Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 30, 1975, edition 1 / Page 1
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" J" ...... y Vol. 83, No. 23 Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Chcpel Hill, North Carolina, Tuesday, Septembsr 30, 1D75 Yeathen lair and warm examines ' " ? ,1 kV 1? : - 5- fi by Vernon Loeb Staff Writer Second of a two-part series Now that the legality of a student legal counsel is an issue resting with the N.C. Attorney General, Student Body President Bill Bates began Monday to determine the feasibility of hiring one attorney for 20,000 clients. Bates has organized a committee to investigate the possibility of third year law students assisting the student legal counsel. Although various UNC administrators have agreed on the need for a student attorney, many felt it unwise for Student Government to hire counsel before determining the most effective way to use the attorney. Dean of Student Affairs Donald A. Boulton said earlier this month that although there is a need for legal aid at the University, hiring one attorney to advise and defend both Student Government and 20,000 students was impractical. "I'm in favor of finding out what kind of needs are most important and then determining the best way to meet those needs." The need for a student legal adviser is impossible to determine. Law School Dean . Robert G. Byrd has said. "I don't think there's any question that one lawyer cannot handle the legal matters of 20,000 students," he said. "This is not to say that some effective system of legal aid cannot be worked out." Bates said Sunday some type of committee composed of undergraduates, law students or a combination of both, must be established to give legal advice lo students. . The more difficult problems would be handled by the student attorney. Bates also said he wants the attorney to advise Student Government but be more oriented to the individual students. Although Bates has begun to investigate the possibility of a legal aid assistance committee, he emphasized that many of the legal aid operating procedures will have to be worked out with the attorney himself. Both applicants for the student counsel position being considered by the Student Government Counsel Selection Committee said the legal aid program structure would have to be determined largely by the attorney chosen. The proposed student attorney would represent students as a private attorney would, although the attorney would not be able to sue the University or any other state agency. Dorothy Bernholz, one of the applicants, said she sees the job more as a legal adviser than defender. She also said the attorney must develop a close relationship with the local bar association. Many legal programs being organized outside the University for students could be organized by the Student Body Attorney, Bernholz said. Because students go to jail every night, she said one such program could free students from jail on their own recognizance. Bernholz also said an assistance committee with some legal training would be necessary to help the student body attorney. The other applicant, a Chapel Hill lawyer who requested his name be withheld until Student Government makes its final decision, said the student attorney would have to choose the areas where he could be most effective and then concentrate on those areas. An ideal case for the attorney to handle, he said, would be a landlord-tenant dispute where the interests of many students could be represented at one time. He .also, said, the student attorney .must establish a referral systemVith the local bar association if his case load becomes overwhelming. Student Government has allocated $20,850 from its general surplus to fund the legal aid program. The attorney's yearly salarv would be SI 2,000. r 7,' ' y J' , V- s -v. - - -stf photo, by Ch.rle HnJ Two of the gentlemen who keep the university running! At left, an Duncan of the Physical Plant carves out his niche in the Y-Building. unidentified workman does some welding on a large pipe. At right, Curcup Resumes control at request of court-appointed trustee University Gardens managed by Roberts by Laura Seism Staff Writer Roberts Associates has resumed management and maintenance of University Gardens Apartments, stated a Roberts Associates memo, distributed to apartment residents Friday. The apartments had been managed by owners Bobby R.- Roberts and his wife Florence since April. But last week the complex became part of a trusteeship when Roberts and his wife, owing creditors $8.7 million, filed a bankruptcy petition in U.S. Middle District Dourt in Greensboro. J.E. Wall, court-appointed trustee of the apartments and Roberts' other personal assets, asked Roberts Associates to handle the apartment complex beginning Sept. 26. The bankruptcy petition is the third filed by Roberts Associates in the past year. Two of Roberts' corporations, RA Properties and Roberts Construction Co., became trusteeships when bankruptcy petitions were filed Nov. 13, 1974 and Feb. 12, 1975 respectively. Wall said the properties may eventually be returned to Roberts, but "not any time soon." The two corporations must be able to pay their debts before. Roberts can resume managmem, he said. " -- Roberts has held no office in either organization since Wall took over the trusteeship. According to the last petition filed, Roberts and his wife are not considered bankrupt but are referred to as debtors. They can avoid bankruptcy, if creditors agree to a plan by which debts are paid from the couple's assets. In filing the bankruptcy petition, the couple listed their assets as $2.4 million plus all Roberts Construction Co. stock and 80 per cent of R A Properties stock, whose value is unknown. Roberts listed his annual income from the two companies at approximately $40,000. University Gardens Apartments, valued at $1.5 million, and eight to 10 lots in Orange County, valued at S 1 0;O00. were among the assets Roberts listed.