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Volume 103, Issue 122
102 yean of editorialfreedom
Serving the students and the University community since 1193
Nelson Takes Oath
Of Office in Carrboro
■ Mike Nelson became only
the fifth openly gay mayor in
the United States.
BYAMYCAPPIELLO
STAFF WRITER
Tuesday night marked a historic mo
ment in North Carolina as Mike Nelson
was installed as the mayor of Carrboro and
the first openly gay mayor in the state. Jay
Bryan, Alex Zaffron, Hilliard Caldwell
and Diana McDufFee also were installed in
aldermen positions.
As flashbulbs sparkled and television
cameras taped, Nelson thanked all of his
supporters who worked to get him elected.
“I’d like to thank my grandmother, who
was a guiding force in my life, my mother
who raised four pretty neat kids under
trying circumstances and my brother Mark
for being here tonight.
“I know that you have all heard that
behind every great man there is a domestic
partner,” Nelson said. “I owe a tremen
dous debt to Vic who waited with the
patience of a saint while I went from door
to door each weekend. He has borne the
brunt of this campaign with great grace
and charm.”
Nelson also thanked his campaign work
ers and campaign manager Matt Steigler.
“I appreciate all their work. I will never
forget it, and I will always wonder what the
heck I did to deserve such great dedica
tion.”
Nelson credited the lesbian and gay
community for his election success. “I
would never have been elected without
their love, support and undying faith,” he
said.
Nelson also honored former mayor
Beach Access Denied Despite Supreme Court Ruling
BY GRAHAM BRINK
STAFF WRITER
A dispute over beach access on a small,
windswept barrier island could have last
ing effects for the thousands of islands that
dot the North Carolina coast.
The far western end of Holden Beach, a
sandy barrier island south of Wilmington,
is the site of a controversial residential
development that blocks public access to
the beach.
“This is an important case that needs to
be taken seriously,” said Melva Okum,
associate director of the Environmental
Resource Program at UNC. “The public
easement issue is pertinent to all the is
lands in the Outer Banks.”
The controversy began in 1986 when
Concerned Citizens of Brunswick County
Taxpayers, a citizens’ group formed to
protest the development, sued the devel
oper, Holden Beach Enterprises, for erect
ing a guard house on Ocean View Boule
vard that effectively blocked public access
to Shallotte Inlet.
The Concerned Citizens claimed a pub
lic right of access because of the 50-year
precedent of beach access for fishermen,
swimmers and members of the general
public at Shallotte Inlet. “If the public uses
a road, pathway or access route for a long
enough period of time, the public has gained
a legal easement,” said James Maxwell,
legal counsel for the Concerned Citizens.
DTH / JOHN WHITE
Jennifer Wells, a sophomore from Cary, searches for a Christmas present Wednesday at The Intimate Bookshop
under the watchful eyes of one of Santa's helpers. Wells finally chose a Hans Christian Andersen book as her gift.
Eleanor Kinnaird in his first mayoral
speech. “Elliehassetsuchahighstandard.
I hope that I can be half as good a may or as
she was,” he said.
After his installation, Nelson outlined
the areas he said he believed would be
crucial for Carrboro in the next two years.
The managing of growth, a free-standing
library with a full staff and full selection of
books, affordable housing, and the new
landfill are all important areas that Carrboro
must deal with, Nelson said.
“A government that does not honor its
commitments dishonors itself,” Nelson
said. “Let’s walk into the 21st century
hand in hand old Carrboro, new
Carrboro, black, white, gay, straight.”
The first matter the new board tackled
was finding a replacement to fill Nelson’s
alderman seat. David Collins, who was a
candidate foralderman inNovember, spoke
on the matter.
“I rise here to state my unequivocal
support for Diana McDuffee to fill the seat
left by Mike Nelson,” Collins said.
McDuffee placed fourth overall in the
alderman race and third in three out of five
precincts, Collins said. He commended
her dedication to the people of Carrboro.
“Throughout the race, I found Diana to
be conscientious, thoughtful and passion
ate about her ideas,” Collins said. “I may
not agree with her on everything, but I
know that she will work hard and do her
best to represent the citizens of our com
munity."
Other board members echoed Collins’
sentiments. “Diana will be a wonderful
addition to the board,” said Alderman
Jacquelyn Gist.
Zaffron nominated McDuffee for the
alderman position, and her appointment
was unanimously approved before she was
sworn in.
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f Holden Beach
“Once this is established the public is al
lowed to use it forever.”
Holden Beach Enterprises countered
saying that the land was privately owned,
and thus, under the owner’s domain. “We
have a legitimate reason for restricting ac
cess, ” said Harry Lockwood, general man
ager of Holden Beach Enterprises. “It’s a
private road. We built it.”
In 1991 theN.C. Supreme Court, after
citing flaws in the trial courts interpreta
tion of an earlier decision, remanded the
case back to the lower courts for retrial. No
I’ve over-educated myself in all the things I shouldn’t have known at all.
Noel Coward
Mike Nelson embraces his mother after being sworn in as mayor at Carrboro Town Hall Tuesday nigh™
Nelson is the first openly gay mayor to be elected in North Carolina and only the fifth in the nation.
Holden Beach
further court proceedings have occurred.
Supreme Court documents stated that
the trial court applied incorrect standards
in determining whether the path through
the shifting dunes was used by the public
for the requisite period of time, 21 years.
The court’s decision was interpreted to be
a victory for the Concerned Citizens group
because it stated that the access route was
legitimate.
It’s a significant case, Maxwell said,
that unfortunately was bogged down be
cause of lack of funding. “The Concerned
Chintll Hill Mftrtfc Carnliaa
WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER 6,1995
Citizens don’t have the money to continue
the fight,” he said. “They won a victory,
but simply were not able to pursue it.”
