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alir Batlii ®ar ~£nl hir* r'r-v /-2f7i / OA INSIDE TUESDAY APRIL 23,1996 Police Searching More Residence Hall Rooms for Drugs ■ The director of Student Legal Services said students shouldn’t consent to searches. BY NOELLE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER University Police have searched more residence hall rooms for drugs and alcohol this semester than in the past because of an increase in the number of complaints against students, University Police Chief Don Gold said. “The complaints coming out of resi dence halls complaints of controlled substances have increased,” Gold said. “Officers have been responding to these reports.” Rather than obtaining search warrants from the magistrate to investigate tips, police typically visit residents reported for drug possession and ask them to sign a consent form that enables police to search the room, Gold said. Student Legal Services Director Dor othy Bemholz said she had advised several students who were cited in residence hall rooms this semester. “Based on the descriptions I see from students, the police are being much more aggressive in searching rooms,” Bemholz said. “Officers are knocking on doors and asking the students to sign consent forms.” Students do not have to agree to a police request to enter their rooms unless the police have a search warrant, she said. “My legal advice would be not to con sent.” If a student will not consent to a room search, the officers must obtain a search warrant from the magistrate’s office, a pro cedure that usually takes 10 minutes, said Officer Angela Carmon. Two of three students contacted for this story whose residence hall rooms were searched by police all of whom asked not to be identified said police had not Acquittal in Review Case Could Lead to Lawsuit ■ The Carolina Review might file charges against Reza Ardalan and Rich Fremont in a state court. BY JAMES LEWIS SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR Two students who admitted taking more than 1,500 copies of The Carolina Review were found not guilty in the UNC Honor Court Sunday night of impeding the free speech rights of the magazine’s publishers. Review staff members said Monday they were looking into taking the two students, senior Rich Fremont and junior Reza Ardalan, to a North Carolina criminal or civil court. “We are discussing the possibility of going to a real court,” said Carolina Re view Editor Ashley Gamer. “Unfortu nately, it may be the best way to handle the situation in light of the Honor Court ac tions.” Review Publisher Charlton Allen said he was not sure what specific legal action Review staff members would take against Ardalan and Fremont outside the Univer sity. “It’s still too early,” he said. “I know that everything is on the table, and we will be making some decisions shortly on this. ” Ardalan said he was confident that he and Fremont had done nothing wrong. “I don’t know what they havp planned,” Ardalan said. “But I feel we did nothing wrong.” Fremont said the Honor Court’s verdict confirmed his belief that taking the 1,500 copies was justified. “Reza and I, from the very beginning, believed that we did not violate any aspect of the Honor Code,” he said. “The fact that we were exonerated through the Honor Court proves that by taking the Review we were doing the right thing something that we have always known.” Ardalan said he was pleased with the verdict and felt the case should never have gone to the Honor Court. “I’m glad that the Honor Court found us not guilty,” he said. “I’m still a little upset that we were charged in the first place. “I am glad that the proper authorities came to that decision as well that we didn’t do anything wrong.” Allen said he disagreed with the not guilty verdict for Ardalan and Fremont because he felt the Honor Court was not impartial. Senate Stumping Candidates for N.C. Senate prepare for the campaign trail's end and wait for the voters to decide. Page 5 f- University Police Chief Don Gold said police had conducted more room searches because of more complaints about drug use in residence halls. informed them they did not have to sign the consent form. “They just said, ‘We need you to sign this so we can search your room,”’ said a student cited for marijuana possession. The third student contacted said police officers covered the peephole on his door while knocking and did not immediately identify themselves. The student said he had initially refused to open his door, but “they were like, ‘You have to open the door, it’s Campus Police.’” When the stu dent opened the door, he said he told police he would not voluntarily consent to a search, but an officer said he could search the room because he could smell mari juana. The student was cited for posses sion of marijuana. Another student also said police had covered the peephole when they knocked. An increase in the number of room searches should not be linked to more aggressive tactics on the part of the police, Gold said, but resulted instead from a rise “Before we were concerned with these two individuals coming forward and con fessing their part in this crime and be ex posed for doing that," he said. “It’s sick now that they have confessed and they have been allowed to weasel out of it by a system that’s willing to look the other way because of political and personal preju dice.” One of the five Honor Court justices who heard the case served on the Nelson transition team with Fremont. Ardalan said the case had been handled fairly by both the Honor Court and the student attorney