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The Daily Tar HeelThursday, February 8,. 19905
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From staff and wire reports
N.C. unemployment up
North Carolina's unemployment
rate rose half a percentage point to
3.7 percent in January, according to
figures released last week by the
U.S. Department of Labor.
N.C's rate remained the lowest
of the 1 1 largest states. The nation's
rate remained 5.3 percent, un
changed from last month.
Shinn to speak at Duke
DURHAM George Shinn,
owner of the Charlotte Hornets and
two minor-league baseball teams,
w ill deliver the keynote address at
the sixth annual Duke University
Conference on Entrepreneurship
Feb. 17 in Durham.
The day-long conference, organ
ized by MBA students at the Fuqua
School of Business, gives small
business owners and entrepreneurs
a chance to interact, according to
Duke University News Service.
The conference's $50 registra
tion fee includes lunch and a recep
tion. More than 400 people attended
last year's conference.
MBA association holds elections
The MBA Student Association
elected the 1990-91 executive
committee Monday and Tuesday.
New committee members will take
their positions March 1 and serve
for one year, said John Few, the
association's vice president of stu
dent relations, in a telephone inter
view Tuesday.
Steve Dauphin was elected presi
dent and Constance Barkley was
elected vice president of program
development. Also elected were
Margaret Minichini, vice president
of career development, Jeff Hilford,
vice president of student relations
and Pat Burns, vice president of
finance.
The MBA Student Association
hosts recruiters, sponsors a career
fair and a graduation ceremony for
MBA candidates and co-sponsors
events with the Kenan Institute.
Open foot, insert mouth
, CHARLOTTE First Union
National Bank Tuesday stopped
distributing copies of a newsletter
featuring a "satirical" article that
refers to Germans as "Huns" and
Japanese as "Nips." Meanwhile, the
author of the controversial piece
isn't talking.
William R. Hackney III, First
Union's chief investment officer,
deferred to the bank's public rela
tions staff to issue his apologies.
"He was trying to satirize Ameri
can economic weaknesses and he
deeply regrets his choice of words,"
said First Union spokesman Jeep
Bryant.
"We wish to extend our sincere
apology to anyone who was of
fended," he said. "It was not our
intention to speak in a derogatory
way about the German and Japa
nese people."
; The newsletter is mailed each
month to some 600 customers of
First Union's investment services,
he said.
In his article, entitled "Racial
Overtones," Hackney said he
jnerely intended to poke fun at U.S.
Jears of foreign investment in a
Jongue-in-cheek writing style.
'. The article begins: "The Huns
Jind the Nips are at it again! Fouling
up our capital markets. The folks
from the lands of Teuton and Nip
pon jacked up their interest rates
sharply in recent months, dragging
jour rates along with them."
The article goes on to character
ize its tone as a
assault."
tongue-in-cheek
' USAir's image improving
CHARLOTTE USAir pas
sengers say they're Finally seeing
an improvement in the airline, which
sank to last place in the nation in
on-time performance after it merged
with Piedmont Airlines six months
ago.
In three spot checks made at
CharlotteDouglas International
Airport, where USAir carries more
than 90 percent of the passengers,
20 passengers gave the carrier an
overall midterm report card grade
ofB.
"If I were grading USAir back
then (six months ago), I would have
given it an F," said Charlotte man
agement consultant Tim Finley.
'They've started to really show a
lot of improvement."
By JANA FREDERICK-COLLINS
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill's housing market could
be immune to a national trend of de
creased housing prices.
Sallee Jessee of Marin Properties
said if the Triangle's population boom
continues. Chapel Hill's housing mar
ket should continue to grow despite a
cooling in the national new-home mar
ket. A 1989 Harvard study predicted
national housing prices could decrease
as much as 3 percent per year until
2007. While prices in Chapel Hill have
stabilized, they will not fall if people
keep moving to Chapel Hill from the
Northeast and Canada, Jessee said.
In most parts of the country, housing
prices have fallen or at least stabilized,
but in Chapel Hill the price of the aver
age home sold went from $1 19,000 in
the first six months of 1 989 to $ 140,000
in the second, according to the Chapel
Hill Board of Realtors.
