Zll? Saily ®ar INSIDE MONDAY DECEMBER 2,1996 Motorists face delays due to rain, holiday traffic; 15 killed in N.C. BY ERICA BESHEARS STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR Steady rains further congested heavy holiday travel Sunday, causing long de lays and fender benders on interstate high ways, theN.C. Highway Patrol reported. As of press time, 15 people had died on N.C. highways since 6 p.m. Wednes day, N.C. Highway Patrol telecommunicator Sharon Thomas said. Thomas said the “holiday count” ran from 6 p.m. Wednesday to midnight Monday. She said she didn’t know how this year’s Thanksgiving weekend fatali ties compared to previous years. Most fatal accidents occurred on rural roads, she said. “We’ve had a couple on N.C. highways and U.S. highways. I don’t see but one on the interstate.” Thomas said rainy weather had not contributed to the traffic deaths, but it had caused a number of light traffic acci dents like fender benders. Sgt. R.L. Hawley of the N.C. High way Patrol in Durham said troopers had been busy cleaning up traffic accidents, which he attributed to bad weather on a heavy traffic day. “Y ou can imagine how it’s affected the traffic," he said. “We have been inundated with accidents.” Sgt. S.H. Collins oftheN.C. Highway New statewide laws crack down on deadbeat parents BY TODD DARLING ASSISTANT STATE AND NATIONAL EDITOR Starting this week, deadbeat parents in North Carolina will have to pay their child support or face losing their drivers’ licenses. In one of several new state laws that took effect Sunday, judges will now be allowed to revoke hunting, fishing and driving licenses of deadbeat parents who are 90 days or more behind on their child support payments. The Division of Mo tor Vehicles also will prevent parents from getting anew license and from reg IN-VINCE-IBLE ' - W r r " vHj IPs p||P|gßS lllnl I j' ■ *'■' \ / DTH/AMY CAPPIELLO North Carolina sophomore Vince Carter prepares a two-handed jam in the Tar Heels' 82-61 win against Pittsburgh on Saturday. Carter had 16 points. Stage fright History graduate students will have an opportunity to present their research to UNC on Tuesday. Page 2 n Patrol in Orange County agreed traffic had been bad, but he said the rain made it no worse than usual for a holiday weekend. “(It was) probably not any worse than it would have been if it had been clear," Collins said. No officers could estimate the number of accidents that occurred Sunday. Areas that trapped motorists included Interstate 95 and the construction areas of Interstate 85, Thomas said. Hawley said southbound travelers on 1-85 in the Durham area faced an hour and a half wait Sunday afternoon. Collins said the worst traffic in Alamance and Orange counties occurred at areas where 1-85 and Interstate 40 split and outside of Mebane and where the four-lane 1-85 /I-40 northbound lane be came two lanes. He said accidents con tributed to the delay. “Traffic slows down any time people see blue lights on the side of the road,” Collins said. “Just be pa tient is all I can say. If you're local and know any back roads to take, take them.” Christy Ryder, a sophomore from Devon, Pa., said the normally seven hour-long trip back to school took her 10 1/2 hours. She attributed it to one-lane travel on 1-85, rain and heavy traffic volume. “The maximum safe speed was 65 to 70, and that was pushing it.” istering their cars. “We’re glad to have this tool,” said Joe Buckner, Orange County District Court judge. “(The law) will provide some more tools to provide incentives to nonpaying parents.” The new law is one more step in Gov. Jim Hunt’s Crackdown for Children, a program that includes increasingly strict measures to force deadbeat parents in North Carolina to cough up child sup port. Buckner said the law would have dif ferent effects on different types of par ents. Individuals who hold business li If today is the first day of the rest of your life, what was yesterday? Unknown Holiday blues Some Chapel Hill retailers say they felt the absence of students this Thanksgiving break. Page 3 Steady rain delays flights, causes flooding ■ The National Weather Service says the weather should stay dry for a while. BY HOLLY HART STAFF WRITER North Carolina will get a break from the rain after one to two inches drenched the state Thanksgiving weekend. “We’ve pretty much seen the end of it,” said Meteorologist Phil Badgett of the National Weather Service in Raleigh. While steady rain fell all weekend, Badgett said the soil absorbed most of it. “There weren’t any reports of flooding east of the mountains,” he said. He said the northwest comer of the state saw the heaviest rain with an aver age of two to three inches falling during censes, such as realtors, would be hit the hardest, while parents without jobs or drivers’ licenses would not really be af fected, he said. “If they have nothing to lose, it’s just like a bill