Daily ®ar Mwl
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Volume 102, Issue 80
101 years of editorialfreedom
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
IN THE NEWS
Top stories from the stote, notion and world
Secretary of Agriculture
Resigns Following Inquiry
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Agriculture
Secretary Mike Espy resigned Monday,
saying an investigation into allegations that
he improperly accepted gifts from people
and companies who do business with his
department had distracted him from his
duties.
His resignation was effective Dec. 31.
Espy apologized to President Clinton for
any embarrassment he had caused the ad
ministration.
But he said the allegations that he im
properly billed the government for travel
or other expenses were “untrue and un
founded.” Espy said he could not com
ment specifically on the allegations be
cause of a pending investigation by a court
appointed special prosecutor.
U.S. Soldiers Raid Haitian
Paramilitary Headquarters
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — In the
most dramatic strike yet at Haiti’s ruling
military, U.S. soldiers raided the head
quarters of a hated pro-army militia Mon
day, seizing weapons and arresting more
than three dozen people.
A joyous crowd of Haitians gathered to (
cheer the Americans. As the soldiers pulled
away from the paramilitary headquarters,
the Haitians surged forward in a jubilant
mass and gleefullytrashedtheplace, smash
ing everything they could lay hands on.
The club-wielding demonstrators
smashed furniture and beat on mattresses,
water bottles, refrigerators, telephones —
anything associated with the militia. One
man even turned his anger on a stapler,
repeatedly throwing it to the ground.
Jordan Says It Will Agree
To Peace Plan With Israel
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The pace of
Middle Eastern peacemaking picked up
Monday: Jordan informed Israel it should
be ready for a peace treaty by year’s end,
and Secretary of State Warren Christopher
made final plans for more shuttle diplo
macy on the Syrian front.
Christopher will go to Israel on Sunday
to begin his fifth attempt since May to
hurry a peace agreement with Syria. While
in the area, he will open a new border
crossing between Israel and Jordan on Oct.
15.
Diplomatic sources said differences over
their border and over access to scarce water
supplies were holding up a formal treaty
but that Jordan’s Prince Hassan had told
Israeli officials it should be ready by the
end of the year.
Clinton Lifts 20-Year Ban
On U.S. Contacts With IRA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A telephone
call from Vice President A1 Gore to Irish
nationalist leader Gerry Adams ended the
20-year ban on official U.S. contacts with
the political wing of the Irish Republican
Army.
President Clinton’s decision to lift the
ban Monday was a reward for Sinn Fein’s
support of a cease-fire in Northern Ireland.
But the step was not enough to get Adams
through the White House gate.
A senior administration official, speak
ing on condition of anonymity, said Adams
would meet Tuesday at the State Depart
ment with mid-level officials.
The officials are JohnKomblum, deputy
assistant secretary of state for European
Affairs, Leon Feurth, Gore's national se
curity adviser, and Nancy Soderberg, staff
director of the National Security Council.
Christopher Requests Aid
For Former Soviet Union
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Secretary of
State Warren Christopher is asking the
Treasury Department to hold up requests
by American firms to import $1 billion in
weapons and ammunition from the former
Soviet Union.
He wants to see first whether the huge
increase in trade would affect the foreign
policy and security interests of the United
States, the State Department spokesman
said Monday.
More than 250 requests for licenses to
import 7 billion rounds of ammunition and
7.6 million rifles and pistols are involved,
Michael McCurry said in announcing that
the State Department would conduct a
review.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Weather
TODAY: Mostly sunny, cool; high
mid-60s.
WEDNESDAY: Partly cloudy; high
mid-70s.
UNC Joins Minority Partnership
BYLEAHMERREY
STAFF WRITER
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute
has awarded UNC $2 million to establish
an alliance with historically minority uni
versities in North Carolina that will en
courage minority students to pursue ca
reers in science.
Associate biology Professor Walter
Bollenbacher, who has been leading the
project, introduced the University’s part
nership with seven historically minority
universities at a press conference Monday.
Elizabeth City State University,
Fayetteville State University, Johnson C.
Smith University in Charlotte, N.C. Agri
cultural & Technical State University in
Greensboro, N.C. Central University in
Durham, Shaw University in Raleigh and
Pembroke State University will join UNC
in the partnership.