The demand for new houses should
remain high, keeping prices high as
Downtown businesses
rooting for B-ball wins
By MARK GRIFFIN
Staff Writer
The sound of screaming students and alumni is music to
the ears of Chapel Hill's downtown merchants, because
large crowds in the Smith Center mean more customer traffic
in stores and increased sales.
"Business definitely goes up." said Shelton Henderson,
manager of the Shrunken Head Boutique. "There is a very
noticeable increase in the number of customers coming
through the door."
Gayle Murrell, an employee at Record Bar, agreed.
"Two or three hours before the game we start to get a lot
of people coming in," she said.
Shopowners said several factors related to the game
determined just how many extra fans walk through their
doors.
The time and day of the week of the game were important,
most agreed.
"Weekend games at 4 are best for us, but weeknight games
at 9 also mean extra customers," said Mickey Ewell, owner
of Spanky's. "With weekend games, alumni arrive ahead of
time and have a long lunch."
Meredith Young, an employee at Avie's Hallmark Shop,
said weekend games bring more alumni, and more alumni
bring more money.
The strength of the visiting team and whether the game is
televized were also cited by merchants as factors.
Tomato prices shoot
through the roof;
Florida freeze blamed
From staff and wire reports
Tomato lovers may soon have to do
without as local restaurants charge more
and more for the vegetables whose
market price skyrocketed during Janu
ary. A 25-pound case of tomatoes cost $9
in December, but restaurant managers
Tuesday reported paying $46 for the
same case, and in some parts of the
state, prices are as high as $55.
Doris King, a waitress at Mariakakis
Restaurant and Bakery on U.S. 15-501
Bypass, said they no longer put toma
toes on sandwiches or salads. "We don't
use tomatoes any more," she said.
And Mariakakis isn't the only res
taurant in town that has changed its
menu due to the high cost of tomatoes.
Prices have increased dramatically
because of a mid-December freeze in
Florida that decimated the state's to
mato crop. The freeze sent the price of
orange juice and green beans up as well.
Restaurants are either charging more
for tomatoes, attempting to discourage
tomato lovers or gritting their teeth
waiting for prices to return to normal.
Prices in stores are two to three times
higher than in December. Prices may
decline again in March, when tomato
crops replanted by Florida growers are
expected to reach market.
Gary Taylor, produce manager for
the. Charlotte-based Harris-Teeter gro
cery store chain, said prices would not
be so high if people weren't buying
tomatoes.
"Even with the high retail (prices),
consumers have not stopped buying
tomatoes. Our movement's hardly
dropped off at all."
Taylor said prices may come down
within three weeks, but they aren't likely
to until Florida's replanted crops come
to market, sometime in March or April.
Sadlack's charges 50 cents extra for
tomatoes on a sandwich; sandwiches
without tomatoes cost 1 0 cents less than
ususal, said Cheryl Ripperton, an em
ployee at the restaurant. Tomato prices
eventually increased 30 cents as prices
rose during the past three weeks.
Forrest Williamson, day manager at
the Skylight Exchange on Rosemary
well. The average Orange County home
sold in December cost $165,137, ac
cording to Kay Knowles, an adminis
trative assistant at the Chapel Hill Board
of Realtors.
The Chapel HillCarrboro Chamber
of Commerce estimated in June 1989
that the average income of families
living in Chapel Hill would continue to
grow until the early 1 990s. Should those
estimates hold true, the local real estate
market could remain strong despite
national demographic and economic
trends.
Prices in the Chapel Hill area rose up
to 15 percent during the mid-1980s, but
have stabilized since 1988, said Pam
Davis, chairman of the appraisal com
mittee for the Chapel Hill Board of
Realtors.
"The past two years have been a
cooling-off period nationally and for
the Chapel Hill area," she said.
But real estate will continue to be a
good investment even as the market
goes from boom to bust, Davis said.
The market is cyclical and will eventu
Street, said the sandwich shop would
not raise prices even though it is paying
$4 1 a case.
