2The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, October 24, 1990
M
CABflPIUIS antf CUTTY
iddle East crisis blamed for Chapel Hill real estate slump
By ADAM C. WALSER
Staff Writer
; Builders, real estate agents and
building suppliers are scrambling to
stay afloat in what some experts say is
Chapel Hill's worst real estate slump in
almost a decade.
; "Chapel Hill is a different type of
market than most, and we're never re
ally as adversely affected as other parts
of the state," said A.C. Robbins, office
manager of Prudential Triangle Reality.
"But that's not to say we're not affected.
We're all affected to some degree."
; The slump is nationwide. This year
people are expected to buy 500,000
fewer new and existing homes than
during the peak years of the late 1 980s.
Mike Adair, president of Pulley and
Adair Custom Homes in Chapel Hill,
said there was fierce competition for
local construction contracts.
"I've seen cases where some of the
bids are unbelievable," he said. "There's
no way they're going to make any
money. They just want to keep the cash
flowing."
Rising oil prices have caused the cost
of building supplies to skyrocket, said
Jo Burns, assistant manager of Lett's
Builders Mart in Pittsboro. "We've not
increased prices because the
competition's so stiff," she said. "All
the contractors are hungry and compet
ing for the same contracts, and all of us
are competing for the little business
that's left out there."
Lett's profits on building supplies
are down about 20 percent since the
Middle East crisis began.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait has also
caused consumers to worry about the
economic future and the possibility of a
recession, which has made them afraid
to invest in homes and other high-cost
goods, experts said.
September's consumer optimism in
dex, which indicates optimism about
the economy when it's above 100, was
at 84.7, a 17-point drop from its level
before the invasion of Kuwait. This was
in spite of relatively low interest rates,
which averaged 10.08 percent nation
wide, just 0. 1 0 percentage points higher
than before the crisis began.
"It's a strong buyer's market,"
Robbins said. "You've got a lot of sellers
looking to get rid of their homes right
now. There are a lot of choices out there
and there's a lot of room for negotia
tion." In the wake of the savings and
loan bail out, banks are becoming more
cautious about granting loans, making
it even harder for sellers, experts said.
Many local banks have already
stopped loaning money for speculation
building. Speculation building, or specs,
is when contractors build a house and
hope someone will buy it after it's com
pleted, rather than building a custom
designed house under contract.
Steve Olson, vice president of Mount
Vernon Building Company, said spec
builders had been the hardest hit by the
housing slump.
"Banks are leery about lending money
for spec building," he said. "Spec build
ers are finding themselves sitting on
property they can't afford to build on or
trying to unload finished homes at a
financial loss to them."
Local real estate agents said homes
in the $ 1 50,000 to $ 1 90,000 price range
were taking 120 to 140 days to sell.
Homes in this range sold in an average
of 90 days last October, they said.
Town hopes to benefit from bicycle race
By TIM LITTLE
Staff Writer
Hundreds of car wheels race unno
ticed down the streets of Chapel Hill
every day, but several people are hop
ing that the zooming of hundreds of
bicycle wheels will cause an uproar.
The event is a community bike race
planned by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Downtown Commission, which co
sponsored the first Chapel Hill Criterium
last May.
"The Downtown Commission hopes
this will be its major fund raiser in
1991," said Brian Holsten, executive
director of the organization.
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University Square
Downtown Chapel Hill
942-8711
6(
University Mon-Fri 10-6
OPTICIANS Saturday 10-2
Last year's race was sponsored by
the commission and local businessmen.
Although May's event lost money,
the commission hopes the event will
make money this spring. The planned
dates of the race are April 5-7.
The event last May drew about 500
cyclists from across the state and
country. Nearly 6,000 spectators
watched along Columbia Street,
Cameron Avenue and Franklin Street.
Some UNC students who cycle said
they hoped the Downtown Commis
sion would be able to pull off the event.
"I've tried to get more involved in
cycle racing after watching parts of the
Tour de France on television," said Zach
Hanner, a senior from Pilot Mountain.
"The thrill of such an event would have
everybody wanting to see it every year,
I'm sure.
"The key aspect is getting the people
out to see it. I think that most people
would love the event once they gave it
a look-see," he said.
Karlton Pettis, a junior from Char
lotte, said he wished more people would
have better attitudes toward UNC bi
cycle riders.
"All the time you're hearing about
how the University should put some
kind of restriction on cyclists," he said.
"I hope that they don't associate UNC
students who ride to class with state and
nationally recognized cyclists.
Race co-sponsors Erwin Shatzen, co
owner of Pepper's Pizza, and Michael
Gleason, owner of Tumbleweed
Cyclery, along with the Downtown
Commission paid about $2,500 to cover
the costs of the race last May. Shatzen
and Gleason are already working with
the Downtown Comm ission to get more
sponsors for next year's race.
For the Record
In The Daily Tar Heel article, "Mr.
UNC talent competition draws crowd,
charity funds" (Oct. 1 6), Black Student
Movement President Sabrina Evans was
not identified as a judge. Also, Damon
Toone should have been identified as a
sophomore.