The money granted to the HMUs by the
Hughes Institute is part of SB6 million in
four-year grants awarded to 62 research
and doctorate-granting U.S. universities.
The $2 million will be divided among the
eight universities involved in the partner
ship.
Spangler Listed as
One of Wealthiest
BY HEATHERN. ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
UNC-system President C.D. Spangler has moved up in the
world. The business world, that is.
Forbes magazine rated Spangler as the 150th wealthiest Ameri
can in 1994. Spangler is said to have a net worth of $615 million,
up from $475 million last year, according to the magazine.
Spangler was the only North Carolinian on the Forbes list.
When Spangler was questioned Monday, he said he was not
aware of his placement on the 1994 list.
Spangler ranked 220 last year.
“I usually do not comment on the rank
ing because it does not serve any useful
purpose,” Spangler said,
In 1992, Spangler’s had a net worth of
$390 million. During that poll, Spangler’s
assets came from more than 8 million shares
of stock in the Charlotte-based
Nationsßank.
In the 19605, Spangler became the presi
dent of the C.D. Spangler Construction
Cos., which developed the Golden Eagle
motel chain. He sold the chain in the 1980s
and invested in more than 2 million shares
of R. J. Reynolds stock before it sold out in
1989.
Spangler serves as director of the
Bell South Corp. and as the chairman of the board to the National
Gypsum Cos.
In the past, he has served as director of the NCNB Corp., the
Hammermill Paper Cos. and the Equitable Life Assurance Soci
ety.
Please See SPANGLER, Page 2
Town Suspends Worker After
Parking Receipts Don’t Add Up
Superintendent of Parking
Services Was Suspended
Without Pay Last Week
BY GRETCHEN HOFFMAN
STAFF WRITER
While the Chapel Hill police are inves
tigating missing hinds in the Chapel Hill
Parking Services, the cun-ent parking ser
vices superintendent has been taken off the
town payroll.
Erik Luther, the parking services super
intendent, was suspended Sept. 26, ac
cording to Chapel Hill Personnel Director
Pat Thomas.
The discrepancy in the parking services'
receipts was discovered in a routine inter
nal audit of the town’s cash handling ser
vices Sept. 26, Thomas said.
“We had an employee in the finance
department examine the records,” Chapel
Hill Finance Director Jim Baker said.
“Based on the information we saw, we
were concerned that some money was
missing.”
The audit was the first one done in a
concentrated manner, but the town plans
to continue the process, Chapel Hill Assis
tant Town Manager Sonna Loewenthal
said.
Parking services was the first depart
ment audited because it is a major source
of the town’s cash transactions, she said.
The missing funds were reported to
Chapel Hill police Chief Ralph
Pendergraph Sept. 26, the day of the audit
and the day that Luther was released from
the payroll.
“ [Pendergraph] had been informed that
there were indications of possible missing
funds from parking services," Chapel Hill
police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said.
If ifs and buts were candies and nuts, wed all have a merry Christmas.
Brian Benton
Chapel Hill. North Caroliaa
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4,1994
The faculties of the eight universities
will work together to stimulate minority
participation in the study of science and
medicine. “We’re not competing; we’re
forming alliances to achieve advancement
of the students we’re educating,”
Bollenbacher said.
Julius Chambers, chancellor of N.C.
Central University and a partner in the
program, agreed with Bollenbacher.
“We're trying to build a better university
system; this program is an example of
working together.”
Bollenbacher said the program was
unique. “It’s important to blow that [the
program] isan experiment, "hesaid. “Ifwe
get some support from the state, we can
move a lot faster and a lot further.”
He said the grant would be used to
encourage minority education in the sci
ences beginning at the high school level,
mainly by working directly with high school
teachers.
“The sciences are typically the most
difficult for minorities to do well,” he said.
Lloyd Hackley, chancellor of
Fayetteville State University, criticized the
absence of minorities in the sciences while
at the press conference. “Our record is
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Forbes magazine listed
UNC-system President
C.D. SPANGLER as
the 150th wealthiest
American, with a net
worth of $615 million.
Neelam Patel performs a traditional southeastern Indian dance Monday night at Cross Cultural Night, which was presented by th™CAA*and
the class of 1995. Journalism Professor Chuck Stone was the keynote speaker. See story on page 3.
