4The Daily Tar HeelFriday, December 4, 1992
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There's no better place to find
the best of shopping, dining and
entertainment every day. From your
favorite department store to more than
100 specialty shops and services,
you'll find it all at South Square Mall.
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More than 120 fine shops, restaurants, and theaters including
Belk-Leggett, Dillard's, JCPenney, Montaldo's
Chapel Hill Boulevard and 15 501 Exit 270 on 1-40
Durham, North Carolina 493-2451
N.C. law: Bar liable for injury
By Rahsaan Johnson
Staff Writer
A N.C. law stating that a business can
be held liable if an intoxicated minor or
third party is injured after being pro
vided with alcohol at the business has
caused controversy among various bar
employees and state legislators.
Although he agrees with the current
state law, N.C. Rep. Coy Privette, R
Cabarrus, said there also should be stat
utes that protect adults who cause their
own injuries in automobile accidents
after drinking.
Privette said he had introduced legis
lation to the N.C. General Assembly
that would allow those age 2 1 and older
to file civil suits against alcohol dis
tributors even if the adults caused their
own injuries. The bill passed in the state
house but failed in the state senate, he
said.
According to the Dramshop Act of
1983, anyone injured by an intoxicated
driver can sue the alcohol distributor for
damages if the distributor was found
negligent. But the Dramshop Act does
not protect injured adults who drink and
then drive.
Bob Byrd, a UNC law professor, said
the Dramshop Act has three distinct
characteristics. "One is that you sell to
a minor, and you've got to be negligent
to knowingly sell to that minor.
"Second, the liquor that you sell
causes his intoxication. The third is that
the intoxication causes his negligent
operation of the automobile," Byrd said.
The factor that constitutes negligence
on the part of restaurants and bars has
been a questionable issue since the
Dramshop Act was passed, Byrd said.
"If you've got a 14-year-old who
looks like a 14-year-old who goes in
there and shows a false ID card, we're
probably going to find that bar negli
gent," he said.
"But if you've got someone who
from all appearances is 18 years of age
or older and has a false ID card and it
looks genuine, then you aren't going to
find the bar negligent," Byrd said. "But
you've got to find that the bar was
unreasonable in failing to know that
they were selling to a minor."
Local establishments have criticized
the Dramshop Act for placing too much
burden on bartenders and employees of
taverns and restaurants.
Perry Dowd, a manager at Spanky's,
a popular Chapel Hill tavern, criticized
the Dramshop Act because of its sub
jectivity and the responsibility it puts on
alcohol distributors.
"It's not fair in that most people have
excellent fake IDs, and there's no way if
someone has an ID made with a birth
certificate and it has their picture on it
that we would know that it's fake," she
said.
Although she said Spanky's worked
to combat the problem of fake IDs,
Dowd said the measures were becom
ing difficult. "We go to extremes. We
look up names in the student directory
and see what year it says they are in
there, but it's very difficult," she said.
Dowd also expressed concern about
the use of fake identification when un
derage patrons leave the bar.
"If they have a fake ID, and they've
been served with a fake ID, and they go
out and have an accident, how many of
them do you think are ever going to
show that fake ID to the police? They
show their real ID to the police (and
then tell the police where they drank the
alcohol)," Dowd said. "We're sort of
damned if we do and damned if we
don't." Dowd also said that Spanky's
did not let people who already were
drunk enter the bar, often turning away
groups of people.
Back Street's Cafe, another Chapel
Hill restaurant, has its bartenders use a
book with pictures of every state's ID to
verify identifications, said Barbara
Motsinger, a bartender at the cafe.
"There are certain ways to tell which
ones are real and which ones aren't.
They have to have ID to even be in
here," Motsinger said.
"Overall, the law is well-written. You
have to go by individual cases," said
Motsinger of the Dramshop Act. "That's
the way I feel about it."
Motsinger, who wished to stress that
she was not the restaurant's manager,
said that she was cautious when she was
unsure of a person's true age.
Motsinger also said she took into
consideration whether patrons were
drinking before going to the bar.
"That is one thing we also look out
for very definitely. You have to have an
awareness of where they've possibly
been before they came here," she said.
The continuing controversy caused
by the Dramshop Act has led to calls for
reform, Privette said.
