<Thr iatlu Ufctr INSIDE FRIDAY APRIL 19,1996 Judge Sets May Trial for Request to Open Honor Court BY LILLIE CRATON STAFF WRITER HILLSBOROUGH A superior court judge refused to extend a temporary injunction Thursday halting Honor Court hearings in the Carolina Re view theft case, but set a court date to hear a request to open UNC’s Honor Court proceedings. Superior Court Judge Jack Thompson said in his ruling that Honor Court hearings in the theft case could continue despite a request for the hearing to be open. “The issue of whether or not these records are public records and whether or not the meeting is a public meeting can be resolved at a later time,” Thompson said. The Daily Tar Heel’s request for an injunction to open all Honor Court proceedings will go to trial in Orange County Superior Court on May 6. The DTH m\ r n m *igL wp , I r DTH/JASONKffiK Dominique Hill, a freshman from Bayboro, performs with the group Harmonyx on Thursday night in Carroll Hall. The group performed as part of Concert 4 Unity, which was sponsored by a variety of campus groups. Large Turnout, Diverse Crowd Make Concert 4 Unity Big Success BYARUNIMAPANDE STAFF WRITER About 300 students gathered in Carroll Hall on Thursday night to watch seven campus groups from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds sing and dance at the first ever Concert 4 Unity. Concert co-coordinators David Moricca and Eric Farmer said they thought of the concert as a way to bring together several groups on campus and to put on a show that captured UNC’s diversity. “The idea was to pull different audiences and open people's minds,” said Moricca, a sopho more from Cherry Hill, N.J. Moricca and Farmer both said they were extremely pleased with the turnout at the concert. “It was a phenomenal experience. It was great to look out in the audience and see a mixture of faces from Asian to His panic to Caucasian,” Moricca said. Council Debates Merit Pay for Town Employees BY MARY-KATHRYN CRAFT STAFF WRITER Chapel Hill Town Council members on Wednesday debated the possibility of a pay increase system that would reward town employees for a job well done. Town Personnel Director Pat Thomas presented a proposal for a market and merit pay increase. She said the increase would reflect the current economy, and the amount of increase would depend on the performance level of the individual em ployee. The average employee would get almost a 4 percent increase for meeting or exceeding expectations. Town Manager Cal Horton said the majority of town employees did a suffi cient job. “Most employees do OK,” he said. “They get the work done. About 80 percent of our people are clearly 4 in that range.” Council member Richard Franck criti cized the merit pay plan. “The basic prob- HIV Cases Growing Doctors said one UNC student per month was diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS. Page 3 Q ¥ had requested that Honor Court proceedings in the theft case be postponed until the court could decide whether all Honor Court cases must be open to the public under the North Carolina Constitution and Open Meetings Law. The Honor Court is now free to resume proceed ings. University legal representatives told the court that records of the Review theft case would be preserved until the DTH’s case was resolved. More than 1,500 copies of the Carolina Review, a conservative magazine published by UNC stu dents, were stolen the night before student elections in February. Junior Reza Ardalan and senior Rich Fremont have been charged with impeding the free speech of the Review’s publishers. The Review theft case was expected to last two days. The Honor Court held proceedings in the case on Tuesday, but Judge Thompson ordered the court At one point, during a reggae song sung by Steve Aleong of CHispA, audience members got up and danced along to the music. “The audience was enthusiastic the whole night and was full of energy,” Moricca said. The concert featured musical perfor mances by the Clef Hangers, Opeyo! Danc ers, SANGAM Performers, CHispA, Loreleis, Harmonyx and the Vietnamese Students’ Association. The concert also featured speakers Cindy Wolf Johnson, director of the North Caro lina Fellows Program and Leadership De velopment Office, and Journalism and Mass Communication Professor Chuck Stone. In her opening speech, Johnson empha sized the importance of music in bringing people together. “Music has always transcended cultural barriers and borders,” she said. Stone, whose closing speech earned him lem I have with merit pay as it’s laid out here is that it gives the same per centage increase to all employees (re gardless of their salaries),” Franck said. The Black Pu blic Workers Asso ciation has asked the council to in crease salaries for the lowest-paid town workers. Franck claimed Council member RICHARD FRANCK criticized the proposed merit pay plan. there was too much of a difference between the highest-paid and lowest-paid employ ees. “I think we can at least entertain the thought of a tax increase to address some of the inequities,” he said. Council member Julie Andresen said she was opposed to a tax increase but would like to see salaries adjusted to the Party HI You Drop Saturday’s pr&xam blowout at Mclver Beach will feature cheap food and three local bands. Page 3 JQL to postpone hearings on Wednesday. The DTH asked for the temporary restraining order Wednesday after Judicial Programs Officer Margaret Barrett refused to postpone the Review theft hearing or open it to the public. DTH attorney Amanda Martin said Thursday’s decision could give