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Volume 101, Issue 61
A century of editorialfreedom
Serving the students and the University community since 1593
IN THE NEWS
Top stories from the state, nation and world
Bosnian Talks Crumble
Prior to Final Agreement
GENEVA—Bosnian peace talksbroke
off abruptly Wednesday just as it seemed
the warring factions were on the verge of a
final accord on how to carve up the coun
try.
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said
the peace plan on the table failed to guaran
tee the survival of a future Muslim state.
Other leaders accused Izetbegovic and
his government of making unreasonable
demands.
“Unfortunately the war will continue, ”
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said
as he left the meeting.
“This will make it clear who is respon
sible for the failure of this conference and
who is to be held responsible for the contin
ued suffering of the people and for jeopar
dizing peace in this area and in the Balkans, ”
he said.
Both Izetbegovic and Tudjman said they
were willing to return to the negotiating
table. But Tudjman warned that a peaceful
settlement would now take “weeks if not
months.”
Arabs, Israelis Negotiate
Accord Recognizing PLO
JERUSALEM Asa historic agree
ment on Palestinian self-rule was nearly
ready to be inked, Arab and Israeli negotia
tors closed in on anothermilestone Wednes
day: Israeli recognition of the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
The back-channel talks that brought
about the self-rule accord are now mainly
focusing on Israeli recognition ofits impla
cable foe, the PLO, said a source close to
the negotiations.
The source, speaking from Norway,
added that there had been problems over
phrasing of a pact on Palestinian self-rule
in some Israeli-occupied areas. The source
did not elaborate.
The secret talks that led to the autonomy
accord were held in Norway, although the
site of the current back-channel negotia
tions is not known. Washington is the
formal, public venue for the negotiations.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres
stressed that there was no direct link be
tween the autonomy agreement and estab
lishing ties with the PLO.
Yeltsin Ousts Comrades
During Battle for Control
MOSCOW President Boris Yeltsin
suspended a top reformist ally and his
rebellious vice president Wednesday in a
risky political move designed to settle a
crippling power struggle.
Yeltsin temporarily suspended Vladimir
Shumeiko, his first deputy prime minister
and Vice President Alexander Rutskoi on
grounds that allegations of corruption
against both of them were damaging the
government.
Yeltsin appeared willing to sacrifice
Shumeiko to damage Rutskoi and hard
line lawmakers whose opposition had para
lyzed his reform efforts.
But the step could backfire by stirring
sympathy for Rutskoi, already tied with
Yeltsin in national popularity polls. It also
will inflame Yeltsin’s feud with parliament
speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, who imme
diately branded the suspension unconsti
tutional and invalid.
Shumeiko’s spokesman, Grigory
Bukhvalov, said the deputy prime minister
had asked to be relieved of his duties while
fighting the corruption charges.
Report: Aides Protected
Reagan in Contra Scandal
WASHINGTON —Two aides to Vice
President Bush engaged in “acts of con
cealment” to shield the Reagan White
House from being linked to a secret Contra
aid network after one ofits planes was shot
down in 1986, Iran-Contra prosecutors
conclude in their final report.
Excerpts obtained by The Associated
Press from the unreleased report said “there
was strong evidence that following the
shootdown” of the plane Bush's national
security aides Donald Gregg and Samuel
Watson “were aware of (Oliver) North’s
connection to the resupply operation.”
Both Bush aides “remained silent as
administration representatives stated that
there was no U.S. involvement in the
flight, ” said the report by Iran-Contra pros
ecutor Lawrence Walsh.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Weather
TODAY: Partly cloudy, 20-percent
chance of thunderstorms; high 90-95
FRIDAY: 30-percent chance of
thunderstorms; high low 90s
<Tbp Daily ®ar !M
Hardin OK’d Contract While on Mutual Board
BY THANASSIS CAMBANIS
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Chancellor Paul Hardin approved a
UNC dental insurance contract with Mu
tual Benefit Life Insurance Cos. while still a
member of the faltering company’s board
of directors.
ButformerN.C. Attorney General Lacy
Thornburg reviewed the case in February
1991 and ruled that there was no legal
conflict of interest in the decision.