collector,” Buckner said. To get their licenses back and have the restrictions removed from their records, parents will have to get certification of payment from a child-support agency. Officials said hundreds of parents could lose licenses, but child support workers said the main purpose of the law was not to penalize parents. “Our hope is that people will pay up Local groups mark World AIDS Day ■ The Triangle AIDS Interfaith Network held a service Sunday night. BY MARY-KATHRYN CRAFT ASSISTANT OTY EDITOR In coming years, children will suffer the strongest effects of AIDS and educa tion will be key in fighting the disease’s rapid spread, said Jeny Breitman, mem ber of the National AIDS Fund Board of Trustees. At the World AIDS Day Interfaith Worship Service on Sunday in The Chapel of the Cross, Breitman, the key note speaker, the Triangle AIDS Inter faith Network and members of local Accident leaves student in critical condition BY MARVA HINTON ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR A UNC student remains in the Inten sive Care Unit at Pitt County Memorial Hospital following a traffic accident Nov. 24. Kristen Elizabeth Bradley, a junior from Naples, Fla., has not regained con sciousness since the accident. Bradley was one of three passengers in a car driven by another UNC student, Charles Helms, a sophomore from Hickory. Brian Glasco, a junior from Mooresville who was in the back seat with Bradley, was also hospitalized with serious injuries. The front-seat passen ger, David Modica, a sophomore from Clemmons, was not seriously injured. The accident occurred at approxi mately 12:55 a.m. on Interstate 40 in Duplin County while the group was headed toward Wilmington. The Ford Explorer that Helms was driving appar Praying for her recovery Doctors debate treatment as Mother Teresa slips into critical condition. Page 5 DTH/AMY CAPPELU) Holiday vacationers braved traffic-flow problems that resulted in jams, some of which lasted for hours. Interstate 85 (pictured) and Interstate 40 were heavily travelled in both directions. the weekend and flash flood warnings in Ashe County. Despite delays and acci dents on the highways, Badgett said no roads were closed. “Traffic was slowed down because of the rain, but it was nothing out of the ordinary,” he said. “It was just a typical rainy day on the road. ” It was not a typical rainy day in the sky, as flights were delayed up to three and not lose their license,” state Child Support Enforcement Manager Dan Pickett said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We hope when this first starts, the word kits tke streets drat they’re actually doing it, and it will help collections." Another series of laws that also took effect Sunday involves the illegal use of blue lights on automobiles. Under the new laws, anyone using a blue light to force a motorist to stop or yield right-of way could face as many as 10 years in prison. Also, anyone caught illegally operating a vehicle with a blue light could churches, addressed the problems sur rounding the rapid spread of AIDS. “As our children grow ... we give them increasing information and respon sibility to make their own decisions," said Breitman, who is also a member of the Duke AIDS Research and Treatment Community Advisory Board. “But in many, perhaps most homes, we give them almost no information about sexual drives.” Because AIDS is primarily a sexually transmitted disease, adolescents begin ning to discover their sexualities are most vulnerable to the disease, he said. Today’s sexual education could lead youth down a deadly road because most sex education focuses on abstinence and never fully explains homosexuality, he said. ently left the road into the median strip. In an attempt to return to the road, Helms lost control and the vehicle overturned four times. Modica and Glasco could not be reached for comment. Helms spent time in jail following the accident for charges that he would not comment about on Sunday. “I dozed off at the wheel, ” said Helms, who suffered bruises, scrapes and cuts, but did not have to be hospitalized. Helms said he did not know a court date. “I might be able to settle out of court, ” he said. “It’s really unclear now.” Helms said he went to the hospital to check on his friends. He said he thought Glasco would be released from Sampson Memorial Hospital today. But Katie Bradley, Kristen’s younger sister, said Sunday her sister’s condition was tenuous. “She’s in intensive very critical condi tion,” Bradley said. “She’s still coma- Today's Weather Sunny; mid 50s. Tuesday Partly sunny low 50s. hours at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. “I think all of the airlines have had problems with flights coming in and out of New York because of the weather up there,” said USAir supervisor Jeff Slayton. All of USAir’s New York flights were running one to three hours late. Midway Airlines