momentum to the case to open Honor Court proceedings. “I think, among offer things, it will perhaps turn up the heat in respect to how fast the case is prosecuted,” she said. UN C attorneys argued that since records are kept of Honor Court hearings the DTH could use records of the case if the court later ruled in the DTH’s favor. “Even if the court were to assume that the open meetings law applies to this case, it would be inap propriate for the court to issue a temporary restrain ing order,” said Tom Ziko, head of the education division in the N.C. Attorney General’s Office. a standing ovation, called for social and racial unity. “All cultures and religions are equal under the eyes of God,” he said. Performers from different groups on campus volunteered their time and talent to put together the show. Members of Stu dents for the Advancement of Race Rela tions and Heels to Heaven helped put the event together Moricca and Farmer said their goal was to make the concert an annual event and donate the proceeds to cultural groups that needed funding. The proceeds from last night’s concent went to the Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center. Farmer, a sophomore from Raleigh, said the concert was a wonderful experi ence because it was rare that all of the different groups came together. “It was a beautiful turnout. There was definitely a common spirit in the audi ence.” cost of living. Instead of a merit pay in crease, Andresen said, the bulk of the pay increase should go to a cost-of-living in crease. “I’d like to see a little less emphasis on giving raises (based) on the decision of one administrator,” Andresen said. Franck agreed salaries should be ad justed to the cost of living in Chapel Hill. He said very few town workers lived in Chapel Hill because the cost of living was so high. Mayor Rosemary Waldorf suggested giving a cash bonus to outstanding work ers instead of a percentage raise, which the merit pay would provide. Waldorf said the bonus would be a fixed amount that was not included in the base pay, and it would be awarded at the end of the year to em ployees who had done an extraordinary job. “It speaks to one year’s performance,” Waldorf said. She also stressed that the council had made no specific conclusions about pay raises yet. I drink to make other people interesting. George Jean Nathan Off the Wall Artwork 'Life Sculpture' students displayed their highly personal works. Page 2 5r Martin said the judge’s decision would not dam age the case to open Honor Court proceedings. “I think the only reason the judge didn’t issue the restraining order is that he believed that after-the fact access (to the Carolina Review case records) was sufficient,” she said. The DTH is asking that future Honor Court hearings and records of past Honor Court cases be made open to the public. The DTH is also asking to be reimbursed for legal fees. University attorneys argue that the federal Fam ily Education Rights and Privacy Act, more com monly known as the Buckley Amendment, prohibit open Honor Court proceedings. Currently, only defendants in Honor Court cases can request that proceedings be open to the public. According to the complaint filed Thursday, the Honor Court is “an appointed body of the Univer Southern Authors to Fete literature in Readings BY HILARY SPARROW STAFF WRITER Eighteen nationally acclaimed South ern authors will convene in an unprec edented celebration of Southern literature Saturday afternoon in Pittsboro. Rick Bass, author of “The Lost Griz zlies,” will be flying in from Montana; Bob Shacochis, author of “Easy in the Islands, ” will come from Florida; Mark Richard, author of “Fishboy,” will arrive from Cali fornia; and Lee Smith, author of “Saving Grace,” will drive from Chapel Hill. Their destination is a large bam in Fearrington Village Center. “It’s sort of a certification of this area of North Carolina as the literary center of the South,” said English Professor Fred Hobson, who specializes in Southern lit erature. The gathering, hosted by Mclntyre’s Fine Books and Bookends, is a 10th anni versary celebration of Algonquin Books’ annual series “New Stories from the South” and its newest anthology, “Best of the South.” There will be three sessions of readings beginning at 1 p.m. and conclud ing at 5 p.m. Bill Buford, fiction editor of The New Yorker Magazine, will be the host. In the past 10 years, Algonquin Books editorial director Shannon Ravenel has read more than 10,000 short stories for “New Stories from the South. ” In celebra tion of the publication, novelist Anne Tyler has selected the top 20 stories, which are published in “Best of the South.” The 18 authors reading Saturday each have a story in the collection. “The book is a strong cornerstone of Southern literature,” said Craig Popelars, assistant sales manager of Algonquin Books in Carrboro. “You can really get a strong sample of what Southern literature is all about by reading the stories in it.” Keebe Fitch, manager of Mclntyre’s Books, said the strength of the book and its portrayal of Southern literature was rooted Serves Up! > ~"W~_ 1 x '.■ *te M sj DTH/RYAN MATTHES Courtney Bellich, a fresman from Asheville, spends time in the sun playing tennis on the Cobb tennis courts Thursday afternoon. Today's Weather Sunny; highs in the upper 70s. Weekend: Sunny high 80s. Selected Southern Anthers Mclntyre's Fine Books and Bookends will host a day-long reading in the Fearrington Bam, Sat., April 20th. Authors that will be present 1 p.m 2 p.m. Rick Bass Frank Manley Padgett Powell Mark Richard Lee Smith Marly Swick 2:15 p.m.