Call it terrorism - some say at rally - Other students ask for tolerance

Since 03-13-06

March 10, 2006

Meiling Arounnarath, Staff Writer

Students at a campus rally Monday accused the UNC-Chapel Hill administration of hiding behind political correctness by not calling Friday's attack an act of terrorism.

"Why not label terrorism? Not doing so suggests a certain leniency toward that kind of thing," said Jillian Bandes, a junior from Florida and one of the organizers.

"It's an issue that needs to be confronted head on," said Bandes, who wrote a column in the The Daily Tar Heel last fall calling for Arabs to be strip-searched at airports. "The media and the administration are trying to dance around this term."

The rally was held at roughly the same time and place that police say Mohammed Taheri-azar, 22, drove a rented Jeep Cherokee through a crowd, hitting nine people. It attracted about 50 onlookers.

About a dozen members of the College Republicans and other groups stood in The Pit outside the Student Union holding small American flags or signs that said "Call it what it is" and "Mohammed Taheri-azar: a terrorist," among other slogans.

Srinath Jayaram, 28, a Hindu from India, said he respects the organizers' right to rally but that they were not speaking for most students. "American values have always been about tolerance," he said. "And for them to be carrying American flags, ... They don't represent the majority."

Jayaram made his own sign by writing with red marker on the back of a "RENT" movie poster. "Promote Love & Understanding, Not Belligerence," it read.

Lisa Katz, a university spokeswoman, said Chancellor James Moeser was not giving interviews and that the administration stands by the statement he sent to the campus community Sunday night.

"Friday's incident in The Pit shocked us all. We deplore this contemptible act of violence," Moeser wrote, adding that campus leaders will be developing an event "to bring us together after spring break."

UNC-CH's spring break begins at 5 p.m. Friday.