2
Friday, September 10,1993
Legislators Sum Up General Assembly Session
BY JASON RICHARDSON
STATE AND NATIONAL EDITOR
Three members of Orange County’s leg
islative delegation focused on the high
points ofthe 1993 N.C. General Assembly
session in a forum sponsored by the Chapel
Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
Thursday morning.
The meeting, held at the Siena Hotel in
Chapel Hill, featured short speeches by
N.C. Reps. Anne Barnes, D-Orange, and
Joe Hackney, D-Orange, as well as N.C.
Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange. Following
the speeches, the legislators held a brief
question-and-answer session forthe crowd
of about 50 local residents.
Barnes began the forum discussing the
N.C. General Assembly’s actions on edu
cation this past year. “It was a good year,
Paul, for the University,” Barnes said, ad
dressing UNC Chancellor Paul Hardin,
who attended the meeting.
Barnes said she was pleased that the
General Assembly had managed to keep
tuition increases to a minimum, and that
legislators had allotted more funds for li
braries as well as for raising faculty sala
ries. “We appropriated additional dollars
for bringing faculty salaries into a more
competitive situation,” she said.
Hackney addressed the future needs of
the UNC system. “Let me put in a plug for
the bond issue,” Hackney said. “We have
CONGRESS
FROM PAGE 1
was returned to the floor without the
amendment and voted down, Sarratt said.
Although the mechanism for reconsid
ering the bill is unclear, congress may vote
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BARNES outlined the
General Assembly's
actions on education.
many pending capi
tal needs, and inter
est rates are very lot*
right now.”
Hardin also
asked the citizens to
lend their support to
the proposed Uni
versity bond issue.
“I can tell you from
a standpoint of the
buildingsattheUni
versity of North
Carolina at Chapel
Hill that there is a
desperate need for
those buildings.”
Lee said it had been a hectic legislative
season. “It was one of the most difficult
sessions we’ve been through in my short
tenure there.”
Lee discussed local issues, beginning
with the General Assembly’s authoriza
tion for Chapel Hill police to use the “Den
ver boot,” a device used to immobilize
illegally parked cars. He also said the legis
lature had granted the towns of Chapel Hill
and Canboro authority to “engage in the
process of recall of elected officials.”
Hillsborough enacted a meal tax, while
the Chapel Hill Town Council withdrew
its application to have such a tax, Lee said.
“Hillsborough’s food tax passed,” he said.
“Chapel Hill’s did not.”
to give the Phoenix funds later in the year,
Sarratt said. “My feeling is that congress
would be willing to fund the Phoenix if a
board of directors is created,” she said.
In other business W ednesday night, Rep.
Philip Charles-Pierre, Dist. 19, was elected
Student Affairs Committee chairman.
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HACKNEY stressed
the needs of the
university system.
Lee called for lo
cal citizens to work
with the Chapel Hill
town government
instead of turning to
the General Assem
bly for help in re
solving differences.
“It puts this del
egation in a terrible
position to try to be
referee,” Lee said.
Barnes said she
was happy about
what the legislature
had accomplished
to help state employees. “I did get my bill
passed to raise the wage floor for the low
est-paid employees.”
Barnes then asked the chamber to stay
involved in education issues. “I want to
urge you to continue your involvement in
education issues,” she said. “It has made
such a difference.”
She added that the legislature had made
an attempt to counter increasing tension in
public schools. “We passed a number of
bills to curb school violence,” she said. “It
will allow schools to develop their own
programs to stop school violence.”
“We were also able to fund the low
wealth counties.”
Hackney said he was pleased with the
tone of the past session.
Late Wednesday night, congress also:
■ Appropriated $2,758.60 to the Viet
namese Students’ Association;
■ Passed by an 184 vote, with two
abstentions, a bill to appropriate $ 1,490 to
the Coalition for Animals and Animal
Research; and
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LEE said citizens
should work with their
local governments.
“There was not
nearly so much po
litical posturing on
both sides. From a
tax-systems per
spective, it was
pretty much an un
eventful year,” said
Hackney, who is co
chairman of the
House Finance
Committee. “The
state budgetwas bal
anced. It always is.
This time, there
were no substantive
changes in the tax system.”
“We had a 7-percent growth in state
revenues,” he said. “That was higher than
was predicted.” Hackney added that the
growth prediction for 1993-94 was 6.2 per
cent, and that after one month the state
already was sl4 million ahead of that fig
ure. “Our state is on good and safe and
steady economic ground,” he said.
Hackney also discussed his successful
measure to lower the drunken-driving stan
dard from .10 to .08. “It passed the House
104-0 and passed later in the Senate. But
we need to make more progress.”
Hardin also complimented the legisla
tors for their work over the years. “This is
the best delegation in the General Assem
bly.”
■ Failed to consider, after losing quo
rum, an act to clarify voting eligibility in
the case of a tie in the election of a Student
Congress officer.
Michael Workman and Steve Robblee
contributed to this article.
FRIDAY
10 a.m. Amnesty International will hold a
vigil for human rights in the Pit that will last until
noon Saturday.
6:15 p.m. N.C. Hillel will hold reform and
egalitarian services followed by a meal. The cost
is $5. Please RSVP for dinner. Morning services
are at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
7 p.m. New Generation Campus Ministries
will hold its first Friday Night Fellowship in 205-
206 Student Union.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
The Honors Office will accept applications
from sophomores for the Honors Program until
Wednesday. Application forms can be picked up
outside 300 Steele Building.
