alone," he said. "It's something people continue to talk about, but it's being talked about in a very constructive manner."