"The Dramshop Legislation is good
legislation because it puts the responsi
bility upon the distributors of alcoholic
beverages," he said.
"If somebody serves alcoholic bev
erages to an individual who is notice
ably and visibly intoxicated, then that
distributor ought to be held liable for his
contributory factor in some alcohol
related incident," Privette said.
Privette, who said he once had worked
as a bartender, said that bars and restau
rants should be held at least partially
responsible for accidents causedby their
patrons. "Being aformer bartender, you
know when somebody has had too
much," he said.
State deployment remains unknown
By Stephanie Greer
Staff Writer
Despite rumors that N.C. troops will
be deployed to Somalia, local military
bases and the Department of Defense
refuse to comment on the possibilities,
and merchants in the areas around the
state's military bases remain uncon
cerned. "There are a lot of questions that
can't be answered until the powers that
be give us some guidance," said Capt.
Gail Bennett, chief of public affairs at
Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville.
Although Bennett said she had not ,
received any official information from
her superiors, she speculated that N.C.
troops probably would, play some role
in any U.N. troop deployment to protect
the incoming relief supplies to Somalia.
Lt. Cmdr. Joe Gradisher, a Pentagon
spokesman, reiterated that no decision
had been made yet by the United Na
tions. However, Gradisher said it prob
ably would be prudent for commanding
officers to begin preparing forces that
might be sent overseas.
Merchants in Fayetteville, home of
Fort Bragg Army Base and Pope Air
Force Base, are not concerned yet that
the deployment will have an adverse
effect on their Christmas shopping sea
son. "We're not worried at this point be
cause there's no deployment at this
point," said A.B. Bryant, manager of
the Fayetteville J.C.Penney'sand presi
dent of the Fayetteville Chamber of
Commerce.
Bryant said that 54 cents of every
dollar spent in Cumberland County came
from members of die military. He added
that most business owners were con
cerned about the size of the possible
troop deployment.
"Business will be good with some of
the troops deployed because we send
troops somewhere 365 days a year.
We're used to having some of them
gone," he said.
Bryant said that in the wake of a large
deployment, some businesses would be
hurt more than others. Fayetteville's
movie houses, bars, restaurants, and
other establishments that cater to the
Crawford
young, single soldier would suffer the
most, he said.
Both the merchants and the troops in
Fayetteville share apprehension at the
prospect of a massive deployment.
Bennett said most of the soldiers were
not happy about the possibility of spend
ing the holidays away from home.
"I don't think anybody wants to be
away from home for Christmas .... but
being away (during a holiday) isn't un
usual for them," she added.
Bennett and Gradisher agreed that
there was an element of risk involved in
sending troops to Somalia. Gradisher
pointed to the lack of governmental
control in Somalia as a reason why the
troops might be heading into volatile
territory.
"It's a potentially dangerous situa
tion because you've got a lot of people
with guns running around over there,"
he said.
Regardless of the danger, Bennett
said the spirit of Christmas would be
evident in American aid to Somalia.
"Any time we can help people, it's a
good thing."
from page 1
"I think that, to date, McCormick is
being very effective in his position, and
he has succeeded in closing that gap that
existed between the advisory board and
the working group in this process," she
said.
The two groups have successfully
melded into one functioning unit,
Crawford said.
"I think it's one group now rather
than two, one group that seems to be
moving along as swiftly as they can,"
she said.
The group's positive attitude allows
it to work at a frenetic pace, Crawford
said.
"The work we're trying to do by mid
January is monumental," she said. "You
have to be motivated by sheer enthusi
asm to even entertain it."
Crawford said the joint effort truly
constituted a "working group."
"We're literally working day and
night," she said. "We are so enthused
we meet twice a week."
This fall's battle for a free-standing
BCC opened new avenues of communi
cation rather than fresh wounds,
Crawford said. Before the formation of
the working group and the joint panel,
BCC advocates had staged several ral
lies and marches, including a 5,000
person event with filmmaker Spike Lee
and a march on South Building.
"When you come out of something
like this, you really assess who you are
and what you're doing," Crawford said.
"This university itself might be the most
qualified to lead the nation in how to
establish a new cultural center."
The BCC debate also has united UNC
students, Crawford said.
