Volume 101, Issue 116
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ffITHENEWS
Top stories from the state, nation and world
Congress Ending Session
With Debate on Brady Bill
WASHINGTON After a year
marked by swings from confrontation to
cooperation, Congress straggled to find
common ground on a handgun control bill
Monday and wrap up its business for 1993.
Compromise legislation to extend job
less benefits to the long-term unemployed
also was up for final passage, as was a bill
to provide a final $lB billion to clean up the
savings and loan fiasco.
And the House approved a plan to re
make the campaign finance laws, a key
item on President Clinton’s agenda. But it
was the Brady Bill, providing for a five-day
wait for handgun purchases, that held cen
ter stage in the final hours of the year’s
session. President Clinton prodded law
makers to deliver the bill for his signature
as a “Thanksgiving Day present” to acrime
weary public.
United States Remembers
Kennedy's Assassination
DALLAS With an assassin’s nest as
a bleak backdrop, Dallas unveiled a simple
but eternal tribute Monday to the memory
ofPresident John F. Kennedy. Twin fighter
jets thundered above Dealey Plaza, and a
flock of white doves fluttered skyward at
the exact moment of the assassination 30
years ago. It was 12:30 p.m.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and
other family members and friends marked
the day with visits to JFK’s grave at Arling
ton National Cemetery in Virginia.
His sister Jean Kennedy Smith observed
the anniversary in Ireland, land of the
family’s ancestors. Smith, the U.S. ambas
sador to Ireland, read extracts from JFK’s
speeches at a memorial Mass in Dublin.
In Kennedy’s home town of Boston,
city government and institutions named
for the 35th president held no ceremonies.
Neo-Fascists Make Gains
In Italian Municipal Races
ROME After years out in the cold,
considered pariahs by many on Italy’s po
litical scene, supporters of the Italian So
cial Movement achieved their biggest elec
toral success Sunday.
In local elections that produced sharp
setbacks to discredited mainstream par
ties, the Italian Social Movement was the
top vote-getter in Rome and Naples. Its
candidates will be in mayoral run-off elec
tions in both cities. Other MSI candidates
did well elsewhere in the country.
Alessandra Mussolini, former dictator
Benito Mussolini’s 30-year-old grand
daughter, won about 30 percent of the
Naples vote to force a run-off with a leftist
candidate.
Clinton Seeks Consensus
On Global Trade Proposals
WASHINGTON President Clinton
has less than a month to strike a global free
trade agreement while coping with de
mands from angry French farmers, upset
Brazilian citrus growers and furious textile
workers just about everywhere.
The president and others in the admin
istration are professing optimism that they
can overcome all these obstacles and com
plete the Uruguay Round of trade talks by
a Dec. 15 deadline. Those negotiations,
involving 110 nations, are being held un
der the auspices of the Geneva-based Gen
eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
U.S. Trade Representative Mickey
Kantor sat down Monday with his Euro
pean counterpart, Sir Leon Brittan, in what
were described as make-or-break talks.
Serbia Blocks U.N. Aid
Convoys to Eastern Bosnia
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Serb-dominated Yugoslavia blocked all
U.N. aid convoys into eastern Bosnia on
Monday, while U.N. officials reported star
vation in the battle-scarred, southwestern
city of Mostar.
Lyndall Sachs, a U.N. spokeswoman in
Belgrade, Yugoslavia, said Yugoslav offi
cials had begun demanding special autho
rization for aid convoy s to cross into Bosnia.
They cited a law passed by Yugoslavia last
year requiring such permission for the pas
sage of goods. Asa result, U.N. convoys
headed for the Bosnian cities of Tuzla,
Srebrenica and Sarajevo, had to return to
Belgrade Monday as U.N. officials haggled
with Yugoslav authorities.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Weather
TODAY: Partly cloudy; high 66.
WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny; high
69.
Home life as we understand itisne more natural to us than a cage is natural to a cockatoo.
George Bernard Shaw
(Btp Daily (Tar Itol
Council Passes Gun-Control Laws
BY ROCHELLE KLASKIN
ASSISTANT OTY EDITOR
The fat lady has finally sung in Chapel
Hill.