It is not unusual that the police are
involved in the case, Cousins said.
“It was reported to us as if a private
business was missing funds,” Cousins
added.
An investigator has been assigned to the
case, but it is too early to determine where
the discrepancies in the receipts occur,
Cousins said.
“There is no investigation of Erik
Luther,” Cousins said.
The police department would not com
ment on possible suspects in the case.
Luther began working for parking ser
vices on Sept. 1,1981.
When he was taken off the payroll, his
salary was $36,241.
The release of any other information
regarding his employment or suspension is
prohibited by law, Thomas said.
The money Chapel Hill receives from
parking services is mainly drawn from off
street parking lots.
“Our revenue estimates for this year are
$950,000,” Baker said.
The town has not yet determined where
the discrepancies, if any exist, stem from,
he said.
“It is really too early to say where funds
are missing,” Cousins said. She was un
sure how long the investigation would last.
“It was discovered that money was miss
ing on Sept. 26,” Cousins said. “Sept. 1,
1993 was the last secure date."
That is the earliest date that the funds
could have been missing, she said.
“This is the first situation like this that 1
know of,” Baker said.
There have been no problems in the past
requiring the release of town employees
because of missing funds that he knows of,
he said.
Loewenthal said the routine audit had
been ordered by Town Manager Cal
Horton.
deplorable,” he said. “The ratio ofblack to
white Ph. D.-holders is one to 26.”
Hackley said the lack of minority schol
ars could stem from a lack of support from
educators. “I think we wait too late to talk
to them about the possibilities of studying
for a Ph.D.,’’ he said.
But Hackley also noted that the ratio
had a potential to change. “We are enroll
ing large numbers of minority students in
the HMUs,” he said.
Chambers emphasized that the program
addressed the historical problem of the
lack of minority students choosing sci
ence-related careers.
“It is possible for all people to get into
thiskindofwork,"hesaid. “WeTelooking
for a student body that is not al-black but
rather an even representation of students
from all over North Carolina as well as the
rest of the nation.”
Thomas Meyer, vice chancellor for re
search and development, said University
officials were pleased to be a part of the
program. “This is a proud moment for us, ”
hesaid. “We think that this is a place for us
to begin.”
The partnership’s goals include:
■ Providing curricula, supplies and
A Potpourri of Culture
ONE Card Suspect Linked to Theft in Library
Student Checkbooks Stolen
From Davis Library Used in
Fraud Ring, UNC Police Say
BY CHRISTINA MASSEY
STAFF WRITER
A former University of Virginia student
arrested Wednesday for the January theft
of more than 400 UNC ONE Cards has
been linked to the larceny of checkbooks
from students in Davis Library, University
Police Lt. Clay Williams said Monday.
On Wednesday, police arrested Canu
Cassio Dißona of Durham and charged
him with felony transaction card theft for
his role in stealing the ONE Cards, Will
iams said.
Dißona’s arrest comes after almost a
year of investigation into a multistate fraud
ring based at a UVa. fraternity, he said.
Dißona is the third person to be arrested in
connection with the ring, reports state.
Dißona, who wastakingclassesatUNC,
visited the ONE Card office at least nine
times in January, probably surveying the
office to determine how the system oper
ated, Williams said.
On Jan. 10, Dißona and his accom
plices went to the office and stole the cards
when no one was looking, he said.
Williams said the theft of the identifica
tion cards was only a small part of an
intricate plan involving fraud. “The one
purpose for the theft of the ONE Cards was
fraud,” he said.
Dißona and his main partner, Marcus
A. Tucker of Charlottesville, Va., report
edly took several checkbooks from stu
dents in the library and used the stolen
ONE Cards to cash and write checks, Wil
liams said.