“There can be an appearance of conflict
in any number of situations, but if you are
legally in the right you assume that will be
understood and accept it,” Hardin said in
an interview Wednesday night.
Hardin served on the board of directors
ofMutual Benefit in New Jersey from 1986
until late 1991, when the company was
taken over by the state's insurance com
missioner.
The N. J. Attorney General’s Office filed
a suit this summer against 45 former offic-
.. ........ .. A
•V ' IB
DTH/ANDREA BROADDUS
Chris Smith, a senior English major, manages to grab some shut-eye Wednesday afternoon on Polk Place. Despite the
overpowering heat, Smith found some shade on the main quad for his nap.
Campus Crime Rates Buck Local Trend
BY JAMES LEWIS
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Despite an increase in crime in the to wn
of Chapel Hill, fewer assaults and burglar
ies were reported to University Police, ac
cording to anew report.
The 1993 Security Report, which was
released last month by the University, re
vealed that the number of assaults on cam
pus dropped from 51 in 1991 to 34 in 1992,
a 33-percent decrease.
Lt. Angela Cannon, spokesperson for
University Police, said several factors con
tributed to the decrease in reported as
saults and burglaries.
“One thing that could account for it are
that some go unreported,” she said.
Carmon said that often in domestic
assault cases, alleged offenders are not
actually charged.
“Some are fights between girlfriend
boyfriend and they are not necessarily in
terested in having the person anested but
just removed from the premises,” she said.
“Some of it is even altercations between
roommates where they just want someone
removed.”
According to the annual report, which
is mandated by the federal 1990 Student
Right to Know and Campus Security Acts,
Director: Communication Department Could Move Into Top Five
BY STEVE ROBBLEE
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
The merger between the Department of
Radio, Television and Motion Pictures
and the Department of Speech Communi
cation could push the University to the
forefront of communication studies, said
William Balthrop, chairman of the new
Department of Communication Studies.
“The head of the Speech Communica
tion Association which is the largest
association (of its kind) in the country
and the dean of the School (of Communi
cation) at Northwestern said that... within
two years, UNC will be one of the top five
Chapel Hill, North Careliaa
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2,1993
ers and directors,
including Hardin,
for mismanage
ment and negli
gence. The suit
came after a two
year investigation.
Hardin declined
to discuss the suit.
“It’s still in litiga
tion up there,” he
said PAUL HARDIN denies
In February conflict of interest in
1991, the Univer- insurance selection,
sity Insurance
Committee, whose members are appointed
by the chancellor, selected Mutual Benefit
to hold the University’s dental insurance
plan for employees.
The insurance plan went into effect June
1 of that year.
Before the University adopted the new
plan, the University legal counsel wrote a
letter to the state attorney general asking
Day Dreaming
I—.. ..m, "i-n, .... j.
Ssx Assault Bufyfary/B&E lAV Theft" Alcohol ‘tm ’
’ Prior to August 1992, figures shown represent only rapes. Alt the statistics represent reported crimes,
except for toe alcohol and drug vexations, whit* are arrests.
SOURCE: UNC-CH1993 SECURITY REPORT “ DTH/IUSTIN SCHEEF
seven sex offenses were reported in 1991
and 11 in 1992. However, five of the seven
offenses that occurred in 1991 were re
ported only to the Office of the Dean of
Students and never officially reported to
WILLIAM BALTHROP
says production
courses will continue.
communication
studies programs in
the country,”
Balthrop said.
Balthrop said he
was excited about
the possibilities for
the new depart
ment. But when
other communica
tion professors
around the country
heard about the
merging of the two
departments at a
national conference, they seemed threat-
So little done, so much to do.
Cecil John Rhodes
whether Hardin’s position on Mutual
Benefit’s board of directors presented a
legal conflict.
Thornburg, in a response dated March
1, 1991, said he saw no legal conflict-of
interest problems that prevented the Uni
versity from selecting Mutual Benefit.
“However, it is clear that this poses the
possibility of the appearance of a conflict
ofinterest,” Thornburg said in theresponse.
The attorney general suggested two
options for eliminating the appearance of
conflict.
“A way... is for the chancellor to resign
his board membership,” Thornburg said.
