Volume 103, Issue 28 102 years of editorial freedom jUrif. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 m IN THE NEWS Top stories from the state, nation and world 2 Suicide Bombings Kill 7 Israelis, Jolt Peace Talks KFAR DAROM, Gaza Strip—lslamic militants opposed to the Israel-PLO peace process struck twice Sunday, killing seven Israelis and wounding dozens in suicide attacks near isolated Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said he would continue talks with the PLO despite calls by right-wing opponents and some of his allies to halt them in protest. Israel Radio said that PLO leader Yasser Arafat had called Rabin to offer condo lences and that Rabin had asked him to do more to rein in the militants. The first attack took place at about noon. A van parked by the main Gaza highway exploded near an Israeli bus, killing six people. White House Planning to Streamline Social Security WASHINGTON, D.C. The White House is drafting plans to streamline So cial Security by turning over some of its work to private business and staggering the mailing of 49 million retirement and dis ability checks now sent at the beginning of the month. Some critics say the blueprint overlooks Social Security’s most pressing problem: looming insolvency for the national retire ment system. Others say giving for-profit companies a piece of Social Security’s $3Bl billion budget is a privacy risk. The proposed reforms are part of the Clinton administration’s push to “reinvent government.” The changes, which could save as much as $1 billion during five years, are to be announced Wednesday. Gunships Fire on Rebels; Filipinos Plead for Guns IPIL, Philippines Air force helicop ters fired rockets Saturday at separatist Muslim rebels who sacked this mainly Christian town, but residents told the visit ing Philippine president they were still afraid and pleaded for their own guns. President Fidel Ramos flew to this dusty market community of 50,000 people and ordered military commanders to “go get these terrorists and protect civilian com munities.” Thousands of townspeople cheered as Ramos, a former military chief of staff and defense secretary, walked briskly through the charred ruins of the town market. The market was burned Tuesday when some 200 members of the Abu Sayyaf group sacked this city 480 miles south of Manila. U.N.: Serbs Using Banned Weapons in Bosnian Siege SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina Rebel Serbs laying siege to Sarajevo are targeting civilian neighborhoods with big guns, which are supposed to be banned from around the capital, the United Na tions charged Sunday. The city’s troubles and increased fight ing in the countryside underscored the failure of diplomatic efforts to end Bosnia’s 3-year-old war, despite a cease-fire that began with the new year. U.N. officials say it appears only late-winter snow has de layed a resumption of full-scale war. Sarajevo was rocked by about a dozen explosions late Saturday and early Sun day, wounding two people. A U.N. inves tigation found that at least six of the blasts were 120 mm mortar rounds fired by Bosnian Serbs. Chechens Say Russians Have Committed Atrocities SERNOVODSK, Russia Refugees who escaped one of the biggest battles of the war in Chechnya claimed Sunday that Russian troops had committed atrocities and killed dozens of civilians during the weekend. The claims could not immediately be confirmed because Russian forces stopped journalists and relief workers one mile west of the village of Samashky. Troops and rebels were still fighting there. Several hundred Chechens who escaped from Samashky in recent days gathered Sunday in front of a mosque in the neigh boring village of Semovodsk to wait for relatives and news from home. Many wailed as they told of atrocities committed in the village before they left. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Weather TODAY: Variably cloudy; high 77. TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy; high near 72. ®ltp lath} oar MM Crime, Violence Plague Tom Over Weekend BY JENNIFER FREER ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR Violent crime seemed to sweep Chapel Hill this weekend as Chapel Hill police broke up several fights and two college students were seriously injured by assail ants. A2l-year-oIdN.C. State University stu dent was attacked at about 1:30 a.m. by two men who got out of a car and de manded his wallet, according to Chapel Hill police reports. Jeremy Miller, a freshman from Oconomowok, Wis., said he was shocked when the N.C. State student came to the window of his friend’s apartment on the 500-block of Hillsborough Street holding his head and covered in blood. “Around 1:45 a.m., a man with thick, curly black hair came to the window Student Groups Will Get to Keep Chase 2 Space BY PATRICK LINK STAFF WRITER The student groups that use Chase 2 will be allowed to continue to use that space next year, members of the space utilization subcommittee indicated in a pre-vote poll conducted Friday. The subcommittee will officially vote on the issue today, but Provost Richard McCormick has indicated that its decision has already been made. “In feet, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, faculty members in naval science, and affected offices in facilities planning and Physical Plant have been informed of our decision, and they are beginning to investigate alternative solu tions,” a memorandum released by McCormick states. The Naval ROTC was scheduled to be moved into Chase 2 from May 1995 