®hp laily (Tar HM
INSIDE
■Off
SEPTEMBER 25,1996
Couch burners plead to misdemeanor charge
■ The fraternity members
must apologize in letters to
the editor to local papers.
BY SHARIF DURHAMS
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
A Chapel Hill District Court Judge
asked two Kappa Alpha fraternity mem
bers Tuesday to apologize to the commu
nity for setting an Aug. 17 couch fire near
the scene of the tragic Phi Gamma Delta
fraternity house fire.
When Colin Campbell Clode and
Candidates present
platforms to council
BY MARY-KATHRYN CRAFT
STAFF WRITER
Applicants for the Chapel Hill Town
Council’s vacant seat addressed develop
ment, mass transit, waste management
and other issues at Tuesday night’s pub
lic hearing.
In the ongoing process designed to fill
the seat vacated by Barbara Booth-
Powell’s death in July, the council heard
presentations and asked questions of
Louise Stone and Edith Wiggins. The
council will consider comments and make
an appointment at the Oct. 7 special
meeting.
Stone, director of publications at the
N.C. Department of Labor, said she
wanted to be part of the process that
would promote Chapel Hill as a fine
place to live. She said the town was
growing, and development issues pre
sented a dilemma to town officials.
“It’s a dilemma because you have the
rights of citizens vs. the common good,”
Stone said. “You have to address each
event, each development, each problem
as they arrive. I don’t know that you can
say yes or no to development. Growth is
inevitable.”
In response to a question asked by
council member Joe Capowski, Stone
said she would have voted for both
Meadowmont and Southern Village de
velopments.
Wiggins, who is UNC interim vice
chancellor for student affairs until her
Oct. 1 retirement, said she trusted the
Volunteer base drives executive branch
This is the first of a three-part series.
BY JESSICA GALAZKA
STAFF WRITER
Tasha Venters was bored with life on
South Campus. Looking for a way to air
her views on what goes on at UNC, the
freshman from Eatontown, N. J., walked
into Suite C of the Student Union, head
quarters of the executive branch of stu
• i DTH/M.C. STEED
Much of the work of the executive branch is done in committees. Thursday night Co-chairmen Matt Mesmer and Ray
Fuerst led a meeting of the External Affairs Committee, which represents students in state and local government.
School violence
Police are still investigat
ing a Chapel Hill High
School assault that
happened Sept. 13. Page
R
Charles Davis Allen pled guilty to a mis
demeanor state building code violation
of having an open fire without a permit,
Judge A. B. Coleman said the two should
send a letter to the editor to local papers
before he decided their sentence.
“Ithinkitwouldbegoodforthe entire
public to hear from them, ” Coleman said.
"I want to see what their views are about
what (Clode and Davis) did.”
The defendants’ lawyers requested a
prayer for judgement Tuesday, and
Coleman told them he would consider it
after local papers published the letter.
Clode and Davis were arrested and
charged with setting the couch ablaze on
council had made the correct decision
about Meadowmont.
“I can’t answer that question because
I didn’t have access to that information
(about Meadowmont),” Wiggins said. “I
trust that you made the best decision."
Wiggins said the impact of growth
and development on the town’s infra
structure was important to her. She said
she would want to preserve neighbor
hoods from traffic cut-throughs unless
such thoroughfares were necessary for
public safety.
Council members also asked appli
cants questions about transportation is
sues. Wiggins said a transit system was
essential to the community.
Stone said approximately 30,000
people came in to the town each day, and
there was a need for a better transporta
tion system. “I think also if we plan to
serve a community of different income
levels... then you have to study possibili
ties of mass transit,” Stone said.
Applicants also explained which town
issues they felt should be regarded as
regional matters.
Stone said she thought the landfill
should be a county matter. “I’m not sure
why there should be a garbage dump in
Chapel Hill,” Stone said.
Wiggins said she felt waste manage
ment and other issues should be worked
out within the region.
“I believe issues like transportation,
possibly solid waste management, are
the kinds of issues that lend themselves to
regional solutions,” Wiggins said.
dent govern
me"o many W /
older friends 4si<fK*6kti f
complain, and I
realized that if I
get involved, I could do something,”
Venters said.
This fall, more than 200 UNC stu
dents are dedicating their time and ef
Doing what you like is freedom; liking what you do is happiness.
Unknown
Laugh it up
One of New York's top
comics will perform at
B-GLAD's comedy night
this Thursday. Page 7
’ JQ
.**&*&* l BEk,' : j
Kappa Alpha members COLIN
CLODE and CHARLES ALLEN asked
for a prayer for judgement.
West Cameron Avenue, near the Phi
Gamma Delta fraternity house where
STUMPING
_ ■ Igjk.
DTH/CARA BRICKMAN
Republican gubernatorial candidate Robin Hayes visits Chapel Hill for the first time since this summer. Hayes spoke
about his platform planks, including education and prison reform. See story, page 3.
forts to work behind the scenes of the
executive branch. While the student body
president and vice president talk to the
media, negotiate with the administration
and preside over meetings, this army of
volunteers does the day-to-day work to
make student government run smoothly.
Rebecca Jamison, a junior from Have-
See STUDENT GOVERNMENT, Page 5
Debatable decision
Ross Perot is filing a A
lawsuit to be allowed in *
the presidential candi
dates' debates. Page 8
• f
five students died in a fire on May 12.
“My client in no way wanted to disre
spect the memories of those who died,”
said Davis’ attorney Mark Bibbs.