He said Dißona and Tucker had used
the ONE Cards to obtain identification
cards in North Carolina and Virginia. They
then opened new banking accounts and
equipment for minority university science
classes,
■ Strengthening a mentoring program
between faculty at the minority schools
and UNC science departments,
■ Allowing reduced teaching loads for
science faculty to give them time for re
search and scholarship,
■ Improving faculty members’ ability
to attract research grants,
■ Offering a yearlong independent study
course for high school science teachers in
school districts with heavy minority en
rollments, including four weeks of intense
laboratory work that will translate directly
into the classroom,
■ Funding summer research jobs for
talented and motivated rising minority se
niors interested in science careers,
■ Establishing a graduate school ad
missions and job placement program for
minorities,
■ Fostering daily communication
among members of the partnership through
computer networks; and
■ Expanding an existing relationship
with the Hoechst Celanese Corp., which
would help the universities maximize co
operation and effectiveness.
“A lot of people do not realize
they’ve been victimized. If
people have lost a checkbook
or a wallet in the last seven
months, they need to check
with the credit bureau to clear
any possible problems. ”
DOROTHY BERNHOU
Student Legal Services director
post office boxes using fraudulently ob
tained identification cards and altered ONE
Cards, he said.
Dißona and Tucker wrote fraudulent
checks inßaleigh, Durham, Charlottesville
and Richmond, Va., and used the checks
to purchase a wide variety of merchandise
at department and grocery stores, Will
iams said.
Philippe Zamore, 21, of Charlottesville,
Va., was another person arrested in con
nection with the fraud ring. Zamore was
arrested in April and charged with felony
larceny for trying to use a stolen credit
card. But Dißona and Tucker were mainly
responsible for theft of the ONE Cards,
according to reports.
Williams said he had received calls from
Paul Graham, one of the students whose
checkbook and ONE Card had been sto
len. The student’s bank account had been
cleared and hundreds of checks sent back
to him, yet at the time he only had four
checks to his name.
University Police began monitoring the
checks sent back to Graham as soon as
they came in and discovered that the checks
had been fraudulently obtained through a
mail-order check company, Williams said.
In March, the police were able to obtain
suspect photos through a computer digital
image system used to make identification
cards in Virginia.
News/Features/Aits/Spom 962-0245
Business/Advertising 962-1163
C 1994 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
Business
School Gets
S9M Grant
BY STEVE MAGGI
STAFF WRITER
A $9 million gift to UNC’s Kenan-
Flagler Business School from the William
R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust will help
strengthen the school’s executive educa
tion programs.
Paul Fulton, dean of the Kenan-Flagler
Business School, said the gift was extremely
important for the business school. “The
grant is a milestone for the school,” he
said.
Of the $9 million total, $8 million will be
used for the construction of anew Center
for Executive Education, a residential ex
ecutive conference facility that will pro
vide a living and learning environment. It
is designed to enhance case learning, busi
ness simulations and teamwork, accord
ing to a news release from the business
school.
The remaining $ 1 million will be used to
Please See KENAN, Page 5
In September, Tucker was arrested in a
Durham shopping mall for trying to cash
counterfeited payroll checks from N.C.
Children’s Hospital, Williams said.
Tucker was placed in the Durham
County Jail, and Williams said police had
monitored his visitors in hopes of finding
his accomplice in the ONE Card theft and
fraud ring.
Dißona visited Tucker using an as
sumed name Sept. 26, and Williams and
Durham County Detective Sgt. Jeremiah
Davis were able to arrest him, Williams
said.
Dißona was released on SI,OOO bond
Friday after spending a night in the Orange
County Jail. He is currently awaiting a
probable cause hearing.
Myma Graham, whose son Paul was a
victim in the scam, said she was relieved
that the two men had been arrested in
connection with the fraud ring.
“It’s been a real nightmare,” Graham
said. “Paul spent hours and hours and
dollars and dollars on long distance trying
to convince merchants that he was the
victim of fraud.
“Most people don’t believe you when
you say there’s been fraud and forgery,”
she said. “They’re not very nice.”
Williams said he encouraged anyone
who felt he or she might have been the
victim of the fraud ring to contact Dorothy
Bemholz, director of legal services.
Bemholz said only three people had
contacted her for help in the fraud ring case
so far. “A lot of people do not realize
they’ve been victimized,” she said. “If
people have lost a checkbook or a wallet in
the last seven months, they need to check
with the credit bureau to clear any possible
problems.”
Bemholz said she could help students
who believed they were victims ofthe fraud.
“You can’t be held responsible if some
one fraudulently uses your name and so
cial security number, ” she said. “You have
to have a signature.”