2
Tuesday, November 9, 1999
Town OKs VilCom Growth Proposal
Developers from VilCom
received approval to build
three new buildings on their
existing property in town.
Bv Sarah Jurek
Staff Writer
The Chapel Hill Town Council con
cluded Monday that no structural
changes were needed for a construction
project scheduled to be built near
Weaver Dairy Road.
Council members unanimously
approved a Special Use Permit
Modification, which would allow con
struction of three office buildings on the
VilCom Center site located between
Kingston Drive and Interstate 40.
“They already have a development
on the property and they want to build
three more buildings,” said Town
Manager Cal Horton.
Student Health Aims for Better Student Access
Director of Student Health
Robert Wirag says making
health services convenient
for students is a priority.
By Jason Arthurs
Staff Writer
Student Health Service officials and
UNC students are taking steps to make
health services for students more effi
cient, accessible and affordable.
Through the Student Health
Advisory Board, they will examine
issues such as students’ perception of stu
dent health and better use of technology
in the department.
“This board actually gets involved in
(the important) issues,” said SHAB
Campus Calendar
Today
noon to 1 p.m. - Peggy Hoon, N.C.
State University communication librari
an, will give a copyright update in the
Davis Library Conference Rooms on
the second floor.
4 pm. - Sarah Shields will speak on
"Muslims, Tolerance and History” in
Mon " Fri 932-9010
11am-10pm 161/ ; E. Franklin St
(Beyond Bandido's ALL the way thru the Rathskellar Alley)
-VC *
Pi eat
F big.cheap.late.great
cosmrc-
WLt PCI various menu items $2
JjJjjjjp old school veggie burrito 2
quesadilla 3
chicken quesadilla 4
...and more plus...
all mexican beers $2
Jr , ONE COSMIC DOLLAR ,
* uvnoa oiiaisoo 3no
■■ ’ jiiii rrfljiinniiiiffiirifi■ ii f- f 4* ~ m f/ , * , rv . * ~~ f
The council held a public hearing
Oct. 18 which raised concerns about the
accessibility of the location, prompting
Monday’s discussion.
“On the Oct. 18 hearing, questions
were raised on bicycle parking and
access into the site,” said Roger Waldon,
director of the Planning Department.
Additional concerns over the site
included the expansion of Weaver Dairy
Road to five lanes and the addition of
sidewalks and stormwater drains,
Waldon said.
Town Council member Julie
McClintock said smaller buses could be
used to accommodate the transportation
problems.
“Using small buses may be feasible
opposed to the larger ones that can’t
make the turn on the site,” McClintock
said.
Joe Hakan, a developer for VilCom,
said he was pleased to hear her sugges
tion at Monday’s meeting. “(Smaller
buses are) a possible solution so that we
Chairman Michael Poock. “There are a
lot of things we can deal with, but the
question is what we are going to tackle.”
The board includes six students and
several faculty members.
Board member George Jackson, a
graduate student in the School of
Epidemiology who has been active with
student, health issues since 1994, said
some of the important issues this year
included SHS availability horns and stu
dent perception.
“Maintaining clinic times that are
responsive to students is an issue I’ve
seen come up this year,” Jackson said.
“Perception is always a big one that’s
going to be tackled,” he said. “We are
constandy educating anew group of stu
dents about what SHS does.”
Poock said several changes were
already in place this year due to last
the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.
5 p.m. - Lab! Theatre will present
“Sexual Perversity in Chicago.” The
show is free to the public.
5:30 p.m. - Episcopal Campus
Ministry invites everyone to join us for
Holy Eucharist and dinner at Chapel of
the Cross, which is next to Morehead
Planetarium. Follow signs to the campus
center.
University & City
“Ifind (the proposal) is only
using a tad more money than
the minimum the town requires
and I thank (VilCom) for it. ”
Joe Capowski
Town Council member
don’t have to
change the design
of the site,” he
said.
Horton said
having internal
transportation to
the site was impor
tant.
“Being able to
serve the site fre
quendy is critical
to high ridership,” he said. “If the design
doesn’t allow transportation then it will
hinder ridership at some point.”
After all of the evidence was present
ed and all solutions were discussed, the
Town Council approved the application.
“I am delighted to support this,”
Town Council member Joe Capowski
said. “I find that it is only using a tad
more money than the minimum the
town requires and I thank (VilCom) for
it.”
Town Council member Lee Pavao
year’s direct recommendations by the
board. The need for improved women’s
health services and health insurance
policies were issues the board acted
upon last year.