"What we've been doing is asking if
they want them or not," he said. "We
made the decision yesterday (not to
raise prices). I don't think it's going to
go any higher."
Saunders said Sadlack's would not
reorder tomatoes until the market price
goes back down. He now has a reserve
of two cases.
In High Point, one restaurant is
advertising tomato sandwiches at $9.95
each, to tell the public about the dra
matic increase in tomato prices.
"I don't know what's going on, but
it sounds like a little price gouging to
me," owner Nello Teer said. "I've re
jected shipments for the past two weeks
because I can't afford them."
Tomatoes on sandwiches at the res
taurant are what are known as culls.
The vegetables may have a blemish or
scar that keeps them from being top
grade. Culls are now selling for $12 a
case.
"We cut out all the bad places and I
don't like to use them, but if people
want a slice of tomato, it's all I can
afford," he said.
Steve Johnson, vice president of
Foster and Caviness Wholesale in
Greensboro, said tomato packers used
to throw culls away. "Now they're
saving everything they've got because
they can sell them," he said.
'Tomato prices are the highest I
ever remember," said Clayton Davis,
manager of the State Farmers Market
in Asheville.
The prices are reflected in grocery
stores where tomatoes per pound begin
at $1.99 and are as high as $2.50.
The price is up from about 69 cents
in early December. "Sure, we've felt
it," he said. "We've gone from selling
25 to 35 cases a week down to six."
Farmers whose crops were killed by
the freeze replanted immediately. Those
crops should be ready to harvest by
mid-March, Davis said.
"Whenever those come in, I would
expect the prices to be cheaper than
usual because everybody replanted."
ally boom again.
The average price of a new home in
Chapel Hill increased from $93,000 in
1 984 to $ 1 36,000 in 1 988, according to
a 1989 Chamber of Commerce survey.
From 1980 to 1988 the average family
income in Chapel Hill rose from $29322
to $5 1 ,659. The Chamber of Commerce
estimated the average family income
would reach $64,000 by 1993.
More people moving to the Chapel
Hill area from the Northeast and Can
ada are creat ing ademand for new luxury
homes with amenities such as sophisti
cated architecture, elaborate Finishings,
large bathrooms and fancy kitchens,
Jessee said.
"In a sense, the new construction has
sort of priced out people that have been
living in Chapel Hill for a long time,"
she said.
Forecasters have predicted a decrease .
in the number of first-time home buy
ers, combined with the surplus of new
construction from the mid-1980s hous
ing boom, would drive prices down
through the '90s.
"We got hit with a lot of added business when we played
ACC rivals like Duke, Clemson, and Wake Forest," said
Terry Watson, an employee at Carolina Pride.
Business is generally not as good when non-ACC teams
visit the Dean Dome. John Hudson, manager of co-owner of
Chapel Hill Sportswear, said the Miami game meant little for
his shop.
"Miami won't mean squat for business," he said. 'Tele
vised games with ACC teams do though."
Wednesday's N.C. State game was another story.
Larry Trollinger, manager of Ken's Quickee Mart, said
that the strength of the opponent was directly related to any
increase in sales.
'The Miami game was nothing." he said. "There was no
enthusiasm. The State game being on TV-Wednesday will
mean added interest, extra beer, and chips."
Students may not be the fans cheering loudest for a
Carolina win Wednesday. Downtown merchants said a team
victory often meant ringing up even more customer receipts.
Margaret Plambeck, an employee at Four Corners restau
rant, said, "If the team wins more people will stay and
celebrate."
"A win puts fans in a festive mood and they walk the
streets more," Ewell added.
"A Saturday win means a busier Sunday," said Zina
Aimers, assistant manager at The Lodge.
CSCU offers job travel loans
By CRAIG ALLEN
Assistant Business Editor
Spring semester, for many seniors
and graduate students, is the final
hurrah as they make the first step on
the long road to a successful career
(knock on wood.)
As seniors near commencement,
many students will receive second
interview notices. Second interviews
are granted to students whom em
ployers have taken special interest in
and often involve travel.