Also, in the DTH article "N.C. Sen
ate candidates' platforms emphasize
diversity" (Oct 23), the district pf the
candidates was incorrectly reported.
Both Democrats Russell Walker and
Howard Lee are incumbent state sena
tors in the 16th districts. Republicans
Bill Boyd and Max Reece are their
opponents in that district.
The Daily Tar Heel
rors.
regrets the er-
Residents come together to discuss
new puWie library bond referendum
By NANCY JOHNSON
Staff Writer
About 30 area residents attended a
forum Monday night to discuss the
pros and cons of the $3 million public
library bond referendum.
The discussion at the Hargraves
Center was sponsored by the Citizens'
Bond Task Force in an effort to see
both sides of the issue, said Judy Jones,
a member of the task force.
"We wanted to provide balanced
and educational information on the
issues surrounding the bond,? she said
The referendum, which will be on
the Nov. 6 ballots of Chapel Hill voters,
proposes the sale of $3 million in
bonds to finance the additional costs
of a 47,000 square-foot library. If it is
not passed, a 27,000 square-foot li
brary, for which the funds are already
secured, will be built.
Chapel Hill residents would finance
the bonds with an increase of 3.4 cents
per $100 valuation in property taxes,
according to the slide show.
The opposing groups, the Library
Advocates and the Tax watch Society,
were given the opportunity to state
their cases. Riley Wilson, a library ad
vocate; said the smaller library would
not serve the needs of Chapel Hill.
The current circulation of our present
library is three times that of libraries of
similar size in the state," Wilson said. "I
don't see any need of spending our
money for something that's not even
going to meet our needs in 1996."
But the members of the Taxwatch
Society said a47,000 square-foot library
is not necessary and advocate building
the smaller library and continuing the
use of the current 12,800 square-foot
library.
Tax watch is not against libraries,"
said John Graham, a member of the
Taxwatch Society. "What Taxwatch is
saying is that we have a good library
that we should not junk."
Town officials said the current library
would be used as office space. Graham
said the combined size of the new library
and the current 1 ibrary was 39,800 square
feet, close to the size of the proposed
larger library.
Graham also said projected popula
tion increases have been largely over
estimated and that the tax increase is too
large. R.D. Smith, who also opposes
of the referendum, agreed.
"I'm talking about the black people
and the poor white people who work
for minimum wage and are barely
making it on retirement," said Smith,
a former Chapel Hill Town Council
member. "They can't afford this in
crease." The meeting began with a slide
show produced by the town of Chapel
Hill that gave background information
and explained the bond proposal.
In 1986, Chapel Hill residents
passed a referendum authorizing the
sale of $4 million in bonds for a new
27,000 square-foot public 1 ibrary , and
in 1988, the land for the library was
obtained, according to the slide show.
Last year, the town sponsored
several studies to determine what size
facility would best serve Chapel Hill.
The results recommended a 47,000
square-foot library which would cost
an additional $4 million, according to
the slide show.
Town officials said $1 million of
the cost could be secured through
private donations.
WEDNESDAY
Noon: The Institute of Latin American Studies
presents a brown bag lunch. "Latin American Library
Collection in a World of Shrinking Resources: The
Challenge for Cooperation," with Carl Deal, director
of library collections at the University of Illinois, in
210 Union.
The Learning Skills Center will hold "College
Learning Strategies: Reading Realities," in 104 Phillips
Annex with Victoria Faherty.
1 p.m.; Students Older Than Average will have
an organizational meeting in 205 Union until 3 p.m.
Social hour before meeting. For more info, call C.
Bilbro at 942-4014.
3 p.m.: Study Abroad will hold an informational
session for students interested in studying in
Wollongong, Australia, in the basement of Caldwell
Hall. An informational session with Ed Bergman for
students interested in going to Vienna will also be
held. Please come even if you attended the previous
meeting.
4 p.m.: SAFE Escort will have a meeting for all
interested in joining the team, in 211 Union. Paid
positions are available.
UNC-Soviet Exchange announces a meeting of
the incoming committee in. 208 Union.
Career Planning and Placement Services will
hold a Banking Careers Panel in 210 Hanes.
The Industrial Relations Association wants you
to get the best classes, the best professors and the best
schedule! Come to our meeting in 205 Union for an
informal pre-registration session.- Free pizza and
drinks. '
In the NeXTstation computer, we've
managed to squeeze the most possible com
puter into the least possible space. To say
nothing of the least possible price.
A low price that includes not only a
keyboard and monitor, QPP-Tlh C1
but eight megabytes of ,jy lvfl 1 J
memory, a built-in 2.88-mega
byte floppy disk drive and
Ethernet. In
addition, the IV
NeXTstation comes
with a 105-megabyte
hard disk, onto which we have in
stalled a rather formidable software
package that includes WriteNow,
Mathematical NeXTmail and
Digital Webster. So all you have to
do is plug it in and youre ready to
go to work. You even get a free trial
subscription to NeXT WORLD
magazine, to keep you up to date,
Best of all, we
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will send a free copy of the extraordinary
spreadsheet program, Lotus Improv(a $695
value) to everyone who purchases and
registers a NeXTstation, NeXTcube or 040
upgrade board before December 31, 1990
We couldn't even guess where you could
make a comparable purchase. But we can
tell you exactly where to make
this one. Check the space
below to find the location
of your campus reseller.