— 3:15 p.m. Tony Earley Barry Hannah Mary Hood Edward P. Jones Patricia Lear Bob Shacochis 3:30 p.m. 4:30 p.m. Madison Smartt Bell Richard Bausch Reginal McKnight Nanci Kincaid Lewis Nordan Melanie Sumner in the diversity of its stories and authors. “This line-up runs the gamut, and it crosses across all cultural lines,” Fitch said. “This is a dream-team line-up.” Erica Eisdorfer, who manages the Bull’s Head Bookshop, said open readings such as this weekend’s increased Chapel Hill’s popularity for Southern writers. “Within a 20-mile radius we have 10 of the 2Q best novelists in the country,” Eisdorfer said. “It happens that Chapel Hill has off and on been the center of Southern literature, and it’s on now.” Hobson said Chapel Hill’s literary suc cess was largely due to the presence of Algonquin Books, which was founded in 1983 by Ravenel and retired English Pro fessor Louis Rubin. “The importance of Algonquin Books has to be stressed,” Hobson said. “The incredible success it has had in the last decade of publication has allowed very talented but unknown writers to gain na tional recognition very quickly.” 103 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community nce 1893 News/Feanaes/Aits/Sportr 962-0245 Business/Adrotmog: ? i 962-1163 Volume 104, Issue 35 Chapel Hill, North Carolina C 1996 OTH Publishing Cop. AD rights reserved. sity of North Carolina” that exercises “quasi-judi cial and administrative functions," and therefore falls under the Open Meetings Law. Chief Deputy N.C. Attorney General Andrew Vanore Jr., who also represents UNC, said the Honor Court was not a public body under the law because it was appointed by the chancellor rather than the Board of Trustees or Board of Governors. “(UNC) student Honor Courts have been continu ously closed since 1955, so it’s not something that’s new,” Vanore said. Martin said closing Honor Court proceedings on the grounds that the court did not qualify as a public body belittles the role of the Honor Court. “Ifl came before a court... and was told simultaneously that this was not a body of the University of North Carolina but that it could kick me out of school, I would object strenuously,” she said. Hooker Embraces Safe Parties BY DEANNA WITTMER STAFF WRITER Chancellor Michael Hooker said Thurs day that he supported Great Hall parties, but not if student safety was in jeopardy. “An important part of the collegiate experience is parties,” Hooker said. “And I think we should make every effort to enable our students to have parties.” But Hooker said the University had a responsibility to not put students at risk. A committee of eight administrators that did not include Hooker decided Sunday to cancel two remaining parties scheduled for this semester in the Great Hall by black Greek organizations. The move followed an early Sunday morning shooting outside Fetzer Gymnasium soon after the Greek Freak step show and after party ended in Carmichael Auditorium. Hooker said he thought the decision was made because University Police could not guarantee the safety of students. “You have to be guided by what the police advise you in matters like this,” he said. Police have said they had as many offic ers as necessary on the streets following the 1:30 a.m. Sunday conclusion of the party, and that nearby officers saw or heard the shooting occur and reacted quickly but could not have done more to prevent it. University Police Chief Don Gold said putting more officers on the street after the party probably would not have prevented the shooting. “When people are hell bent to commit a crime or they are intoxicated and get the right stimulant, putting more people out there won’t necessarily solve the problem.” There were seven to nine officers along South Road at the time of the shooting, said Major Greg Graves of the University Police. After the shooting, one officer tried to chase the car from which shots were fired, Graves said, hoping the traffic would slow the car down so he could catch it. The driver managed to dodge people in his way and sideswiped another car, Graves said. Another officer got the car’s license plate number. Deana Davis, vice president of the Black Student Movement, said she heard a loud verbal confrontation take place in front of Fetzer Gymnasium. She said the exchange stood out above thenoiseofthe crowd that had just come from Carmichael Audito rium. The police hadn’t taken any previ ous notice of the car before the shooting, Graves said. Graves, Gold and Davis all said they were comfortable with the security level at Greek Freak. There were no incidents in side Carmichael Auditorium during the party, Graves said. Often police presence would deter crimi nal activity, Graves said, but “apparently an officer in view had no bearing on the young man’s intentions.” Graves said he was sure that the shooter could see several officers in the area. Gold said there was a limit to the num ber of officers he could assign to events like Saturday's. “We can’t just throw more resources at it because we have no more to throw at it.” Hooker said he hoped Great Hall par ties would be resumed, but only if police could guarantee people’s safety. Black fraternities and sororities were disappointed with the administrators’ de cision to cancel all Great Hall parties for the rest of the semester, said Jonnie Artis, outgoing president of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. Artis said the cancellation was hurting the fraternity's ability to raise funds.

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