"The cultural-center movement has
closed the gap between key black stu
dent leaders on campus and key white
student leaders," she said.
During the student movement for a
free-standing BCC, which was sup
ported by Crawford, questions arose
about the security of her position with
the University. Crawford hired local
attorney Alan McSurely with the intent
of filing a grievance against the Univer
sity, and at a September rally, Black
Student Movement President Michelle
Thomas said Crawford's job had been
threatened.
Crawford also received one of the
anonymous threatening letters sent from
a group calling itself the "Brothers of
Sierte." The Sierte sent letters to mem
bers of the University community who
voiced opinions about the BCC in Octo
ber and early November.
"I kept all that sort of nonsense sepa
rated from all the wonderful work going
on," she said. "I made some personal
efforts by writing key people on cam
pus about these sorts of distortions."
Crawford never received the job as
surance that some BCC advocates de
manded. She said high-level UNC offi
cials had discussed her position at the
University at meetings but declined to
name who had been talking about her.
"I certainly made efforts to correct
distortions and to indicate that I found
the whole thing very peculiar, that dig
nitaries at the Board of Trustees level
would be meeting to discuss personnel
issues," Crawford said. "It seems to me
inappropriate."
Crawford said she was not thinking
about her future status with the Univer-
Grievance
sity.
"I've not received any indication that
my job is threatened or is not threat
ened," she said. "I'm just taking things
one day at a time."
None of her superiors, including
Donald Boulton, vice chancellor for
student affairs, ever led her to believe
her position was in jeopardy, Crawford
said. "I've never received anything nega
tive from my immediate superiors," she
said.
After the flurry of B CC protests sub
sided in early October, Crawford took
some time off from work to calm her
nerves.
"I took a few weeks off because I felt
I needed a break, not because my job
was threatened," she said. "I don' t know
if I felt my job was threatened as much
as I felt that working with the new
movement and these changes were more
than I could handle at one time."
Crawford said she had taken a philo
sophical attitude to her future as direc
tor of the BCC. "If the University wants
you they'll keep you, if they don't, they
won't, and you deal with those realities
when and if you have to," she said.
Crawford said her primary goal right
now was securing the future of the black
cultural center, regardless of her place
in that future.
"I might not even be here, and that's
not good planning," Crawford said. "I
cannot spend time and energy to think
about whether or not the University will
fire me.
"As one administrator said, "The cul
tural center has to succeed, and it will
succeed, and it's going to be everything
it can be.'"
from page 1
grounds for personal use, weekly house
cleaning by Quail Roost employees and
linen service.
"I was a state employee working 24
hours a day at Quail Roost," Bradsher
said. "All Quail Roost employees did
for me was straighten up (my apart
ment) once a week or every 10 days and
wash our towels and sheets once in a
while because the apartment washer
couldn't take heavy loads."
Bradsher also was ordered to move
several of her cows and horses off the
property under the new policy.
Bradsher objected to these changes
in her contract. In her initial contract,
the privileges were listed as part of
Bradsher's compensation for being
available 24 hours a day, 49 weeks a
year. Bradsher contends that by deny
ing her the privileges found in the origi
nal contract, the University stopped
compensating her for her full-time re
sponsibilities. This fall, Bradsher contacted Chapel
Hill attorney Alan McSurely and dis
cussed filing a wage and hour claim
against the University, complaining that
she was not being adequately compen
sated for her work.
Soon after, University officials be
gan investigating the reception for
Bradsher's daughter. On Nov. 20,
Bradsher received a letter from Ander
son notifying her of her termination.
"The violations of University policy
uncovered in the current investigation
are considered personal conduct viola
tions and represent serious lack of judg
ment," Anderson wrote in the letter.
"Because of the ... instances of unac
ceptable personal conduct, I am no
longer able to entrust the management
of the (conference center) to you."
Bradsher was given 10 days to move
out of the center and currently is living
with her daughter. McSurely said he
planned to deliver Bradsher's Step 4
complaint to the state Office of Admin
istrative Hearings in Raleigh today. "The
past two directors had held similar re
ceptions on the property," McSurely
said. "This firing is unfounded."
Anderson and Rut Tufts, director of
auxiliary services at the University, said
that because of state personnel law,
they could not comment on the case.
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