To help with travel expenses, the
Carolina Students' Credit Union
(CSCU) offers travel loans to seniors
Career Corner
Date Company Job Major
36 Arkwright Sales LIBABA
36 Booke & Company Math APMABS, COMPBS, STATBS, MATHBS
36 Jefferson Pilot Insurance BUBS, LIBABA
36 Ortho Diagnostic Biology BIOLBSMS
36 State Farm Insurance Insurance, summer BUBS, LIBABA
permanent
37 J.C. Penney Retail Mgt. ANY
37 Jefferson Pilot Finance, Insurnace ANY
Marketing, Sales
37 Wallace Computer Services Marketing Sales BUBS, ECONBA, INDRBA
INDSBA, SPCHBA
38 Edison Plastics Co. Chemistry, Prod. APPSBS, CHEMBSMS
Data Base Mgt.
Quality Control
Programming
RS63rch Stcit s
38 IBM Corp. Programming APCSBS, COMPBSMSPHD
Summer only APMABS, MATHBSMSPHD
JOURBAMA, ENGLBAMA
38 Liz Claiborne Accounting, Fin. ANY
Man. Info. Sys.
Retail Mgt., Sales
37-8 M & MMars details pending
35 Eckerd Family Youth Alt. Recr.. Teaching AFRIBA, AFAMBA, ANTHBA, CRJUBA
PSYCBA, RECRBA, SOCIBA
EDUCBA
35 Harris Teeter Mgt. ANY
36 Ames Department Store Retail Mgt. ANY
37 U.S. Air Force ANY
iIHM'fMI ' ' ' ' :'
213 Kraft General Foods 5 pm, C Ballroom Carolina Inn Interviewees only
214 Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. 7pm,210HanesHall
DTH Graphic
j Volume: 186 million shares
COMPANY CLOSE CHANGE HIGH LOW WK. AGO
BellSouth 52 78 18 53 51 34 52 38
Duke Power 53 78 - 18 54 53 58 53 34
FoodLion 11 18 101 18 10 38 11 18
Ugget 9 58 14 9 58 9 12 10 18
NCNB Corp. 42 14 34 42 14 40 34 42
j i ,-j i '
2700 I ;
2675 t , pyrri
2650 I i j t j ! '
2625 I': ! 1 i j : :
2600 j jJ '
2575 : Q j t : ;
2550 . ; iJ : f !
2525 : i
2500 '; rj j tj '
126 1213 1220 1227
DTH Graphic
MlM Kh
$20,000
y : p : :
$28,000 ; ' ' : ' i ' " j
$26,000
$24,000 CS
$22,000 PT1 -
2.0-2.3 2.4-2.7 2.8-3.0 3.1 -3.3 3.4-3.7 3.84.0
Grade Point Average
DTH Graphic
and graduate students.
Money borrowed from CSCU can
also be used for travel to medical and
graduate education programs.
The credit union offers loans of up to
$600 to eligible students for three
months at 16 percent interest. The loan
requires no co-signer.
But students must have a letter from
their interviewer saying they will be
reimbursed for their travel expenses.
The loans can also prevent students
from tapping their savings accounts,
which are often earmarked for a final
spring break getaway.
To apply for a CSCU Career Loan,
trti
n
J I L.
1H
13 110 117 124 21 27
Source: Edward D. Jones & Co.. Chapel Hill
(EM
$22,492
Average Annural Salary
of 620 May, 1989 Gradu
ates surveyed by UCPPS
Sourc:UCPPS
students must be CSCU members
and provide a copy of the company's
second-interview letter. CSCU
charges a $3 processing fee.
If you are a member of CSCU and
need a career loan, visit the CSCU
office, in the Student Union, fill out
an application and, within five days,
a loan officer will notify you as to the
status of the loan.
CSCU is a non-profit financial
cooperative and is volunteer-staffed.
Services offered by CSCU include
loans to students, share accounts and
certificates, direct billing and others.
Resume Drop: Feb. 1 3
Open Sign Up: Feb. 28
Source: University Career Planning and Placement