The state dropped felony charges of
willful or malicious burning of property
against Clode and Davis and a charge of
misdemeanor larceny against Clode dur
ing the morning court session.
The larceny charge was dropped when
Bibbs presented evidence that Davis
owned the couch.
“You can’t be convicted of stealing
your own property,” Bibbs said.
Clode’s attorney, James Stanford, said
the charges were an attempt to find a
Gantt, Helms scramble for middle ground
in ‘kinder, gentler’ U.S. Senate rematch
BY ROBIN SMITH
STAFF WRITER
In 1990, Harvey Gantt and Sen. Jesse
Helms, R-N.C., stood at opposite ends of
the political spectrum and hurled nega
tive ads at each other.
Six years later, they meet again, but
this time in the middle of the road.
Gantt, a Democrat, has stressed the
importance of family and “old-fashioned
values, ” emphasizing respect for parents,
the law and each other.
Gantt has also adopted conservative
sounding issues such as opposing gay
marriages, advocating welfare reform and
calling for the elimination of parole for
drug dealers and violent criminals.
In an address to the Democratic Na-
Judge: housekeeper mediation not yet needed
STAFF REPORT
Following a conference call Tuesday
morning, attorneys for the UNC House
keepers Association and the University
will attempt to negotiate for at least a few
more days without a mediator.
Judge Brenda Becton said that she
was withholding her decision until the
parties continued negotiations on their
own, housekeepers’ attorney A1
McSurely said.
“The University wanted two more
days to settle by Thursday,” he said.
Today's
Weather ,
Mostly sunny; high ”
70s.
Thursday: Sunny: high 70s.
scapegoat for the deadly fire.
“'We’re talking about charging these
men with a violation of a state building
code for burning a couch,” he said.
“Our clients know what they did was
foolish,” he said. “It was just a foolish
fraternity prank done on a dare.”
District Attorney Carl Fox said the
burning was no laughing matter.
“I don’t think this is anything to laugh
at or to take in any way lightly,” he said.
Clode and Davis are scheduled to re
turn to court Nov. 14 for Coleman to
make his ruling. If he grants the prayer
See COUCH, Page 8
Sen. JESSE HELMS, R-N.C., defeated HARVEY
GANTT In a close 1990 campaign.
tional Convention, Gantt said, “We value
strong families that struggle to stay to
gether. We do not value deadbeat par
ents who abandon their children.
“Wevaluehardwork. Welfaredepen
The attorneys will talk with Becton at
5 p.m. Thursday, when she will decide
on the need for mediation.
Becton also laid down some other
deadlines Tuesday.
By Oct. 15 she will send a letter to all
black employees in Steps 50 to 52, the
three lowest-paid positions, who have
worked at the University any time from
Sept. 22,1993, to the present. The letter,
a notice of participation to the class, will
inform the more than 500 current and
former employees about the housekeep-
103 years of editorial freedom
Serving the students and the University
community since 1893
News/Features/Arts/Sports: 962-0245
Business/Advertising: 962-1163
Volume 104, Issue 76
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
01996 DTH Publishing Cotp.
All rights reserved.
Families
comforted
at house
Part four of a five-part series
BY JULIA WOOD
STAFF WRITER
When a person becomes seriously ill,
the family is left with some difficult
choices and worries. The Ronald
McDonald House of Chapel Hill makes
it possible for families to be close to their
loved ones in a homelike setting.
The first Ronald McDonald House
opened in Philadelphia in 1974. Its mis
sion was and continues to be to provide
housing for families of ill children who
are being treated at hospitals away from
their homes.
The Chapel Hill Ronald McDonald
House, located at 101 Old Mason Farm
Road, opened in April 1988.
“We are a temporary home for fami
lies of seriously ill children who are being
treated at UNC Hospitals,” said Sheri
West, Development and Public Rela
tions Director.
West said the house, which has 20
bedrooms, was basically run by volun
teers.
“We only have three full-time em
ployees,” she said. "Volunteers are really
crucial.”
The house currently has more than
100 volunteers, 10 to 12 of which West
estimated were college sfudenft. She said
volunteers mainly did jobs like setting up
rooms, leading orientation sessions and
answering phones.
West said individuals could get in
volved with the Ronald McDonald House
by calling Programs Coordinator Clare
Adkins, who works with volunteers.
She also said various campus organi
zations had gotten involved by working
at fund-raising events, cooking meals for
families and doing work around the house
and yard.
Mike Vernon, a recent UNC gradu
ate, volunteers at the house every Tues
day night from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. He said
he became interested in the house through
See HOUSE, Page 2
dency if you can get a job is not some
thing to flaunt before those who work
two or three jobs just to get by. ’’
DalitToledano, spokeswoman for the
Gantt campaign, said, “This is not a
‘new’ Gantt, but the real Gantt. This
year, he is simply telling people who he
is.”
However, David Lowery, professor of
political science at UNC, said the whole
Democratic Party is moving toward the
middle. “Gantt is just reflecting the
change in tone of the party,” he said.
Political observers have noted that
even Helms, famous nationwide for his
“ultra-conservative” views, has mel
lowed. For example, Helms said over the
See HELMS-GANNT, Page 4
ers’ lawsuit and allow them to opt out of
the class action.
The housekeepers filed the racial dis
crimination lawsuit against the Univer
sity in 1992.
Becton also said the earliest she could
clear a week from her court calendar
would be the week of Feb. 3, 1997,
McSurely said.
The housekeepers were supposed to
go to court Monday, but a last-minute
call for negotiations from the Black Fac
ulty-Staff Caucus delayed the trial.