The other possible solution was for the
insurance committee to consider choosing
a different company, he said.
Hardin said he didn’t know the Univer
sity insurance committee was considering
Mutual Benefit until after it had selected
the plan. “Then I had to decide whether to
stop it or not,” he said.
The chancellor said he was confident
University Police. Last year, nine of the 11
offenses, which include rape, were also
reported exclusively to the Dean of Stu-
Please See SECURITY, Page 2
ened by the merger, he said.
“The reason why they had glum looks,
we found out later, was not because they
were unhappy about our being merged. It
was that, what was it going to mean for
their communication studies program?”
About 30 students and alumni from the
former departments listened to Balthrop’s
explanation of the new department and
then had a chance to ask questions.
Martin Clark, a 1987 graduate of the
RTVMP department, said he was relieved
that many of the courses from the former
RTVMP department still would be offered
and that equipment would be upgraded.
“It sounds like things are turning
the committee had chosen the best insur
ance plan with no knowledge of his tie to
Mutual Benefit. “I did not seriously con
sider resigning from the company because
I felt I had an obligation to it,” he said.
Less than two months after the new
dental insurance plan went into effect for
UNC employees, Mutual Benefit was put
into rehabilitation by the state of New
Jersey.
“The company was solvent, and we
invited the insurance commissioner to
come in,” Hardin said.
The portion ofMutual Benefit that ad
ministered dental insurance was purchased
by a holding company, now called Fortis
Benefits Inc. Fortis still holds the UNC
dental policy.
The committee that selected the Mutual
Benefit plan functioned independently of
Hardin, said its chairman, John Billing.
“We made the selection with no knowl
edge that he was on the board,” Billing
said. “We didn’t see any conflict of inter
Residents Take Stock
As Emily Heads North
BY ADAM BIANCHI
STAFF WRITER
BUXTON Residents and state au
thorities returned to survey the damage to
theN.C. coast Wednesday after Hurricane
Emily grazed the eastern seaboard Tues
day night.
The storm was sidetracked by upper
atmosphere air currents and its eye missed
Cape Hatteras by 20 miles. It spread heavy
rain along the Virginia coast before mov
ing out to sea.
By midday
Thursday, Emily
was expected to be
about 240 miles
south of Nova
Scotia, and by
fliwaay Friday it
should be about
350 miles south of
Newfoundland,
said Hugh Cobb, a
ifL
Hurricane Emily
meteorologist at the National Hurricane
Center.
Gov. Jim Hunt made a helicopter tour
of the Outer Banks Wednesday morning
and arrived on Hatteras Island before resi
dents or the media.
With rubble for a backdrop, Hunt ad
dressed six reporters and several sheriffs
deputies from the remains of the Red Drum
bait and tackle shop, which was destroyed
by Emily’s 98-mph winds. “We need vol
unteers with chainsaws to do some serious
work to help these people," he said.
Hunt said the N.C. coastal community
still would need help, in spite of the near
miss. “I don’t consider this ‘lucky,’ be
cause we have had real damage,” he said.
“Our first goal is to rebuild the homes and
businesses around here.”
Hunt said he would consider seeking a
federal disaster declaration for the area.
Billy Ray Williams of the N.C. Emer
gency Rebuilding Service toured the coast
with Hunt and briefly outlined preliminary
plans for rebuilding. “We’re going to help
people pick up the pieces with emergency
funds and small business loans,” he said.
Matthew Smith of Hatteras Pine, age
10, said the storm was at its worst between
5 and 6 p.m. Tuesday evening.
“I was helping my dad board up the
screen doors,” Smith said. “I didn’t know
whether to be scared or annoyed. Most of
the pine trees got ripped up. Our house
used to be shady, and now the yard is
clear.”
Richard Clark, a roaming repairman
from Charlotte, said he had gone to the
coast Wednesday morning both to help
people and to make money.
Clark said he also had gone to the coast
after Hurricane Hugo, and had been suc
cessful. But Clark said he did not think he
would do as well this time due to the lack
of major damage.
around,” Clark said, referring to funding
problems that plagued the former RTVMP
department. “I’m very pleased with that,
and many of my former classmates will be
as well.”