5)
NeXTStation
68040(25 mHz)
8MB
Yes
110MB
2.88 MB
17" 92 DPI monochrome
CD Quality -16
bit, 44 kHz
Operating System
WriteNow ($89 value)
Mathematica ($150 value)
NeXT Mail
Digital Webster
Digital Librarian
features
Processor
RAM
Math Co-processor
Hard Drive
Floppy Drive
Monitor
Sound Output
Software Included
Compare to Apple's
new Macintosh Hsi
MacintoshIIsi
68030 (20 mHz)
5 MB
No ($190 option)
80 MB
1.44 MB
13" Color
Phone Quality
8 bit, 22 kHz
Operating System
HyperCard
'Locus Improv will be delivered when available 1990 NeXT Computet Inc. All rights reserved. T Tmnrnv tAQ Toln Qr-ivo-lcVif "
The NeXT logo is a registered trademark. NeXT. NeXTstation. NeXTcube. NeXTmail and Digital -JLUi lITiprOV VaiUC, OprCaaSneet;
Webster are trademarks of NeXT Computer. Inc.WriteNow is a registered trademark of 17 Maker
Co MalkemalKa is a registered trademark of Wolfram Research. Inc. All other trademarks
mentioned belong to their respective owners.
MM
$3,39500
Shop Computers
Student Stores
$3,49500
1990 Apple Computer, Inc. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks
of Apple Computer, Inc.
To purchase from the RAM Shop of the
Student Stores one must be a member of the
faculty, staff or a current student of UNC
5 p.m.: The Vegetarian Society will have a free
vegetarian dinner in Gerrard Hall until 7 p.m.
The Black Student Movement will have a gen
eral body meeting in the Upendo Lounge, second
floor of Chase Cafeteria. Be an informed, active
member!
Action Against Apartheid will have a meeting in
218 Union. All are welcome.
The Coalition for Animalsand Animal Research
will have its fall meeting in 226 Union.
5:30 p.m.: Carolina Women in Business:
Stressed about your job hunt? Come to "Where to Go
and How to Get There," a panel on interviewing tips
and the differences between large and small compa
nies, in 1 06 Carroll. Open to everyone. Refreshments
will be served.
The Asian Students Association will have its
weekly meeting in 206 Union. All interested students
are warmly invited to attend.
The Newman Center will hold its weekly student
night dinner followed at 6:30 with a program by
George Lensing. It's hip! It's here! Bring a friend! All
are welcome.
6 p.m.: The Korean American Student Asso
ciation will meet in 20S Union. Dinner will be served.
Please join us!
7 p.m.: The Black Cultural Center and Chapel
of the Cross present "Racism: Our Common Bond
age, How Can We Liberate Ourselves, Cross Cultural
Communication Workshops," in the BCC. AH are
invited.
The United Nations Association is sponsoring a
lecture of the U.N.'s role in the Iraqi crisis in 1 1 1
Murphey. Hear views from a military, political and
journalistic perspective.
SEAC will meet in 21 1 Union. Anyone interested
in environmentalsocial justice issues is welcome.
Focus on new arrivals and on forest destruction.
The Pre-Law Club invites you to come explore
the techniques of taking the new LSAT, in 206 Union!
7:30 p.m.: Duke-UNC Latin American Film
Festival: "Ganga Zumba," in Hanes Art Center.
8 p.m.: The Carolina Indian Circle will hold its
bimonthly meeting in 205 Union. All are encouraged
to attend.
The Senior Class of 1991 is sponsoring a debate
between the College Republicans and the Young
Democrats in 1 00 Hamilton. The topic will be the U.S.
Senate election.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
SAFE Escort needs you! Applications now
available at Union desk and in the Steele Building
basement Return or mail to SAFE Escort, CB 5 1 00,
13 Steele Building, as soon as poss.le.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is selling
Halloween-o -Grams in the Pit every day this week.
UNC French House: Help! We still have a free
place at the UNC French House for one male resident.
If you are a French language enthusiast, don't hesitate
apply now! Contact Sam Woodley at 933-1 007 for
info.
UCPPS announces on-campus testing for seniors
interested in careers with the federal government.
Test dates are Nov. 10 and 17. Registration forms and
information are available in 21 1 Hanes. Registration
deadline is Oct. 31 by 3 p.m.
The Department of Dramatic Art presents
"Hogan's Goat" by Willi xm Alfred Nov. 7-11 in the
PlayMakers Theatre. Cal. 962-PLAY for more info.
rail WdiU(!fOir
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aboard the Ocean Liner
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Tickets good for one year from date of purchase.
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