- The Durham couple listed as liabilities, personal guarantees and endorsements on notes of RA Properties and Roberts Construction Co. The $8.7 billion they owe creditors is part of 17 suits pending in state and federal courts. Two other suits lor undetermined amounts are also pending in Orange County Superior Court. The $8.7 million involved in civil suits, ranges from $7,382,782 owed to MONY M ortgage Co. to $7. 1 60 owed to First U nion National Bank. Other suits involve North Carolina National Bank. $28,116: Bank of North Carolina. $26,629; First National City Bank.; $875,000; and various building suppliers and construction companies. Assets other than the Chapel Hill and Orange "County 'properties thai Roberts listed include: Duke Manor Apartments in Durham. $600,000; his Durham house and lot, $250,000: common stocks. $15,000: a 1973 Lincoln automobile. S3.000: a 1974 Lincoln. $4,000; bank deposits. S500: and household and personal items. O'Neal remains as treasurer; dismissal deadline approaches by Art Eisenstadt Staff Writer Although Student Body President Bill Bates set 5 p.m. today as the effective time for Student Body Treasurer Mike O'Neal's dismissal, O'Neal said Monday he does not intend to leave office. But Bates said he does not intend td retain O'Neal, even though chances appear slim that the Campus Governing Council will approve Bates' nomination of Graham Bullard, currently O'Neal's assistant, for the new treasurer tonight. Bates fired O'Neal last Wednesday, charging that O'Neal had overstepped his authority as treasurer. O'Neal contends that the president cannot fire him, since the treasurer's post is a constitutionally established office. The Student Government constitution gives the president the power to appoint the treasurer (with the two-thirds approval of CGC), but it does not explicitly say the president can fire the treasurer. Bales has said his power to appoint implies the power to fire. He would not say how he would cut off the treasurer's power. Presumably, if O'Neal refused to leave office. Bates would have two courses of action. He could obtain a Student Supreme Court injunction against O'Neal's continuing as treasurer. Bates could also write a letter to the Student Activities Fund Office directing its employees to no longer accept O'Neal's signature as treasurer. Frances W. Sparrow, activities office director, said Monday she neither wanted to comment on nor get involved in the controversy. The student constitution does not state who, if anybody, can act as treasurer if a vacancy occurs. Bates had originally set today as the effective date for O'Neal's firing with the expectation that CGC would confirm Bullard's appointment tonight. But the Administration Committee which must consider all presidential appointments before being reported to the floor, tabled the nomination Sunday, 3-1-1. Committee Chairperson Dave Rittenhouse said those voting to table felt Bates' firing power should be clarified before a new treasurer is confirmed. i Sharpe announces for alderman seat Staff photo by Martha Stcren Student Body Treasurer Mike O'Neal has been asked to resign office by 5 p.m. today by Jim Roberts News Editor Jane Sharp, former environmental quality chairperson for the League of Women Voters' state board, announced Monday morning as a candidate for the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen. She also announced she will be campaign coordinator for mayoral candidate Gerry Cohen. Chairperson of the town Recycling Implementation Committee, the 58-year-old Sharp said she is committed to recycling natural resources instead of dumping them in a landfill. Chapel Hill should "move to as much recycling as possible," she said at a Municipal Building press conference. "We cannot wait for the state and the U.S. to take the initiative." by Tim Pittman Staff Writer First of a two-part series The construction of seven nuclear power plants in North Carolina is sparking a rapidly expanding debate between power companies and conservation groups. The controversy, which also involves scientists and the public, centers on the issues of public safety and financial concerns and neither side will concede much to the other. The power companies and other proponents of nuclear power maintain that while nuclear power is the logical and economical choice to solve the nation's energy crisis, it also complements conservation efforts. On the other hand, the conservation and concerned citizens groups, argue that nuclear energy brings with it the danger of potential nuclear holocaust. Of immediate concern to the conservationists is the investment power companies have made to construct nuclear reactors in this state. Duke Power spends $1.5 billion per day on nuclear construction, Dick Pierce, Duke's assistant vice president for corporate communications, estimated. Duke has planned two plants to serve Charlotte and another to serve the Winston-Salem area. Although Carolina Power and Light would not release exact expenditures, Sid Linton, assistant vice president for corporate communications, said CP&L's building costs were also very high. CP&L has scheduled nuclear power plants to serve Asheville, Greensboro and Raleigh and has already built one at Southport near Wilmington. Pierce of Duke said energy produced by nuclear plants would justify the expenditures. But David Martin, a North Carolina State University physics professor, warned that the power companies are withholding information on nuclear costs. "Economics is a sore point," Martin said, "because from an economic standpoint, nuclear power is not a solution until it is used for