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Thursday, January 21, 1999
Exhibits Explain
Cultures' Quirks
The Ackland Art Museum
welcomes both the Shasta
Collection of Chinese jades
and Inuit Eskimo sculptures.
By Amelia Favere
Staff Writer
Walrus bone totems and 5,000-year
old jade pig-dragons sit a half a block
away from Starbucks in two temporary
exhibits at the Ackland Art Museum.
The Shasta Collection of Chinese
monolithic jades, an anonymous loan to
the museum, is a collection of 14 carv
ings 5,000-7,000 years old from cultures
near modem Beijing and Shanghai.
Just one floor above the jades lies the
other exhibit, an impressive collection
of contemporary prints and sculpture
from Inuit artists, also known as
Eskimos. This exhibit is in celebration
of the new Inuit territory in Canada to
be formally announced April 1. H.G.
Jones, Thomas
Davis Research
Historian for the
N.C. Collection,
loaned the Inuit
exhibit to the
Ackland. Jones
directed the N.C.
Collection for 20
years.
“It’s a remark
able opportunity
“Ifind it interesting to see the
shapes those people were able to
design and the symbols they
used for protection.”
Alex Bell
Sophomore, Tuxedo
for us,” said Curator of Collections
Timothy Riggs, speaking of the jade
exhibit Because the pieces predate writ
ten language, Riggs said, their symbol
ic meaning can only be guessed at.
These millennia-old carvings were
worn into shape with wooden tools,
stones and sand.
“(The sculptures) have a lustrous,
glowing surface that shows the stone off
beautifully,” Riggs said. The pieces
show off jades of many colors: red,
white, speckled and, of course, all
shades of green.
The Shasta Collection also includes
protective amulets, fertility figures and
animals. Three of this exhibit’s more
recent pieces, only 2,000 years old, are
temporarily placed with other pieces
from the Han and Zhou Dynasties in the
JSt
1 1 k f 1
permanent collection.
“This is a really different exhibit,”
said sophomore Alex Bell, a peace, war
and defense major from Tuxedo. “I find
it interesting to see the shapes those peo
ple were able to design and the symbols
they used for protection.”
While the jades present a mystery to
visitors, the Inuit exhibit reveals a rich
and often misunderstood culture.
Almost all the exhibit’s pieces were
made in the last 20 years, and represent
both abstract concepts and daily life. It
includes some famous artists, such as
Kenojuak, Andrew Qappik and Osuitok
Ipeelee, the last of whom was commis
sioned by Queen Elizabeth 11.
Jones, who has collected Inuit art for
27 years, has traveled to the Arctic more
than three dozen times, buying the
pieces from the artists themselves. He
said he began his collection in an effort
to preserve pieces of a dying culture.
“It was a culture that was being oblit
erated by our own culture,” he said.
“Fortunately, there’s been a reversal of
this trend.”
Jones, who car
ried many of the
sculptures and
prints to the
United States in
his backpack, said
he was pleased by
the Ackland’s pre
sentation of the
works.
“They look
stunning,” he said. “It really brings out
the individuality of the pieces.”
The works presented in the Ackland
show the interrelation between animals,
the Inuit and the earth.
Vividly colorful prints, such as
Kenojuak’s “New Plumage”, a print of a
brighdy colored, strutting bird, are con
trasted with small, detailed sculptures,
such as the dark “Shaman with Bear
Spirit.”
“These are relics from the hardiest
civilization on Earth,” Jones said. Sixty
of his 300 pieces are on display in the
Ackland until Feb. 21.
The neolithic jade exhibit will be on
display until May 16.
The Arts Editors can be reached at
artsdesk@unc.edu.
County Officials to Tour Power Plant
Commissioners will tour the
Shearon Harris facility to
see if a proposed expansion
will affect Orange County.
By Meredith Hermance
Staff Writer
Members of the Orange County
Board of Commissioners will tour the
Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant in
Wake County next week because they
are concerned that a proposed expan
sion could threaten the county.