The public hearings are over, all the
letters have been read, and Chapel Hill
Town Council members have made up
their minds on gun control.
The council voted unanimously at its
Monday night meeting to approve five
new gun-control ordinances recommended
by the town attorney and town manager.
The town already had the strictest gun
control laws in the state, and now they
have become even more stringent.
Council member Joe Capowski said he
was pleased with the ordinances, but he
wished they could be stronger.
“But I recognize the constraints of the
constitution of North Carolina,” he said.
Capowski said Chapel Hill’s new ordi
nances would have more of an effect on
crime once other municipalities in the area
Gbnton Announces End to American Airlines Strike
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT WORTH, Texas American
Airlines and its striking flight attendants
union agreed Monday to end a 4-day-old
strike that crippled one of the nation’s
largest airlines at the busiest time of the
year.
President Clinton announced the agree
ment, saying he persuaded both sides to
agree tobindingarbitration. American said
it hoped to have its truncated schedule
back to normal by the end of the week.
“Passengers who hold American Air
line tickets, if they come to the airport
tomorrow, can do so with some confi
dence,” American Chairman Robert
Crandall said. “I have no doubt we’ll get
everybody where they’re going in time for
Thanksgiving.”
“Yes, there was a real risk of losing our
jobs,” striker Loren Pastirik said. “I think
it’s going to take a while for passengers to
trust American again, but it’s a great feel
ing right n0w.... We wanted to work. We
did what we needed to do. We wanted
respect from the company.”
The end of the strike was a victory for
the flight attendants, who had sought the
appointment of a special presidential panel
to mediate their dispute.
It also was a victory for Clinton, who
persuaded Crandall during a phone call to
drop his opposition to further arbitration.
“I have spoken with both parties in
volved. Both have agreed in principle to
end the strike and return to the bargaining
table immediately,” Clinton told a White
House news conference.
The strike by the Association of Profes
sional Flight Attendants, which began
Thursday, disrupted Thanksgiving travel
plans for thousands of passengers. Ameri
can, lacking enough flight attendants to
staff its planes, flew only cargo.
“Although we prefer a different ap-
FDA Policy
Slows Drug
Approval
BYMAURINE SHIELDS
STAFF WRITER
American doctors are prescribing anew
type ofbirth-control pill to their patients—
at least one that is new to the United States.
Patients in this country are just now
benefiting from Desogen, which has a lower
level of hormones than other birth-control
pills, although women in Europe have used
it for years. The pill seems to cause fewer
side effects, such as break-through bleed
ing, than its predecessors, but it only was
approved by the Food and Drag Adminis
tration last year.
“Some people feel that Americans are
deprived of the newest medical advances,
while others say that FDA regulations are
for our protection,” said Maryann Oertel
of the Drag Information Center at UNC
Hospitals.
Although the FDA is slow to approve
some potentially helpful drags, it has saved
Americans from very serious side effects of
other drugs, Oertel said.
In the 19505, Thalidomide was used
extensively in Europe to treat morning
sickness. But the disastrous effects were
not seen until 1961, when the first Thalido
mide baby was bom. Severe birth defects
resulting from the drag included short
ened, deformed and absent limbs and or
gans. Because the FDA never approved
the drug, the tragedy did not affect the
United States as greatly as it did other
nations.
But researchers say examples involving
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23,1993
including Raleigh, Cary and Durham be
gan to pass gun-control measures of their
own.
“Chapel Hill is not in a vacuum,” he
said. “Crime does not respect political
boundaries.”
Lisa Price, one of the founders of North
Carolinians for Gun Control, said she was
pleased the council took every step it could
under N.C. laws to increase gun-control
restrictions in Chapel Hill.
“Chapel Hill is part of a great social
movement,” she said. “Everyone is look
ing to see what is happening in Chapel
Hill. It’s a snowballing effect."