Before the two departments were merged
Aug. 1, many former RTVMP students
feared that production courses would no
longer be offered if the department merged
with speech communication.
Balthrop, who chaired the speech com
munication department before the merger,
said the new department was committed to
teaching production courses.
“One thing that I’d like to make ex
tremely clear is, that commitment was ex
News/Features/Ans/Sports
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© 1993 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
est. We asked him if he felt uncomfortable
about it, and he made no statement posi
tive or negative about it."
Of all the bids for the insurance plan,
Billing said Mutual Benefit’s was by far the
best. “We didn’t feel compelled to renege
on the contract we had signed, ” he said. “It
was a carefully done process.”
UNC-system President C.D. Spangler
said he felt the chancellor had engaged in
no wrongdoing.
“This is an unfortunate thing, but there
will be no repercussions and Chancellor
Hardin will emerge without any adverse
effects.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, the chan
cellor said that his involvement in the law
suit against Mutual Benefit would not in
terfere with his duties at the University.
“To keep my energies focused on my du
ties in Chapel Hill, I have left my defense to
my lawyers in New Jersey.”
The state of New Jersey is seeking un
specified damages in the case.
N.C. Highway PatrolmanE.B. Johnson
said access to the Outer Banks had been
“restricted” due to a fallen power line pile
on early Wednesday morning, but the way
was cleared by midday, allowing residents
and officials to begin cleanup efforts.
Buxton, a small coastal town on Cape
Hatteras, was hardest-hit by the storm.
Jacqueline Goldman, owner of the Surf
Motel in Buxton, and her son Jeff said
flood waters had damaged their property.
“Water rose about five feet in 20 min
utes, and it was up to my chest in the
house,” Jeff Goldman said. “We didn’t
knowwhattodo, so we just walked around
trying to save what we could. Once the
waters got up so high, they stayed that way
two hours. That’s what did a lot of the
damage.”
Jacqueline Goldman said the damage
could be crippling for business.
“Labor Day is gone, and the Eastern
Surfing Association Championship is
gone,” she said. “We have big problems.
Everything on the first floor is destroyed.
There are boats upside down everywhere. ”
Goldman also said damage on the coast
had been treated more lightly than it should
have been. “If you listen to the National
Weather Service, you’d think nothing hap
pened,” she said. “But they need to come
down here and look at it.”
Elaine Cator, a Buxton resident, said
although every tree in her yard had fallen
on her house, it still was standing. “We had
some holes in the house, but nobody got
hurt,” she said. “Buxton is the highest
point on the island. It never floods here,
but the surge from the south caught us.”
Bonnie Farkas, Cator’s neighbor, owns
a mobile home on a Buxton hilltop. Sev
eral of her neighbors spent the night there
to ride out the storm, she said.
“The storm hit about 2:30 p.m., and it
stayed bad until about 5:30 (p.m.). We got
hit twice—there are five trees (which have
fallen) on the house from the wind —and
then when the surge came, just about ev
erythinginsidewassoaked,”shesaid. “The
water came up from the (Pamlico) Sound,
just like a river.”
Farkas, who said she had no flood in
surance, said she had been lucky because
shehadonly two inches of water inside her
house. Other residents had as much as four
to five feet of water inside their homes, she
said.
Janet Gaskins, a homeowner in Buxton
and a neighbor to Farkas and Cator, said
she had not evacuated with most residents
because she had not anticipated very dan
gerous weather.
“I had no reason to leave,” she said.
“We’ve come through many storms be
fore. I’ve always said ‘when the tide comes
up on my porch, it will be bad. ’ And that’s
what happened last night for the first time
ever.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
pressed in a report that Dean (of the Col
lege of Arts and Sciences Stephen) Birdsall
sent to the chancellor which absolutely
and, in my point of view, irrevocably com
mitted this department to maintain a strong
production component within it,” he said.
Though partly funded through higher
course fees, the new department has been
allotted $38,500 for production equipment
and maintenance as compared to the
$13,000 the RTVMP department received
in its last year of existence, Balthrop said.
The communication studies department
will work more with newer, high-tech digi
tal equipment than the RTVMP depart
ment had in the past, he said.
962-0245
962-1163