reservationist Rich Rodriguez said the weather around RDU, end up behind bars for as many as five years. Sgt. M.R. Johnson of the N.C. High way Patrol said he thought the new laws vrouldbe effiecUyc toolato cxnb an ongo- 1 ing problem. “We’ve had past problems and present problems,” Johnson said. “I favor these laws 100 percent.” Johnson said that in the past, investi gations and reports from citizens usually caught perpetrators, but he hoped the new laws would serve as a deterrent. “This will cause people to think twice before putting blue lights on their car.” “Our churches, synagogues and temples should take leading roles in broad ening our sexual education beyond absti nence,” Breitman said. “Abstinence will work for some young people, but, for many, history has shown us (that it will not work).” Breitman, a homosexual living with AIDS, said AIDS was the leading cause of death for people between 25- and 44- years old. “HTV and AIDS are not diseases re served for homosexuals,” he said. “This is an equal opportunity disease." Breitman said that although fighting HTV and AIDS was an uphill battle, many encouraging medical break throughs had been made in the past year. SeeAlDS,Page2 tose. She received massive head trauma. ” Bradley said doctors had not given any indication when she might regain consciousness. “It’s all up in the air, ” she said. “She has flashed open her eyes.” Bradley said she did not know if her sister was wearing a seat belt, but her broken collar bone led them to believe that she was wearing one. Bradley said her sister could not have visitors. “She can’t receive flowers,” Bra dley said. “Cards would probably be bet ter received to her address in Florida. “Kristin’s a sweetheart, and we all love her. She has the biggest heart.” Following the accident, Frederic Schroeder, dean of students, sent notifi cation to all the students’ professors. “We always send out statements so that they are not penalized, ’’said Donald Jicha, associate dean of the General Col lege. Jicha said any student who was hospitalized or unable to take their ex ams for any reason could be excused. 103 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the Urriverrity community since 1893 News/Feamres/Arts/Sports: 9624)245 Business/Advemang: 962-1163 Volume 104, Issue 120 Chapel Hill, North Carolina 51996 UIH Publishing Cop. All tights reserved. which serves as Midway’s hub, had caused delays of about an hour and a half for half a dozen flights Sunday. “There were a few delays, but there seemed to be more delays Sunday.” Badgett said he did not expect any more rain for the next four or five days. “It looks like we’re going to have a pretty good dry period coming up.” Students plan protest against Nike ■ The Carolina Socialist Forum is protesting the company’s labor practices. BY LAURA GODWIN CITY EDITOR Accusations of low wages, child labor and abuse of women have led several local groups to protest one of UNC’s biggest athletic sponsors. About 10 people are expected to dem onstrate in front of the Smith Center tonight before the start of the men’s bas ketball game against Bethune-Cookman. Carolina Socialist Forum members will be handing sports fans leaflets outlining what the group terms as abuses by the Nike Corporation of their employees in overseas factories. Along with the Socialist Forum, the Coalition for Economic Justice and the Student Environmental Action Coalition are sponsoring the demonstration. Jeff Jones, a graduate student and secretary of the Carolina Socialist Fo rum, said the goal of tonight’s protest was to inform students who might not be aware of Nike’s possible abuses. “(The abuse) has been well-known for years,” Jones said. “(Nike) pays slave wages in Indonesia and China.” The group became involved in the controversy in an effort to increase aware ness among students, said Jennifer Stoloff, Carolina Socialist Forum trea surer. Stoloff, a graduate student from Se attle, Wash., said the group hoped stu dents and UNC fans alike would learn more about Nike’s practices. “If people knew what they were supporting when they wear the Nike symbol, they would think, ‘Dolreally want to give my money to a company that does this?”’ Although the group is concentrating their efforts on Nike, Stoloff said the problem of unfair labor practices was probably not limited to that corporation. “I’ve heard stories,” she said. “It’s more a question of, ‘You can get away with this stuff if you go overseas.’ “It does make me wonder how the other shoes are manufactured.” Currently, there is a national boycott against Nike, and although UNC’s teams —with the exceptions of soccer and lacrosse —are under contract with Nike, Jones said tonight’s protest had abroader angle than merely bringing the protest to campus. “At this point I wouldn’t say we want to carry (the boycott) to campus.”

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