Chapel Hill police Chief Ralph
Pendergraph said that although he did not
think passage of the ordinances would re
duce crime or violence in Chapel Hill, it
was an important statement for the council
to make.
“The proposed ordinances should set a
tone and set the town’s stance against crime
and violence,” he said. “These are good
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DTH/JUSTIN WILLIAMS
Holly Bridges, a second-year UNC law student, checks her flight schedule Monday with American Airlines ticketing
agent Sonja Kaiser at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Bridges found out that her flight would be on schedule.
proach, we are anxious to put our airplanes
back in the air and put our people back to
work,” Crandall said.
Crandall said he was at least partly
swayed by Clinton and added that binding
arbitration was less troubling than an emer
gency mediation panel. However, Crandall
said he was still concerned that an arbitra
tor would split the difference between
other experimental drags support the be
lief that the FDA holds up beneficial drags.
The French abortion pill, RU-486, is
widely available abroad but not in the
United States.
Many AIDS drags are offered only out
side the United States but could save or
improve thousands oflives. And modifica
tions of current therapies, such as the
Desogen birth-control pills, could improve
current medicine.
But the FDA is slow to approve these
new drags.
“The FDA has much stricter regula
tions than comparable European regulat
ing bodies,” Oertel said.
Although approval is slow, Oertel said,
“In general, the FDA is doing a good job.
“The new administration under (FDA
Director) David Kessler is really pushing
things.”
Pendergraph added that police would
not be going on witch hunts looking for
guns.
Council member Rosemary Waldorf
also said the new ordinances would not
create more work for the police depart
ment.
“We expect this to be a tool and not a
drain on police time,” she said.
But opponents of the new gun-control
legislation say they will challenge the new
ordinances in court.
“That is the next plan of action,” said
David McFarling, president of the Durham
Pistol and Rifle Club. “It will be done.”
McFarling said the ordinances were a
further erosion of his rights.
“We were never given a fair chance, ’’ he
said. “The town council neglected the will
of the people and decided to follow then
own political agenda.”
McFarling said he already had talked to
an Orange County commissioner to try to
American’s offer and the flight attendants
demands, costing the Fort Worth-based
airline too much money.
The 21,000-member union walked out
in a contract dispute over pay, medical
benefits, staffing and workrales. The strike,
the first by flight attendants at American,
was the biggest against a U.S. airline since
1989.
the FDA to review totally new treatments
more quickly and give them priority.”
Dr. Marc Rubin, director of anti
infectives clinical research at Glaxo, agreed.
Rubin is investigating anew drag, 3TC,
which shows promising indications for
AIDS and hepatitis patients.
“The FDA’s mandate is to protect the
American public, but at the same time,
they are very receptive to changes that may
help pharmaceutical companies in getting
new drags to market,” he said.
Rubin said his experience with the FDA
had been very positive.
“The FDA is eager to see data that
might suggest that anew drag is promis
ing,” said Rubin.
But bringing anew drag to market is a
Please See DRUGS, Page 5
block any gun-control legislation at the
county level.
The council initially held a public hear
ing in September to gauge public opinion
on gun control.
Because of the overwhelming turnout
of those who wanted to speak, an extra
hearing was scheduled for the following
night.
The third hearing was held Nov. 5 for
residents and nonresidents to voice their
specific opinions on the proposed ordi
nances.
Many council members said that taking
legal action at its meeting was timely and
symbolic due to the recent passage of the
Brady Bill in the U.S. Congress, and also
because Monday marked the 30th anniver
sary ofPresident John F. Kennedy’s assas
sination.
“This is a symbolic step forward for the
council,” council member Julie Andresen
said.
But Mayor Ken Broun said the new
Crandall said the strike took a heavy
financial toll on the airline. After Clinton’s
announcement, Crandall said, “This will
not repair our fourth-quarter projections.
... We expect we will have a loss for the
year.”
Earlier, Crandall said the airline was
losing more than $lO million a day during
the strike.