until May 1996 while the Naval Armory was being renovated. When planning for this move, the space utilization subcom mittee was not aware of how often the Chase space was used by various student groups, including the Black Student Movement, See CHASE, Page 5 Second —and Possibly Last Gun Buyback Nets More Weapons BYKELLYSTEVENS STAFF WRITER A Czechoslovakian army pistol, an Ital ian army rifle and a 19th-century U.S. Calvary Winchester rifle were among the more exotic of the 119 firearms brought by residents to Saturday’s gun buyback held at the Chapel Hill police station and spon sored by the Buy Back the Hill task force. Last year, there were two gun buybacks netting 104 guns total, said Allen Baddour, chairman of the Buy Back the Hill task force. Baddourattributedthisyear’sheight ened success to several factors. “People have just become more involved and more interested in their well-being and their safety,” he said. DTH/CHIUS GAYDOSH UNC wide receiver Octavus Barnes signs the T-shirt of one of his many fans after Saturday's Blue/White game at Fetzer Field. See game story on Sports Monday. screaming, ‘I was mugged,’” Miller said. “He was bleeding profusely.” Miller said the student told him that three blackmeninawhite Chevrolet Cava lier had stopped him as he was walking from UNC to a friend’s apartment and had asked him what time it was. After the student told the men in the car he didn’t know the time, the car followed him until it stopped under a streetlight Miller said was broken. “The streetlight has been out for almost three weeks,” Miller said. “There is a 100- yard stretch between the two lights, which makes the area very dark. The (men in the) car trailing the guy may have decided to attack him there for that reason.” The assailants then broke a bottle over the student’s head and kicked him while he was down after stealing his wallet and the S2O it contained, according to police re- Provost RICHARD MCCORMICK issued a memo thanking students for their professional approach. The January shootings on Henderson Street also helped awaken residents to the imminent dangers of guns in the home, Baddour said. One of the guns the task force bought back was similar to the one used in the shootings, said Jennifer Davis, vice chair woman of the Buy Back the Hill task force. Dave Scott sold a pistol at Saturday’s buyback. “There’s been a pistol lying around the house for years which has never been used, and when I saw the ad in the paper, I went and got it,” Scott said. “It looked like my son may have been playing with it because the slide was jammed on it and the clip was missing, ” he said. “So I decided that basically this was a good time and place just to get rid of it.” Big Shot God\ I feel like hell tonight. Sheryl Crow Chapel MM, North CareHaa MONDAY, APRIL 10,1995 ports. The student was treated for minor inju ries and was released from UNC Hospi tals, according to Chapel Hill police re ports. Chapel Hill police officer J.L. Shelton, who responded to the robbery, said Sun day that the actual order of events was unclear to police. Within the next hour and a half follow ing the robbery on Hillsborough Street, police stayed busy with two more fights and an armed robbery. At 2:10 a.m., Chapel Hill police broke up a fight that occurred in the middle of the street on West Cameron Avenue in front of the Sigma Pi Epsilon fraternity house, where a large party was taking place. No injuries or arrests were reported from the See CRIME, Page 2 ;.. .-1 ~"T — 4lBa BbsT Opposites Attract sings at Arts Downtown on Saturday atop the Rosemary Street Parking Deck. The high school vocal group several local elementary and other school groups that performed at the event, which also included a mural painting. See story, page 2. Meghann Barrett, a sophomore from Chapel Hill High School and a member of the task force, said three recent incidents had led her to become involved with the task force and its gun buyback program. “Two people I knew were accidentally shot and killed, and my father works on Henderson Street and walked out into that, ” Barrett said. “I just think the buyback is a good idea because every gun poses a threat to somebody, and to get them in here means that at least one more person could be saved.” Each person who brought a gun into the police station was offered at least S2O for the gun. Some people brought in coupons from local newspapers that promised an additional S2O. The most money given for Busy Week in Store for UNC, Town Planners BY RYAN THORNBURG CITY EDITOR Plans for the 2,000 acres of undeveloped land on UNC’s Mason Farm and Horace Williams tracts will fall under public scrutiny this week, with a town planning committee revealing its findings tonight and a University consulting firm meeting with administrators all week. A report suggesting future uses for the land will be presented to Chapel Hill Town Council mem bers at their weekly meeting at 7 p.m. today at Chapel Hill Town Hall on North Columbia Street. The planning committee spent six months con sidering the key issues the town and University will face once the land is developed, such as transportation and neighborhood growth. Town Council member Rosemary Waldorf, who is a member of the committee, said Sunday that the report was not final but was the first in what should be a series of findings put forth by the committee. The committee’s charge is to help shape the town’s commentary on the issue. “Our panel’s going to present our report, and the agenda has been set up so there hopefully