The Orange/Durham Coalition for Battered
Women needs volunteers to provide crisis and
support services to families experiencing domes
tic violence. Training begins Tuesday.
University Career Services announces a fall
semester part-time development internship with
the Nature Conservancy, N.C. chapter. Informa
tion is available in 211 Hanes Hall.
University Career Services announces a fall
semester internship with Weaver Street Market.
Information is available in 211 Hanes Hall.
Great Decisions 1994 will accept applications
(available in the Student Union) for the coordi-
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GUNS
FROM PAGE 1
so that you can just hop in your car (to buy
a gun).”
Brolin also said her organization’s mem
bership had grown to 70,000 since 1975.
“I think we’ve made a difference,” she
said.
Stanford said that Steven Higgins, di
rector of ATF, had testified to Congress
about the need for strengthening laws per
taining to the acquisition of firearms.
“How they should be strengthened is up
to our elected officials,” Stanford said,
adding that the ATF did not lobby “in any
way.”
But National Rifle Association spokes
man Bill Mclntyre saidtheßradyßillwould
not be sufficient to solve the growing vio
lent-crime rate because it did not make
background checks mandatory.
“We know those kinds of checks can be
made,” he said.
A waiting period would not be effective,
he said.
“It’s impossible to prove .... All I can
say is waiting periods have not reduced
crime like people said it would,” he said.
Mclntyre cited an FBI report saying
that violent crime rose between 1987 and
1991 in 20 out 0f22 states that had enacted
some type of waiting period.
In North Carolina, which uses a 14-day
waiting period, violent crime rose 36 per
cent and homicides rose 41 percent in that
time period, he said.
Mclntyre compared background checks
for handgun buyers to the credit checks ran
on credit-card users.
“Every time you pull out a credit card,
a credit check is made, ” he said. “If Ameri
can Express can make 70 million checks
per month, we can at least make a fraction
of those checks per year.”
The federal government also should fo
cus more effort on investigating the black
market, Mclntyre said.
Campus Calendar
nating committee until Wednesday.
The Elections Board needs undergraduate and
graduate students to serve on the 1993-94 board.
Sign up for an interview time with Melinda Man
ning (914-3045).
Selected Hillarity will perform in the Union
Cabaret Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Admission is $3 and tickets are on sale at the
Union information desk.
N.C. Hillel invites students to Havdalah ser
vice at Hillel at 8 p.m. Saturday, followed by a
song session.
Carolina Fever will meet at 12:30 p.m. in front
of Wilson Library on Saturday. Please wear your
blue shirts and bring your athletic pass and school
identification.
N.C. Hillel invites students to come out for a
field day with UNC and Duke Hillels Sunday at
noon at the Intermural Fields.
The Black Student Movement will hold the
Mr. BSM Contest Sunday at 6 p.m. m the Caba
ret.
Campus Y Footfalls Committee will meet
Monday at 7 p.m. in the Campus Y.
The UNC American Chemical Society Stu
dent Affiliates invites all chemistry majors or
interested students to the first fall meeting at 6
p.m. Monday in 224 Venable Hall.
Leadership Development will hold an emerg
ing leaders orientation meeting from 7 p.m. to 9
Qlljp Baily (Tar Ippl
“We sell firearms in this
country on an honor
system .... If you’re willing to
sign a paper and lie on it, you
can buy as many firearms as
you want. ”
LES STANFORD
ATF public information officer
“Ninety-three percent of criminals get
guns somewhere other than a retail store,”
he said. “There is a black market that’s
being virtually ignored.”
The NRA’s three million members have
been asked to write letters and make phone
calls to members of Congress advocating
mandatory background checks, Mclntyre
said.
“It’s an enviable political base, ” he said
of the NRA, “and it counts.”
Mclntyre said that some gun-control
proponents saw the NRA as hard-nosed
and difficult to work with, but added that
the group advocated controls of gun own
ership.
“Oftentimes, the NRA is viewed as ob
structionist and unwillingto compromise,”
he said. “Nobody wants to see criminals
getting guns.... Nobody wants to see kids
getting guns.”
Despite the controversy, most agree the
current laws concerning firearms are inef
fective.
“We sell firearms in this country on an
honor system.... If you’re willing to sign a
paper and lie on it, you can buy as many
firearms as you want,” Stanford said.
The slow rate of change on the issue
prompted Stanford to question America’s
willingness to modify existing laws.
“It’s ludicrous. There isn’t any control.
But do we as a nation want to change this?
I don’t know.”
p.m. in 101 Greenlaw Hall. All students chosen to
be emerging leaders must attend Monday, Tues
day or Thursday.
Amnesty International will have its official
introductory meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m. in
Union 206.
The Carolina Union Activities Board Public
Relations Committee needs creative and dedi
cated students to help with public relations for
Union programming. The first meeting is Mon
day at 5:30 p.m. in Union 206.
Circle K International Service Organization
will hold a general interest meeting Monday at 7
p.m. in the Union Frank Porter Graham Lounge.
N.C. Hillel will offer “To Lead and to Follow:
A Guided Tour to Shabbat Services” with Rabbi
Andy Koren Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at
Hillel.
The American Advertising Federation will
hold a general interest meeting at 8:15 p.m. on
Tuesday in Union 226.
Student Government will hold a mandatory
meeting for all organizational treasurers Tuesday
at 8 p.m. in Union 205.
The Caroina Cycling Club will hold an inter
est meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Union 206.
The Leadership Development Office will hold
a Womentoring orientation meeting for faculty
and staff mentors at 4 p.m. and a student meeting
at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Union 211. At 6 p.m.