Panelists: Students, Residents
Must Be Wary of Town Crime
BYPETER ROYBAL
STAFF WRITER
In a public meeting onviolenceinChapel
Hill, the town police chief, a criminologist
and a doctor in the Department of Family
Medicine at UNC said violence in Chapel
Hill was lower than statistically expected,
but urged the students and townspeople
who attended the meeting to think care
fully about their personal safety.
Charles Warren, a criminologist and
graduate student in sociology, said that
Chapel Hill should have a crime rate 70
times higher than it has.
“I’m surprised at the remarkable low
levels of violence in Chapel Hill,” he said.
Warren cited the large number of men
from ages 16 to 25, the town’s transitory
population and social inequality as rea
sons to expect a higher crime rate. Orange
County has the most social inequality in
North Carolina, Warren said.
Chapel Hill police Chief Ralph
Pendergraph said that while Chapel Hill’s
crime rate inside residences had declined
and while Chapel Hill probably was “in a
little better shape than a lot of communi
ties,” residents still should consider their
personal safety carefully.
He warned against excessive alcohol
consumption, noting that many victims of
crime had been drinking, sometimes so
heavily that they could rot provide good
descriptions of their attackt rs. Pendergraph
also said that being cautious in unfamiliar
places and avoiding dangerous situations
would, among other things, prevent vic
timization.
“If you feel uncomfortable, then that’s
enough. Take whatever action to get out of
the situation,” he said. “Everyone has the
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C 1993 DTH Publishing Coip. All rights reserved.
Gun-Control Laws Passed
The Chapel Hi Town Councfl voted Monday
night to make the strictest guncontrol laws
in the state even more stringent The five
ordnances wi:
YU Prohibit the display of firearms in
specified public areas by any
specified public areas; and
y££ Prohibit the possession, off one’s
i—i own premises, of certain semi
automatic weapons - unless
unloaded, packed away and in
transport
ordinances would make a difference.
“This is more than symbolic. I think we
are taking some real steps here and giving
the police officers some real tools.”
Travel Plans
Still Unclear
For Students
BYS.TEBBENS
STAFF WRITER
Even though the American Air
lines flight attendants’ strike is over,
some UNC students are still concerned
about travel arrangements over the
Thanksgiving holiday.
The Association of Professional
Flight Attendants strike, which began
with a walkout last Thursday, was
settled M onday with the help ofPresi
dent Bill Clinton. Robert Crandall,
American Airlines chairman, said
Monday that American ticket holders
should be able to “get where they’re
going in time for Thanksgiving."
However, Jennifer Cole, a chemis
try graduate student, said she could
not obtain any information from
American Monday.
“I called and all the lines were busy.
I had to drive to the airport, and they
told me that only one-third of the
flights are going. And those flights are
only ones flying into major airports.”
Cole is from in Florida and will be
able to fly into the Miami airport,
which is a major airport to which
American is scheduling flights.
“But I am on a stand-by flight for
Tuesday night. If I don’t make that
Please See EYING, Page 2
responsibility to do what they need to pro
tect themselves."
All panelists agreed that violence was
nothing new. Adam Goldstein of the De
partment of Family Medicine sought to
put violence in a historical context. “We’ve
become accustomed to the waves of vio
lence and we don’t really think it will
happen to us,” he said.
Warren said actual violence in the
United States had declined markedly in
the past 100 years, but the amount of re
ported crime had risen. He said there were
areas in the country where the number of
acts of random violence was decreasing.
Nonetheless, the United States is the most
violent industrial society in the world,
Warren said.
The panel also discussed the reasons for
crime and often pointed to poverty as the
root source. Pendergraph said, “Poverty
causes people to do things out of despera
tion and anger.”
After presentations by each panelist,
students and town residents asked ques
tions about violence in Chapel Hill. Chris
tine Skaer, a junior biology major, said
growing up in Charlotte made her cautious
about personal safety, but she thought that
even these precautions would not protect
her from random acts of violence.
“I feel like you almost need to be para
noid now,” she said.
Editor's Note
Because of Thanksgiving Break, The Daily
Tar Heel will not publish for the rest of the
week. We will be back bright and early
Monday morning.
Happy Thanksgiving!