“(The hiring of an obstetrician) came
about because of a board member who
raised the issue,” he said. “(The health
insurance policy) we have right now was
the direct recommendation of our advi
sory board.”
SHS Director Robert Wirag said the
ultimate goal of the board was to ensure
convenience for students. He said
telecommunications had improved to
direct student calls faster to specific
areas.
“We upgraded the entire phone sys
tem here,” Wirag said. “Appointments
by phone will streamline our entire
appointment system and will save stu
6 p.m. - The Management and
Society Association will hold its meet
ing in the Frank Porter Graham Lounge.
The group's speaker will be Vicki Lotz.
6 p.m. - The UNCJournal of
Social Science and History will begin
its weekly meetings in Union 108. All
students interested in joining the staff
are welcome to attend.
The undergraduate journal also
needs paper submissions. Submit theses
and class papers to
mitgon@email.unc.edu or contact Mital
Gondha at 914-2408.
6:15 p.m. - The N.C. Student
Legislature will meet in 420 Hamilton
Hall. All interested students are invited
It’s All Here! "
| OUR FAVORITE FREE PHONE
m [DEE Nokia 252
1 Jj ■" II E E and leather case
■ IMHH plus Dinner at The LOOP
£333 GTE Wireless gives you the flexibility
to change your rate plan as your needs change
AUTHORIZED
Ib 1 | WIRELESS AGENT
Wireless is Freedom SM
Wire Free
New Hope Commons (near Old Navy) / Durham / 549-4700
Chapel Hill North (near Harris Teeter) / Chapel Hill / 960-7100
We Match Competitors' Prices • We Deliver • www.wirefreecom.com
The New Way to Buy Wireless 5 "
J ♦ C R E 'W. ope *£tz cf
Fashions from the pages of the J. Crew catalog discounted up to 70%
November 10-12, 10am-9pm
Located at: November 13, 10am-spm
Burlington Manufacturers Outlet Center
2308 Corporation Parkway From Chapel Hill:
Burlington, NC Take Exit 145 on 1-85. Go right on Maple Ave. and left at
Chapel Hill Road. ‘Follow the signs to the light at the
corner of Chapel Hill Rd. and Corporation Parkway.
From Greensboro:
Take Exit 145 on 1-85. Go left on Maple under 1-85 to
Chapel Hill Rd. *Follow signs (as above).
We accept Visa, Master Card, American Express, J. Crew Credit Cards, Cash and Personal Checks (with proper ID).
motioned to
approve the
request for a
Special Use Permit
Modification under
Horton’s recom
mendation.
“It was the man
ager’s recommen
dation that looked
at the areas need
ing improvement
and came up with responses at the hear
ing,” Pavao said.
“The alterations were accepted and it
was a well designed project.”
Hakan said that while there were still
small details to be worked out, he was
pleased with the first step forward in the
process.
“We are tickled to death the recom
mendation was unanimously approved.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
dents a lot of time.”
He also said SHS was in the process
of developing a system of computerizing
appointments and medical records to
make it easier for students to schedule
visits.
“Right now it’s a paper system and
it’s very difficult to see a student’s sched
ule,” Wirag said. “It takes a lot more
time for the staff to schedule an appoint
ment.”
Poock, who has worked in a similar
position at several other schools,
stressed the relationship between the
board and the administration. “Bob
Wirag has a key interest in listening and
getting (the SHAB) involved,” he said.
“This is a great working relationship.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
to attend the meeting and become
involved with the group.
8 p.m. - Residence Hall Association
will sponsor a “Resident Assistant
Information Session - Get a Clue to
What RAs Do!” in Ehringhaus
Residence Hall Fishbowl.
Those interested can learn about the
fall 2000 RA selection process.
Applications will only be given out at
the information sessions.
Wednesday
noon - The Sonja H. Stone Black
Cultural Center will join the Campus Y
to hold an Around the Circle discussion
about “Political Correctness: Is It a
Council Eliminates
'Unnecessary' Fund
The Town Council voted
unanimously to discontinue
a fund created exclusively
for residents of Pine Knolls.
By Becky Johnson
Staff Writer
Residents of the Pine- Knolls
Community who wish to renovate or
buy a home with interest-free loans can
no longer call on the Neighborhood
Revitalization Loan Fund for help.
The Chapel Hill Town Council
decided unanimously at Monday’s
meeting to end the four-year existence
of the Neighborhood Revitalization
Loan Fund and transfer the leftover
money to the Housing Loan Trust Fund.
