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BREFS
Stories from the University and Chapel Hill
One robbery suspect
charged, one still at large
Chapel Hill police arrested and charged
a man in connection with a Monday
robbery of Lee’s Chinese Take-Out and
Delivery, police spokeswoman Jane
Cousins said. The man was charged with
armed robbery, Cousins said.
Employees of the restaurant, located
at 516 W. Franklin St., were held at
gunpoint by three individuals. Fifteen
checks and an undisclosed amount of
cash was stolen, reports state. A 15-year
old female was detained by restaurant
employees until the police arrived Mon
day night, reports state.
Cousins said the police are still search
ing for a third person involved in the
robbery. He is described as a 17-year-old
male.
Parks Department to hold
basketball shootout
The Carrboro Recreation and Parks
Department will sponsor a Parent-Child
Basketball Shootout beginning the week
of Oct. 21. A parent or guardian and their
child will team up in a basketball skills
related special event. The cost is $8 per
team. For additional information, con
tact the department at 968-7703.
Playmakers to perform
Three Tall Women
Playmakers Repertory Company will
perform the Pulitzer Prize-winning play
Three Tall Women by Edward Albee.
The play uses three actors to portray
the conflicting aspects of a woman’s per
sonality as she reevaluates her life. The
show runs Oct. 16 through Nov. 10 at the
Paul Green Theatre. Performances will
be held Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8
p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For ticket
information call 962-PLAY.
First lecture to be held in
Blacks in the Diaspora
The Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural
Center will begin its Blacks in the
Diaspora series chronicling African-
American culture with a lecture on Oct.
24. Paule Marshall, an author and Helen
Gould Sheppard professor of literature
and culture atNew York University, will
speak on “The Making of a Writer."
Marshall’s lecture will be held at 7:45
p.m in the Hanes Art Center auditorium.
Hebrew workshops to be
offered at art museum
The Ackland Art Museum will offer
an introductory program on the Hebrew
alphabet to kick off a series of Hebrew
language workshops. “What Language
is That, Anyway?” will be held Oct. 13
from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and is open to
adults and youths ages 12 and up. The fee
is $lO for the general public and $9 for
Ackland members. The Ackland will also
open an exhibit on Israeli art. “Ketav:
Flesh and Word in Israeli Art” will be on
display through Dec. 29.
"Around the Circle" lunch
discussion offered at BCC
“Around the Circle” invites people to
join its weekly lunch discussion on issues
relevant to the black community.
“Toward a New Black Aesthetic” will
focus on the value of contemporary black
literature. The program begins at noon
on Oct. 23 in the Sonja H. Stone Black
Cultural Center.
Carolina Union to begin
its Performing Arts Series
Carolina Union Performing Arts Se
ries will open with a performance from
classical guitarist Christopher Parkening
and the Colorado Quartet, award-win
ning chamber musicians. The perfor
mance will be held Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. in
Memorial Hall.
Alumnus, actor Grizzard
named visiting professor
George Grizzard, a UNC alumnus
and Tony Award-winning actor, will
begin teaching classes Oct. 15 as the
Mahlon K. Jordan Distinguished Visit
ing Professor in Dramatic Art.
Grizzard, a 1949 graduate of the UNC
department of dramatic art will conduct
scene classes with students each after
noon for two weeks. Grizzard was the
1996 Tony Award winner for Best Actor
for his performance in the Broadway
production “A Delicate Balance.”
FROM STAFF REPORTS
CAROLINA CAREER FAIR • October 10 • 9am-spm
All Students - Freshmen thru Graduate - Welcome to Attend!
University Career Services. Division of Student Affairs
Common Sense gets $5,024 in student fees
■ A conservative speaker
will enhance the intellectual
climate, members say.
BY ASHLEY STEPHENSON
STAFF WRITER
At its meeting Wednesday evening,
Student Congress passed abill that would
provideaconservativestudent group that
brings speakers to campus with more
State candidates rally
UNC students in Pit
■ Two campus groups
sponsored the rally for
progressive candidates.
BYRAYWATTERS
STAFF WRITER
Political parties and special interest
groups at Wednesday’s Rally for Change
urged listeners to register to vote.
The rally, co-sponsored by Students
for Choice and the Student Environmen
tal Action Coalition, included Demo
crats and candidates from the nontradi
tional Libertarian and Green parties.
Libertarians Eugene Paczelt, a candi
date for N.C. Commissioner of Agricul
ture, and Ray Übringer, a candidate for
U.S. Senate, presented their platforms.
“I’m pro-choice on everything,” Paczelt
said. “And my campaign slogan is ‘Let
farmers grow hemp again.”’
Übringer’s slogan and theme song is
“Your Life, Your Way,” which he sang
for the crowd. Übringer said the song
was “not brought to you by the National
Endowment for the Arts.” The chorus
Keep ID close in hand: credit card fraud abounds
BY LOU RUTIGLIANO
STAFF WRITER
You’re sitting at home one day when
a credit card company calls. According
to the creditor, you’ve been running up a
tab with one of their cards, and it’s time
to pay.