a few hundred years." Waste disposal is one of the nuclear power opponents' major concerns. Drew Diehl, executive director of Chapel Hill ECOS,said,We think there are no suitable systems to store nuclear waste because, due to the nature of the waste, the system would have to be 99.999 per cent perfect. "You could not allow for earthquakes, freak weather accidents, acts of God or human error when you are dealing with nuclear waste." He cited the long life of radioactive material, the fact that some types of waste can be used to make bombs and the waste's cancer-producing nature are hazardous features of waste storage. Diehl said that if nuclear wastes accumulate at the current rate, there will be 30,000 tons of it by the year 2020. But Pierce did not feel the waste problem is as crucial as the conservationists describe it. "The technology of permanently storing the small amount of waste produced by the plants is complex," Pierce said. "But I'm sure the technical aspects can and will be worked out." Dr. Thomas Ellerman, head of N.C. State University's engineering department, said waste storage is a problem but added, "The real problem is a matter of not having enough money to develop a permanent system of effective waste disposal." The most reasonable storage areas are salt beds, Flleman said He explained that an earlier attempt to store 2Lar wastes in Kansas salt beds failed because 3Ld been dug in the area of the tested the waste began seeping out," Ellerman sa.d That wouM not have bcena problem had the test site been checked beforehand." , But the question of safety extends beyond waste storase Conservationists point to the amount of Sui ow .eve. radiation continual i.y emmedfa , olanl and the possibilities of accidents in the reactors. P D ehl warned that steady exposure to the emission from nuclear plants could cause cancer, b.rth defects or the public unknown, scientists do not know exaci an accident Diehl said he said, which One possible accid a,oolant system fails, occurs when the rcac fission cess Temperatures inside the silo wne occurs, would rise ! t knows where the "SS llhl said. N.C. it would react ou si dc -the onta ne eloVX amount of radioactive material in d- rrm. "The radioactivity coming from such a cloud might wipe out a city as large as Raleigh," Martin said. "But the biggest threat would be widespread contamination resulting in uninhabitable land." Power company representatives, however, think the safety features built into a nuclear reactor make the plants more than safe. "Our safety systems are redundant," Pierce said. "Sometimes as many as four back-up systems are built in." According to Pierce, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission places heavy restrictions on nuclear power plant construction. "We have to satisfy 69 different government agencies during different stages of the construction of nuclear plants," Pierce said. Ellerman said a study on nuclear plant safety predicts only one accident will occur in 17,000 years of reactor life. "Nobody can make any absolute guarantees about the plants," Elleman said. Ellerman and Pierce dismiss the idea that a nuclear power plnat's radiation is dangerous. 'You would get more radiation during a high-altitude flight from here to Los Angeles than from living next to a plant for a year," Pierce said. And Ellerman said, "The government permits a person to receive 175 millirems (unit of radioactive exposure) of radiation per year. A person living in the v icinity of a plant might receive .01 millirems per year. Tomorrow: Have the conservation groups made any significant progress in halting nuclear power plant construction? The utility companies say no; the conservationists say yes. If elected, she would urge the Board of Aldermen to lobby for a state law requiring returnable bott'.es. A bill requiring a 5-cent deposit on bottles and cans was defeated by the General Assembly last summer. "Either we have to pass a local bottle law or stir up enough support to influence the legislature," she said. Although her public affairs experience lies mainly in areas of environmental concern, she said she is also interested in the town's bus system and growth. "Buses are definitely a must." she said, adding that the bus system should be expanded and refined to maintain air quality and prevent energy waste. She estimated the town has now reached 90 per cent of its maximum sie. Consequently, she said, "any further growth should be regulated and controlled." As an aid to senior citizens. Sharp recommended building an apartment building in the central business district. Sharp said she agrees with some ol mayoral candidate James C. "Jimmy" Wallace's environmental proposals, hut has decided to support and coordinate Cohen's campaign. Cohen's "background and record do qualify him to be mayor. Gerry is fully conscientious and very well informed," she said." Wallace's proposal to streamline Board oi Aldermen meetings "might well dilute citi?en involvement." she said. A graduate of Cornell University, Sharp is also a member of the Governor's Commission on Resource Recovery and Recycling and the N.C. Council on Solid Waste Recycling. Dr. Boyd's funeral at 2 p.m. today Funeral serv ices for Dr. Bernard Boyd, who died Sunday afternoon of heart failure, will be held at 2 p.m. today in the University Presbyterian Church. The burial will be at the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery- In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Dr. Bernard Boyd Memorial Fund in care of the Presbyterian Church. The Daily Tar Heel commissioned an interview with Dr. Boyd several weeks before his death. That interview appears on page 4.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 30, 1975, edition 1
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