general’s office, which investigates all Honor Court cases. “I feel that the members of the court, and every body involved, were impartial,” Ardalan said. “It’stheirjobtobeimpartial.andthey did a good job of that.” Ardalan and Fremont took copies of the Review’s election issue, which had been distributed in campus classrooms hours before the Feb. 13 student elections. The cover of the issue featured then- Student Body President candidate Aaron Nelson, who is Jewish and a member of Ardalan’s and Fremont’s fraternity, with horns and a pitchfoik. Ardalan and Fremont have said they took the issues because they viewed the cover as anti-Semitic and also because they felt that distributing the publication on the eve of campus elections amounted to elec tioneering —a violation of student elec tion laws. In a column appearing in The Daily Tar Heel today, Fremont said that then-Stu dent Attorney General George Oliver ap proved the removal of the Reviews. Ardalan and Fremont put the stolen issues outside Oliver’s office after student elections returns were announced. The Review theft trial started April 16 and was set to continue the next evening, but a state superior court judge’s tempo rary restraining order blocked the hear ings. The order, requested by the DTH, was lifted Thursday, and the court concluded proceedings Sunday evening. The DTH filed the request to block the closed hearings until a judge could decide whether the Honor Court’s closed pro ceedings violated the N.C. Open Meetings Law or the N.C. Constitution. The DTH’s complaint against the Uni versity is set for a May 6 trial in Orange County Superior Court, and the Univer sity must preserve all records of Ardalan’s and Fremont’s trial until the case is re solved. n The Student Advisory Committee will give input to the chancellor. Page 4 in complaints about students over the past semester. “These type of searches are initiated by a call from an anonymous caller or a resi dent assistant who suspects that a con trolled substancemay bepresent in a room,” Carmon said. Bemholz said students needed to recog nize their rights when faced with police pressure. “Officers are trained to encourage you to consent or confess,” she said. “Usually students think that if they are very forthcoming, the police won’t pros ecute,” she said. “But police have a duty to make an arrest if they see contraband.” Gold said University Police did not con done the Appalachian State University policy of administrative room searches residence hall room searches conducted by campus police without warrants. Because ASU doesnotuseawarrantinthesearches, information obtained in them can only be used by the university, and not in court. Longtime Community Volunteer to Carry Olympic Torch ■ Frances Hargraves, who turns 82 today, still volunteers 25 hours a week. BYLAURA GODWIN ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR When asked her reaction to the news that her good friend and fellow volunteer Frances Hargraves would be running the summer Olympics torch through the area on its way to Atlanta, Chapel Hill Histori calSocietymemberHelenAllenreplied, “I hope there is no real running to it because ytfijfc' *- ynf| k v m V I \ w^B [I |Hn^B' : 'lf : OF I’M c ®f||| f i,; j V 3|| DTH / RYAN MATTHES The large crowds at the 24th annual Apple Chill resulted in traffic congestion on Chapel Hill streets hours after the festival was over. A dosed mouth gathers no feet. American proverb Jking, 27514 ilking... Campus tour guides are UNC's backward-walking ambassadors. Page 3 LI Campus Reports of Robbery, Sexual Offenses Decrease BY KATIE TYSON STAFF WRITER Reported incidents of crimes at UNC follow some of the national trends at other universities, according to a survey released Sunday by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Between 1993 and 1994, UNC saw a decrease in aggravated assault, burglary, liquor-law violations, drug-law violations and weapon-law violations. However, forcible sex offenses, robbery and motor vehicle theft all increased. The Chronicle, a national weekly newspaper that covers all aspects of aca deme, conducts annual surveys of crimes on college campuses. The survey was composed of data from 831 colleges, each with more than 5,000 students, which submitted copies of their crime reports. The reports submitted detailed infor mation that colleges are required by law to disclose. The Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 re quires colleges to publish statistics in nine categories: incidents of murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor-vehicle thefts; and arrests for li quor-law violations, drug-law violations and weapons-law violations. The survey compared figures from 1993 and 1994. The results found overall increases in drug arrests, alcohol-related offenses, murder, non-forcible sex of fenses, forcible sex offenses, weapon vio lations and robbery. Overall, decreases were found in aggravated assaults, bur glaries and motor-vehicle theft. Duke and N.C. State also followed trends set at schools nationwide. Bur glary ranked high among crimes reported atboth schools. However, thetwoschools she is getting along in years." Eighty-two years to be exact. Hargraves has dedicated much of her life to serving others in the community, which made her a prime candidate to represent the area during this summer’s Olympic torch-run. Hargraves said her enthusiasm for vol unteer work came from watching her mother helping others. She said in her life, volunteer work was “a part of the family tradition.” When Hargraves was growing up, she said her mother