will be plenty of time for the council to ask questions and for them to receive comments from the pub lic,” she said. Waldorf said the committee had determined that five particular issues merited in depth review: land use, environmental concerns, neighborhood and town character, fiscal concerns, and transportation issues. The committee sub groups then issued a comprehensive report. The committee was concerned that such a large Police Break Up Crowd Gathered at Union Bash STAFF REPORT During the same weekend that armed robberies and assaults kept Chapel Hill police busy, local authorities helped Uni versity Police control a large crowd that gathered at the Student Union late Satur day night. The crowd that gathered in the Great Hall for an evening party sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. was bro ken up by Chapel Hill and University police about 10 minutes before midnight, according to Chapel Hill police reports. Weekend Art a gun was SIOO for a 12-gauge automatic shotgun, Davis said. She said the group had ended up spend ing about $5,000 on the guns. Most of the money came from private donations and fund-raisers, but when the task force ran out offends, the group members paid $275 out of their own pockets. Chapel Hill police Sgt. Harold Home helped out with the event’s security and appraised and made bids on the guns. “There’s no question in my mind that the guns bought today prevented something tragic from happening, either through an accident, a suicide or a violent crime.” The 119 guns accumulated on Saturday will be broken into pieces and will be made into a sculpture by a local artist. development would drain town coffers without being reimbursed by the University. UNC does not pay taxes for utilities and transportation ser vices that would be provided to the developments. Wayne Jones, UNC vice chancellor for busi ness and finance, said that while the University would take the town’s desires into consideration, the final plans for the tracts would be drawn up by Johnson, Johnson & Roy consultants and admin istrators. “We’ll see how much can be accommo dated and what can’t," Jones said. “I think that certainly we’ll have some areas of agreement... there will likely be some areas of disagreement.” Since officials began talking about developing UNC’s outlying tracts, residents and town leaders have expressed concern about their interests being a part of UNC’s long-range goals. In an effort to achieve increased cooperation, UNC Chancellor Paul Hardin promised in January that the Univer sity would not develop the tracts for 18 months to give the town time to consider new zoning laws. By the fall, Jones said, plans for the tracts will be firmer. “It’s the University’s land-use plan, not the town’s land-use plan or anybody else’s,” he said. “We can’t lose sight that it’s the University’s land-use plan, and we want to do that in a way that will be most compatible with the town’s goals.” Jones said that whatever development came of the tracts in the next 10 to 20 years, he didn’t expect it to be as burdensome on Chapel Hill as other large developments like Meadowmont could be. “I don’t anticipate a large addition in hous ing,” he said. “I mean there certainly will be some housing involved, but nothing like 2,000 units.” News/Features/Am/Spoits 962-0245 BusiMss/Advemsing 962-1163 01995 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reservrd. The party was held in conjunction with Alpha Phi Alpha’s annual Greek Freak Invitational Step Show, which had been held earlier in the evening across the street from the Student Union in Carmichael Auditorium. Officer Lewis Walton of the Univer sity Police said police had broken up the party because the crowd had become too large and some people were trying to get into the party without paying. See GREAT HALL, Page 2 Gun Buyback Results In the second year of the Buy Back the Hill program, police collected more guns on one day than they did on two \ Saturdays last year. , ' /S , r ■ SOUKCE: CHAPEL HILL roUCTDmffSr'^^mUT Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities, will be at tonight’s meeting to answer questions and to help resolve any discrepancies. One of the issues that might divide the Univer sity and the town is the future of the Horace Will iams Airport. The committee members want the airport to cease operation, and University adminis trators say the airport must continue to function. Runberg said the airport needed to remain open to serve the Area Health Education Centers project affiliated with the UNC School of Medicine. AHEC provides nonemergency health care train ing and “fer-reaching services throughout the state,” hesaid.Hesaidtheuseof other airports was not an option because the group needed a runway within a 15- to 20-minute drive from campus. Editor's Note The Daily Tar Heel is looking for five undergradu ates and one graduate student to serve on the paper's board of directors for 1995-96. The board of directors manages the financial and noneditorial functions of the DTH, which is published by the DTH Publishing Corp., an educational nonprofit corporation independent of UNC. The board acts as the paper's publisher and is authorized to handle the following: the annual budget vendor contracts, full-time personnel, standard operat ing procedures and editor selection. Applications are available in the DTH office, Union Suite 104, and are due by 5 p.m. April 18. Call Kevin Schwartz at 962-2540 for more information.

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view