An accident at the facility would
affect a 50-mile radius, which includes
the University campus, said commis
sioner Alice Gordon.
Gordon and fellow commissioner
Barry Jacobs will visit the plant Jan. 26.
“It is an effort to inform ourselves, see
what is out there and get more informa
tion,” Gordon said.
Jacobs said the tour would allow the
Social Security Plan Panned
Federal Reserve Chairman
Alan Greenspan shot down
President Clinton's plan to
invest in the stock market.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan swiftly
joined congressional Republicans in
shooting down the most controversial
part of President Clinton’s Social
Security plan on Wednesday, saying the
government should not invest hundreds
of billions of dollars in the stock market
“I do not believe it is politically fea
sible to insulate such huge funds (from
political interference),” Greenspan told
the House Ways and Means
Committee.
But the central bank chairman said
he supports most of Clinton’s plan,
which would use 62 percent of govern
ment surpluses over the next 15 years to
bolster Social Security’s cash reserves.
He said he doesn’t believe it’s wisest
to use the surplus for across-the-board
income tax cuts, as Republicans want
The Fed chairman said he believes it
News
board to see firsthand the operations of
the plant “It is an opportunity for us to
walk around and ask questions in order
to get a mental image of what we’re dis
cussing.”
The decision to view the facility came
after N.C. Waste Awareness Reduction
Network, an environmental nonprofit
organization, released a previously
unpublicized 1997 report by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. N.C. WARN
has been protesting the expansion since
October.
The report states that an accident at
Shearon Harris could cause 140,000
cancer deaths and cause over SSOO bil
lion in property damage.
“This confirms that the potential for
accidents is there and the probability
that accidents will occur is much higher
than originally thought,” said N.C.
WARN Director, Jim Warren. “The con
sequences could be devastating."
The commissioners were invited to
view the facility by the plant’s owner,
Carolina Power and Light, in response
would help the economy most if the sur
plus were used to pay down the nation
al debt - something Clinton’s Social
Security plan would do indirectly.
On the other hand, if the choice is
between Republican tax cuts or the new
military and domestic programs for
which Clinton wants to use another 11
percent of the surplus, Greenspan said
tax cuts would help the economy more.
“I don’t think it’s a close call,” he said.
The influential Fed chairman’s dis
dain for government investment in the
stock market, combined with opposition
from Republicans who control
Congress, could scutde an important
part of Clinton’s plan.
Without the earnings it assumes
would come from the stock market,
Clinton’s plan would fall about five
years short of a key goal: keeping Social
Security from running short of cash for
55 years. That
might mean an
increase in pres
sure for other
changes in Social
Security.
However,
Clinton adminis
tration officials said
Greenspan has
expressed his con
cerns before, and
“We ... respect his long
standing views of insulating
equity (stock) investment from
political considerations”
Joe Lockhart
White House Spokesman
they will forge ahead.
“We appreciate his support for the
centerpiece of the president’s proposal
to set aside most of the surplus for Social
Security, and respect his long-standing
views of insulating equity (stock) invest
ments from political considerations,”
said White House spokesman Joe
Lockhart.
Clinton will urge members of
Congress to help devise a way the Social
Security investments could be made
with minimal political influence.
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“If the plant is not safe, the
consequences could be disas
trous. If it is safe, we need to
know that too. ”
Alice Gordon
Orange County Commissioner
to calls for a technical review of the pro
posed expansion. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission is holding a 30-
day comment period in which the pub
lic can submit legal or technical com
ments or contentions concerning the
expansion. “We want to be on record
before the period expires so we can
have standing in court, should the issue
reach that point,” Jacobs said.
The board also voted to allot up to
SIB,OOO for technical expertise to eval
uate the facility. “A tour is fine, but it’s
only a small part,” said Warren.
Chatham and Lee counties also
Possible mechanisms include an inde
pendent board of investment managers
isolated from the changing political
winds by long terms in office much as
Greenspan and his Fed governors are.