The only problem is you’ve never used
their credit card in
\py
world of credit card A&gKmtM&f'\j
fraud, a crime that is ' —*
rampant in the information age. Com
mitting this crime is easy —just fill out an
application with someone else’s name,
their Social Security number, some fake
information here and a post office box
number there.
All that stands between a crook and a
card in your name is your Social Security
number, a fact that is changing the way
people at UNC and across the country
treat this piece of information.
“It’s happening everywhere,” said Pat
Smith, a Secret Service investigator with
North Carolina’s state office. “It’s a lot
easier to get money with a pen then it is
with a gun.”
Schools offer incentives for graduation in four years
■ If students must go to
school a fifth year, the
university will pay tuition.
BY JENNIFER WILSON
STAFF WRITER
University students considering
stretching college over five or more years
might be dissuaded by the cross-country
establishment of programs encouraging
four-year undergraduate careers.
A program implemented at Central
Michigan University this fall guarantees
students will graduate in four years, or
the university will pay the tuition for
additional classes.
The Degree Partners Plan at CMU is
one of several programs of its kind in the
country. Similar programs are in place at
Indiana University, Wynona State Uni
versity, the University oflowa and Wash
ington State University.
“There is a national trend for students
than $5,000.
Congress appropriated $5,024 to al
low the organization, Common Sense,
to get a speaker through Young America,
a national conservative group.
Representatives from Common Sense
argued that such a speaker would en
courage “the intellectual climate on cam
pus.”
Assisting the passing of the bill was
the fact that Common Sense’s request fell
within the remaining amount of student
fee money available for allocation in Stu
was, “No more Jesse at the Helm, repeat,
repeat says Ray, your life, your way.”
Green party representative Dan
Coleman said he wanted to elect Ralph
Nader as president. “Why am I support
ing Ralph Nader for president? It’s be
cause Clinton and Dole stand for the
same conservative politics.”
Democrat candidates emphasized
their connections to UNC.
Eleanor Kinnaird, former Carrboro
mayor and a past UNC library employee,
said she supported campaign finance re
form. Kinnaird, a Democrat running for
state Senate, said she did not accept more
than SIOO from any individual or more
than $250 from political action commit
tees.
“We must speak up and tell the legis
lature that we have to have regulations
that are meaningful for all citizens,”
Kinnaird said. “Regulations that are
based on campaign contributions end up
as being no regulations.”
Democrat Howard Lee, a former
Chapel Hill mayor who served three terms
beginning in 1969, is also running for
See RALLY, Page 11
The rise of credit card fraud which
has contributed to losses of more than $ 1
billion a year has triggered an in
creased awareness among people of what
they should keep secret, Smith said.
Just three weeks ago, a panic hit the
Internet amid false claims that anyone
could find Social Security numbers
through the research service Lexis-Nexis.
It was true that Lexis-Nexis started the
“P-Trak” personal information database
where users could find a person’s
Social Security number and mother’s
maiden name— in June 1996. But com
plaints made Lexis-Nexis alter the ser
vice so that other information was re
quired to obtain the numbers.
Lexis-Nexis’ action was a victory for
privacy advocates, but there are still plenty
of chinks in the armor. At UNC and
universities across the country, the So
cial Security number doubles as a student
identification number. It’s on the front of
student IDs; it’s on attendance sheets; it’s
written on tests.
Some students concerned about their
privacy have opted to use a “dummy
number” instead of their Social Security
number for identification.
According to University Registrar
to take five to six years to graduate,”
CMU Registrar Karen Hutslar said.
The purpose of the program is to en
courage students to graduate in four years.
Since CMU is funded by the state legisla
ture, the more years a student attends the
university, the more it costs the state,
Hutslar said.
“(This program) makes sure we are
not spending too much money.”
CMU’s plan gives this year’s fresh
men the option of signing a contract with
the university in which the student desig
nates an area of study. The university
maps out a four-year career plan indicat
ing what classes the student needs to take
each semester. The plan requires stu
dents to take 14to 16 hours each semester
and does not include summer school,
Hustlar said.
If students follow this designated path
for four years and, through no fault of
their own, are not able to register for the
classes necessary to graduate, the univer
sity will pay the tuition for these classes.
But the students must pay for additional
NEWS
dentCongress’ emergency reserve. How
ever, Student Body Treasurer Julie
Gasperini urged the Student Congress
not to consider the maximum amount of
money in the emergency reserve “as a
target price.”
Several Student Congress members
said they voted in favor of Common
Sense because the organization had
shown dedication in appearing before
Student Congress two previous times.
Additionally, Common Sense provided
Student Congress with answers to ques
■e i nwKiii
DTH STAFF PHOTO
Students for Choice and and the Student Environmental Action Committee co-sponsored Wednesday's Rally for
Change. Local politicians and activists urged students to register to vote before the Friday deadline.
jmljl.lt.jSh
David Lanier, this switch can be made
easily by any student at UNC.