The Supreme Court decision set a pre
cedent that is still valuable to all coastal
areas, Maxwell said. “This is an important
environmental case,” he said. “When the
case was decided we had calls from all over
the coastal United States asking for infor
mation about the case.”
Maxwell said the attorney general’s of
fice sided with the Concerned Citizens
during the Supreme Court case. He said he
hoped the attorney general would pursue
the case further, but had not heard of any
movement.
“The attorney general shouldn’t be al
lowed to drag its feet on this case,” Okum
said. “This case is too important to the
future of the North Carolina coast to be put
off.”
Greg Rideout, spokesman for Attorney
General Mike Easley’s ofiice, said he would
look into the status of the case, but was not
able to comment on the case at press time.
Lockwood said that no matter when or
if the case resumed, Holden Beach Enter
prises was ready to defend its decision to
erect the guardhouse, but was in no hurry
to do so. “The ball is not in our court,”
Lockwood said. “We think we are correct,
and we will defend when we need to de
fend.”
See OUTER BANKS, Page 4
Campus Food Task Force
Calls Facilities Inadequate
■ Members said UNC should
replace Lenoir Dining Hall
and expand Chase Hall.
BY JOHN C. JOHNSON II
STAFF WRITER
Members of the University’s Food Ser
vice Task Force said Tuesday they may
recommend that UNC drastically change
existing food service facilities to improve
quality of food service on campus.
The task force must make a recommen
dation to the administration about whether
UNC should continue contracting food
service out to Marriott or to become self
operating. Marriott’s contract expires late
next year. The group has been charged
with deciding how to provide the highest
quality of food service to students.
But Rutledge Tufts, the University’s
auxiliary services director, said the group
also may recommend that the University
make substantial capital improvements in
the food service facilities.
“There is a general consensus that we
Undergraduate Library
To Maintain 24-Hour
Schedule Next Spring
BYMARISA FERGUSON
STAFF WRITER
Following a successful semester-long
trial period for the 24-hour Undergraduate
Library, the UNC library administration
has decided to continue the service next
semester.
Undergraduate Librarian David Taylor
said administrators had measured the suc
cess of the 24-hour library by polling stu
dents who have used the facility since it has
been operating under the new hours.
“The statistics showed it has been well
used. We did a survey of students on how
they feel about it and their comments were
very much in favor,” Taylor said.
Taylor said students did not use the
library’s extended hours at the beginning
of the semester.
“It took a while before people knew it
was available,” Taylor said. “When we
surveyed people, we found that most of
them found out about it by accident.”
All services in the Undergraduate Li
need anew central building on campus,”
Tufts said. “What we don’t know yet is
how to go about funding it.”
Task force member and Student Body
Co-Secretary Mohan Nathan said he was
not sure what the task force was going to
recommend, but he knew that a drastic
change with facilities was on the agenda.
“The sky’s the limit,” he said. “We’re
looking at all these different options basi
cally. One of them is, do we build anew
building where Lenoir is now. Another is
expanding Chase (Hall) because it can not
handle its current dinner crowd.”
Nathan said the current status of Lenoir
Hall was not up to par, and the task force
wanted to permanently solve this problem
so it would not come up again in another
three years.
Gary Johnson, chairman of the Food
Service Task Force, said he and the com
mittee were not sure about the position
they would take on the issues. “We have
not made those choices,” Johnson said.
Food Service Manager Mary Palermo
said there were some improvements that
were needed in the facility. “There isn’t
enough seating for all the students.”
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E-mail Not
From UNC,
Dean Says
■ The dean of students said
University Police is still
investigating a racist e-mail.
BY MARVA HINTON
STAFF WRITER
A racist e-mail message which was be
lieved to have originated from a former
University student’s e-mail account prob
ably did not come from that student or a
member of the University community, the
dean of students said Tuesday.
Fred Schroeder, the dean of students,
said the matter was still being investigated
by the University Police and the e-mail
postmaster.
“Every bit of information I have now
would indicate that it did not come from
Pyle (the account’s owner),” Schroeder
said.
The message, which listed the top 10
reasons “Why all blacks should SHOULD
GO BACK TO AFRICA!” was sent to
African-American, erotic and politically
conservative newsgroups. An Internet user
in Melno Park, Calif., forwarded the mes
sage to Schroeder and The Daily Tar Heel.
David Pyle graduated from UNC in
May and has since moved to Massachu
setts. His account has been closed.
Schroeder said he hoped this revelation
would help the University’s image, which
had been damaged by the message.
“This incident is not reflective of this
academic community,” Schroeder said.
“It’s a great concern to all of us, but it’s
See E-MAIL, Page 4
brary are available 24 hours except for the
non-print materials, which include video
and audio recordings.
Taylor said there have been no prob
lems resulting from the Undergraduate
Library’s late night hours, which was an
other incentive for continuing the service.
The source of funding for the 24-hour
library hasnotyet been decided, said Diane
Strauss, associate university librarian for
public services.
The library’s budget paid for the service
during the fall semester.
Taylor said many other campus ser
vices located near Central campus were
following the precedent set by the Under
graduate Libraiy by extending their hours,
too.
Union Station, Student Stores and the
Daily Grind have now extended their hours
of operation.
Taylor said, “We’ve got more people
here late at night, and we want more re
sources open to them so they don’t have to
go up to Franklin Street to get these things. ”
Cracking Down: Bars are now
checking IDs and using metal
detectors when patrons walk in.
City News, Page 3
Hrttin' the Beach: UNC is set to meet
Arkansas Dec. 30 in Miami.
Sports News, Page 7
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