The town manager and most council
members said they saw the matter as a
minor technicality.
“The essence of this (motion) is that
we think we have an unnecessary fund
we would like to eliminate,” Town
Manager Cal Horton said.
The Housing Loan Trust Fund, which
was created in 1973, offers interest-free
loans to low-income residents who wish
to buy or renovate a house.
While the money pool of the
Housing Loan Trust Fund is available to
all town residents, the Neighborhood
Revitalization Loan Fund was exclu
sively for residents of the Pine Knolls
community. Council member Joe
Capowski said the action was a simpli
fication. He emphasized that the Pine
Knolls community could use the town
wide fund just as easily as their own
neighborhood fund.
Horton said that providing affordable
housing would not be jeopardized by
this transfer of funds. “It won’t change
a thing,” he said. “It’s nothing but an
accounting transfer.”
Council member Kevin Foy said the
barrier to honest dialogue?”
noon - The Program on Aging will
sponsor a lecture by Eunah Kang about
"An Interdisciplinary Geriatric Case
Study” in 238 MacNider Hall.
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. - Carolina Union
Activities Board will sponsor Karaoke
Night at the top of Lenoir Dining Hall.
Any student may participate in the
event.
7 p.m. - Paula Woods, author of the
best-selling crime novel “Inner City
Blues,” which features Los Angeles
Police Department homicide detective
Charlotte justice, will host a reading and
discussion in the Toy Lounge of Dey
Hall.
7 p.m. - Residence Hall Association
will sponsor a “Resident Assistant
Information Session - Get a Clue to
What RAs Do!” in Craige Residence
Hall Green Room.
Those interested can leam about the
fall 2000 RA selection process.
Are Bills Weighing
!s£? You Down?
! .%% S Participate in our life-saving & financially
j \ \ rewarding plasma donation program.
Ui J J IMMEDIATE COMPENSATION!
Donors Earn up to $165 per Month!
★New donors earn S2O for first visit,
J J $35 for the second visit
Call or stop by: parking validated 7
Sera-Tec • #cals/!§^
www.citysearch.com/RDU/SeraTec
1091/2 E. Franklin St, Chapel Hill 942-0251 T-FlO-6, SAT 10-2, Closed Mon.
Olljp Daily (Tar Meet
transfer had nothing to do with who
would get the housing loans or how
much they would get “The plan is to try
to make it more efficient,” Foy said.
The Pines Community Center, a
group dedicated to strengthening the
Pine Knolls Community, urged the
town to create the fund in 1995 and
received a $280,000 loan to renovate
nine homes in 1996. However, the town
stopped lending the center money from
the Neighborhood Revitalization Trust
Fund in 1996 and began foreclosure
proceedings last spring on four unsold
homes. The town and the community
were able to work together to avoid
foreclosure, with the repayment of
SIBI,OOO in loans from the town.
While any Pine Knolls resident could
continue to borrow money from the
fund, no one had done so in three years,
said Loryn Barnes, Town Community
Development planner.
George Sanford, president of the Pine
Community Center, said the center’s
work has assisted eight people in secur
ing a house in the past five years,
Sanford said. “When the houses go too
far down, the town comes in and con
demns them and then they go over to
realtors,” he said.
The catch was that when realtors ren
ovate a house, the price goes up, but
when Pine Community Center reno
vates, the price stays low, Sanford said.
“We offered a couple houses at
SS6,(XX) and $71,000,” he said. “If a real
tor had sold them they would have been
over $100,000.”
Emma Williams, who financed a
house using the center’s funds, said she
never could have bought a house if the
center had not lent her money for the
down payment. “A single person doesn’t
have the kind of money that Pine Knolls
put up front for the house.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
Applications will only be given out at
the information sessions.
Thursday
7 p.m. - Residence Hall Association
will sponsor a “Resident Assistant
Information Session - Get a Clue to
What RAs Do!” in Old East Residence
Hall Library.
Those interested can learn about the
fall 2000 RA selection process.
Applications will only be given out at
the information sessions.
Items of Interest
■ Lab! Theatre will present “The
Hothouse,” a play by Harold Pinter at
8:15 p.m. Friday through Monday, at 4
p.m. Monday and at 5 p.m. Tuesday at
Playmakers Theatre on Cameron
Avenue.
The show is free to the public. For
more information check the Web site
www.unc.edu/student orgs/lab.