Until two months ago, this was not the
case. Students who received federal loans
were forced to use their Social Security
number as their ID number. But now
these students can also use a dummy
number.
“Wejust found out we have that capa
bility,” Lanier said. “Now we store the
Social Security number in a different
place in the computer database, keep it
separate and use it to report to loan agen
cies. It’s been two months that we’ve
used this new procedure and I haven’t
heard of any problems.”
The changes came after several stu-
m
CAMPOS
CONNECTIONS
Stories about colleges and universities
across the nation
expenses such as room and board, she
said.
Stephen Birdsall, dean of arts and sci
ences at UNC, said he did not think
UNC was considering adopting such a
program at this time. He said that since
very few degrees require more than 120
to 122 hours, students can graduate in
four years.
“If a student comes in as a freshman
tions that had been raised in previous
meetings.
In addition to the bills presented by
the various committees, Student Body
President Aaron Nelson presented his
“October Report” to Student Congress
to report on the first six months of his
term. The report chronicled the goals
accomplished and the shortcomings thus
far in the Nelson-Mclntyre administra
tion.
Nelson stressed the importance of ac
countability throughout his presentation.
dents complained that the use of their
Social Security number for identification
was a violation of their privacy. Kristi
Nowak, a graduate student from Califor
nia, was one of them.
“When I went in to get my ID number
changed, they said they couldn’t do it,”
Nowak said. “I pushed them on it and
they finally did it. I have a dummy ID
number, but it cost them a lot of paper
work. They finally just realized I wasn’t
going to go away.”
Changing ID numbers might seem
insignificant, but it could help students
avoid fraud. Smith said the Secret Ser
vice had dealt with cases of credit card
fraud involving UNC students. Although
the names ofthe UNC students could not
be released, the fact is that the openness
and availability of information at univer
sities can make students easy targets for
this type of crime.
“People don’t understand the Social
Security number wasn’t intended as an
identifying number,” Smith said. “If I
got your Social Security number, I could
call up, say I’m you, and that I need a
new card sent to anew address.”
See FRAUD, Page 11
and doesn’t do anything unusual, such as
double major, chances are (he will gradu
ate in four years),” Birdsall said.
Last fall, the University oflowa imple
mented the Four-Year Graduation Plan,
a program nearly identical to CMU’s
Degree Partners Plan.
This program allows freshmen to en
ter into an agreement with the university
in which they agree to follow a four-year
track designed by UI, and the university
guarantees that the student will be able to
enroll in the necessary classes, UI Ad
missions Officer Michael Barron said.
“If they do their part and we do ours,
we will achieve the right kind of under
graduate education,” Barron said. “We
have always counseled students in such a
way that they can graduate in four years. ”
Barron said students were attractedby
the program. Last fall 52 percent of the
freshman class participated in the
program’s more than 100 undergraduate
academic sequences. “We have every
See CAMPUS CONNECTIONS, Page 11
Thursday, October 10,1996
In the next six months, Nelson said he
would be addressing issues such as mak
ing the Open-Container Law an infrac
tion rather as a misdemeanor, and work
ing to make the CAROLINE telephonic
class registration system available online.
Nelson also mentioned issues such as
an increase in faculty gender equity and
campus security measures, such as better
lighting in poorly lit areas.
“It is important for student govern
ment to be responsible and accountable
to our constituents.”
Assault case
warrant to be
served soon
■ The accused says he is
innocent and will seek legal
action against his accuser.
BY RACHEL SWAIN
STAFF WRITER
As of Wednesday evening, a warrant
had been issued but no arrest made in the
alleged assault case involving Orange
County Democratic Party member
Randy Brantley and Susan Melton.
Melton, who has a pending lawsuit
charging the party discriminated against
the disabled, filed assault charges against
Brantley Tuesday morning after an inci
dent at the Democratic party headquar
ters Monday night. She claimed that
Brantley slammed a door into her, al
most causing her to fall.
Brantley, however, said that it was
Melton who slammed the door into him.
Melton said she was upset that Brantley
wasn’t arrested. “He’stheonethatthreat
ened me and hit me with the door on
purpose,” she said.
Chapel Hill Police spokeswoman Jane
Cousins said police had the warrant for
Brantley’s arrest, but she did not know
when they would serve it.
Brantley, fund-raising coordinator for
the party, saidhisencounterwithMelton
was not threatening. “I told her she would
have to leave because of the fact that she
is representing herself in an impending
lawsuit involving the Orange County
Democratic Party,” Brantley said. “Ask
ing someone to leave is not a threat.”
Brantley claims that he, not Melton,
was the victim in the incident. “My char
acter is being defamed,” he said. “It’s
smearing my name. I’m innocent.”
Brantley said he planned to file a re
straining order against Melton. “I have
rights not to be a victim, not to be libeled
against.”
Both parties plan to seek damages in
court. “I will seek punitive damages un
less I get a public apology from her,”
Brantley said. Melton said because she
was involved in the federal cases she
would leave the assault issue up to police.
“I’ll seek punitive damages from Mr.
Brantley later,” she said.
3