Also, the investment managers’ choices
could be limited to neutral options, such
as mutual funds based on stock indexes
like the Standard & Poor 500.
But opponents say a host of political
problems still could come up. Would the
government invest in companies it is
suing, for example?
“The possibilities for abuse in that
arrangement are unlimited,” said House
Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas.
Greenspan said any political influ
ence on private markets could distort
the overall economy.
Clinton proposes that about a quarter
of the surplus money he wants to devote
to Social Security be invested in the
stock market.
Based on current
projections, that
would amount to
around S4O billion
a year for the next
15 years.
That’s less tha”
the SSO billion to
SIOO billion that
foreigners put into
U.S. markets each
year. So politics aside, the impact of
Social Security dollars on the market
would probably not be great, econo
mists say.
“We’re not talking a huge swing in
the market coming from this,” said
David Wyss, an economist at
DRI/McGraw-Hill in Lexington, Mass.
The rest of the surplus Clinton wants
for Social Security - about another $2
trillion - would be kept just as Social
Security has always held its extra cash:
in Treasury bonds.
Ullj? laxly ®ar Hoel
passed resolutions Tuesday night
requesting more information on the stor
age of nuclear waste, Jacobs said.
The proposed expansion includes the
construction of two temporary storage
pools to supplement two existing pools
that have filled with waste shipped in
from CP&L plants in Brunswick, N.C.
and Robinson, S.C.
“The plan was to take the spent fuel
and put it in temporary storage and later
ship it to a permanent facility,” Gordon
said. “Unfortunately that never materi
alized and we are concerned that the
temporary units may become perma
nent.”
Gordon said the tour would help the
board determine whether expansion
posed a significant hazard to the com
munity. “If the plant is not safe, the con
sequences could be disastrous,” Gordon
said. “If it is safe, we need to know that
too.”
The City Editor can be reached at
citydesk@unc.edu.
Permit
To Build
Bar Nixed
Officials say a vote against
the alteration of a building
violated Historic District
Commission bylaws.
By Jennifer Perkins
Staff Writer
Two different interpretations of com
mittee procedures have left a building
owner’s plans to renovate on hold.
Norman D. Bullard, a Wilmington
based lawyer who owns a building at
the comer of Henderson and Rosemary
streets, said he wanted to alter it to
accommodate a cafe and bar.
Chapel Hill Planning Department
official Mike Klein said Bullard had
gained approval this summer for zoning
usage, provided he receives approval
from the Chapel Hill Historic District
Commission.
The commission’s September vote
on the application for the cosmetic alter
ations to the building at 114 Henderson
St. resulted in a tie.
The Chapel Hill Board of
Adjustment sent the matter back to the
commission last week for another vote
because no final action had been taken,
said Donald Stanford Jr., commission
member.
A Historic District Commission ordi
nance states that the committee must
take action on applications within 60
days or the request would automatical
ly be passed, said committee member
James W. White.
Stanford said the chairman of the
commission thought the application was
denied because the tie vote did not pass
the request.
White said Bullard argued that his
request should be approved because
more than 60 days had expired without
a denial or approval.
Neither Bullard nor his lawyer
returned calls Wednesday.
Tuesday’s 5-4 vote denied Bullard’s
application. The tie was broken by a
committee member who was not pre
sent for the first vote, Stanford said.
Bullard can appeal the committee’s
decision to the Board of Adjustment
within 30 days of Tuesday’s denial.
White said although the commission
cannot dictate building usage, it can rule
on altering architecture in the historic
district. “(The commission) decides,,
whether the (structural) changes are
compatible with what’s in the district,”
he said.
Stanford said the commission denied
Bullard’s application because of the size
of the outside area and the proposed
deck. “This would not be appropriate
for the area; it would not be in harmo
ny with the rest of the architecture in the
district,” he said.
The City Editor can be reached at
citydesk@unc.edu.
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