would go from house to house in the community to care for the sick. “I saw her doing so many things,” she said. “I think it just came naturally.” Today's Weather Partly sunny, chance of storms; high 80s. Wednesday: Sunny; high 60s. Crime on the Decline With a few exceptions, crime at UNC went down from 1993 to 1994. ■ 1993 ■ 1994 ■■’■-rr 120 ■ *>7 100 J///S* //S * ■/ x cf' SOURCE: THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION DTH/CHRIS HRKMAN AND DANIEL NIBLOCK showed remarkable differences in num bers ofliquor-law violations. Duke reported no incidents in both 1993 and 1994. N.C. State reported 480 violations in 1993 and 417 violations in 1994. These similarities and differences are representative of how it is impossible to use the numbers as the basis for compari son among schools. University Police Chief Donald Gold said increased emphasis on several areas could have contributed to the change in crime figures. He said increases in bike patrols, residence hall security seminars and C-TOPS information had all worked to make improvements. Gold said crime patterns at UNC re Q§b Among the many organizations where Hargraves volunteers her time are the Friends of the Senior Center, Girl Scouts, The Community School for People Under Six, Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill Public Library, Orange County Library and the Chapel Hill Historical Society. Hargraves said almost every moment of her free time was spent volunteering. “I’m Traffic Problems linger Long After Apple Chill Ends ■ Chapel Hill Police arrested 14 people at the 24th animal festival. BY ANGELA MOORE STAFF WRITER Official Apple Chill festivities lasted only until 6 p.m. Sunday, but the heavy traffic on Chapel Hill’s streets resulting from the Franklin Street festival did not abate until nearly five hours later. Chapel Hill police spokesperson Jane Cousins said that although the delays were frustrating, they are just a part of Apple Chill tradition. “Traditionally, there have been large crowds and traffic after Apple Chill, ’’Cous ins said. “Cruising is not unusual after wards.” Cousins said some of Sunday's traffic difficulties were worsened when police had to close off more of Franklin Street than had already been closed off for the festival. “At about 3:30 p.m., the number of pedestrians on West Franklin began to grow, and traffic got so heavy that it was at a standstill,” Cousins said. “So at 4 p.m., we rerouted traffic off Franklin to keep it flowing.” Cars were directed to Cameron Avenue instead of Franklin Street, where they en countered long lines. Cousins said West Franklin Street remained closed until 9:30 p.m. At 8 p.m. it took about 30 minutes to travel from the Harris Teeter supermarket in Carrboro to Townhouse Apartments on Hillsborough Street. About the same time, it took about 10 103 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 NeWFeamres/Arts/Sports: 962-0245 Business/Adveitaoig: 962-1163 Volume 104, Issue 37 Chapel Hill, North Carolina 01996 DTH Publishing Cap. AH rights reserved. fleeted trends within society. “The University community is just a microcosm of the greater community that it makes up,” Gold said. “You will see these same trends in many communi ties across the country.” Crime Prevention Safety Officer An gela Carmon said larceny was the big gest crime problem at UNC. Despite its prevalence on many col lege campuses, larceny is one category that colleges are not required to track or report. Carmon said UNC fared well in comparison to other schools their size. “I feel that this is a relatively safe campus.” Cannon said. “However, we are by no means 100 percent crime free. ” doing some type of volunteer work just about every day, ” she said. “I would say (I volunteer) around 25 hours a week. Any time they know they can call on me to get the job done, and I will do it to the best of my ability.” Allen said Hargraves was enthusiastic and dedicated in whatever venture she tried. “No one is a stranger," Allen said. “She is very supportive of the organiza tions. She works hard.” Hargraves, who celebrates her 82nd birthday today, said she had not let her age stop her from trying anew activity. “I think See HARGRAVES, Page 5 “ Traditionally ; there have been large crowds and traffic after Apple Chill. ” JANE COUSINS Chapel Hill Police Spokeswoman minutes to travel one block along Hillsborough Street on campus. By 9:30 p.m., the pedestrians were mostly gone, but town traffic was still clogged, Cousins said. “Traffic was still heavy until 10:30 or 11 p.m.,” she said. Chapel Hill police arrested 14 people at the festival. Four people were arrested for carrying concealed handguns without a permit. One person was arrested for pos session of a stolen handgun, Cousins said. Three years ago, Apple Chill was the scene of a shooting in which two people were injured. Cousins said the number of officers as signed to the festival had not necessarily increased since the incident, because the incident was not one more officets on pa trol could have prevented. The police also arrested four people for drug possession and issued two open-con tainer citations Sunday. Fifty-seven traffic violations were is sued near the festival for “anything from not wearing a seat belt to reckless driving, ’’ Cousins said. Compared to previous years, this Apple Chill was relatively calm for police. All in all, Cousins said the heavy traffic and ar rests made “weren’t very unusual” for an Apple Chill day.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 23, 1996, edition 1
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