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INSIDE
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MARCH 26,1997
The truth about
cats & dogs
BY GRAHAM BRINK
SENIOR WRITER
Pets, some people say, often mirror their own
ers’ traits.
So the proliferation of dogs named O.J. and
the popularity of the
name Killer suggest
a rather demented
culture.
County's oldest
cat almost 26
See page 4
But often it’s bet
ter to draw your own conclusions.
With that in mind, The Daily Tar Heel pre
sents a censuslike examination of the 13,809
dogs and a few of their feline rivals licensed with
Orange County Animal Control in 1996.
The Labrador retriever ranks as the most pop
ular breed in the county, which comes as no sur
prise to Ken Redman, a veterinarian at Vine
Veterinary Hospital on Franklin Street.
“Labs are congenial and have great personal-
ities for a big dog,”
Redman said.
And Max was his nam*o
The top 10 dog names in Orange County are more than just Spot and Rover.
Max £=3s=3 5=3 5=35=3133
Maggie j j \ \ 0132
Lady &=3&=3S=3£=3il3
Bear £0 £0 £0 00113
Molly S=3 £=3 £=3 112
Ginger £0 £0 L
Sandy £=35=35=384
Sam O L 081 T j
Brandy £=3 £=3 £=3 78 I \ j
Lucy £0 075
0 30 60 90 120 150
SOURCE:ORAjNGE COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL DTH/ELYSE ALLEY
“They’re good for
singles and families,
so it’s no surprise
they’re popular.”
The second most
popular breed is the
beagle, but its popu
larity is skewed by
hunters who often
own a dozen or two
to track rabbits and
other game. Then
come poodles,
German shepherds,
chows, golden
retrievers and
Rottweilers.
Popularity, unfor
tunately, often leads
to line breeding —a
form of inbreeding
that uses distant rel
atives which
weakens the gene
pool.
“Once a dog
becomes popular,
five to 10 years later
we see die breed
start to go down
SWEET TOOTH?
i ' ’; W Bt
W and _
DTH/JOHNKEDA
Karen Hutchins (right) and Brenda Klark from Eckerd Drugs serve ice
cream sundaes to students at the School of Pharmacy to celebrate
National Chocolate Week. Chocolate, used in the pharmaceutical industry,
contains phenols that may reduce 'bad* cholesterol.
It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.
Mark Twain
Put away the
Gold Seal tea
Officials say random
drug tests are not
likely at UNC. Page 3
• Q#
hill,” Redman said. “We see a lot more early
deaths, testy dispositions and cancers. We saw it
in cockers and shepherds, and we’ll probably see
it in labs.”
Redman’s advice: Go to the animal shelter
and pick a mutt.
“Good genes and very little inbreeding at the
pound,” he said.
Maying the name game
Orange County residents name their dogs
everything from the bland (Joe), to the heaven
ly (Angel), to the obvious (Dawg).
The most common dog name is Max, with
133 cases.
Maxs take many forms, from pointers, to
spaniels, to lhasa apsos and, while predomi
nantly male, come in both sexes.
Following Max in order of popularity sit
Maggie, Lady, Bear, Molly, Ginger, Sandy, Sam,
Brandy, Lucy and Pepper.
Meet the press
Political analyst Morton
Kondracke spoke to
students Tuesday night.
Page 4
The Thurber family of
Chapel Hill not only owns
a dog named Max, but a
cat named Tiger, the most
popular name for the coun
ty’s feline faction.
“I guess we’re just a
totally noninventive family
when it comes to names,”
Arthur Thurber said.
Thurber guaranteed that
his children were not
named Jennifer and
Michael, the most common
kids’ names in the nation.
The Thurbers’ Max weighs in at a scanty 14
pounds, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting
into mischief.
“He thinks he’s a killer despite his size,”
Thurber said. “He once dragged in a squirrel
tail. But I couldn’t tell whether it was attached to
named his magical
basset hound
Abracadabra and
another owner
named her teeter
ing kitty Tri
pawed.
The Tucker
family, Orange
County residents
since 1970, have
Trustees delay renewal
of lease for office space
BY KAREN JOYCE
STAFF WRITER
Keeping the safety of students and
faculty in mind, the Board of Trustees
Finance and Business Committee
delayed renewing the lease of Franklin
Street office space.
The committee cited the need for var
ious improvements in the 14,739 square
foot office space in the Nationsßank
Plaza on Franklin Street.
The space, which houses the School
of Public Health’s Collaborative Studies
Coordinating Center, is located in suites
203 and 400 in the plaza.
One of the committee’s concerns was
the safety of the building for the faculty
and students.
“We would go (to the plaza) at night,
• and I guess because of break-ins (in the
50 additional tickets available
STAFF REPORT
Fifty more University students will
now have an opportunity to cheer on the
men’s basketball team this weekend in
Indianapolis.
The University received 50 addition
al ticket vouchers Tuesday for the
NCAA Final Four games.
The vouchers will be available to stu
dents on a first-come, first-serve basis at
the Smith Center Ticket Office begin
ning today at noon.
UNC will face Arizona in the NCAA
wSI
r ..
DTH/MICHAEL KANAREK
Chapel Hill resident Arthur Thurber holds Max, the family dog.
Max is the most popular dog name in Orange County.
a squirrel when he picked it up.”
Celebrity connection
The flip side to the übiquitous Max
and Tiger is the bulldog named Toe Nail,
the spicy miniature schnauzer Tabasco
or the musical mutt Zydeco. One owner
And they call it puppy love
For more information about licensing
or adopting a pet call:
Orange County Animal Control
967-9267 ext. 2075
Orange County Animal Shelter
967-7382
owned a multitude of pets. But with
three older sisters dominating the
moniker department, Scott Tucker never
had the opportunity to name any.
When Ins time finally came, Scott, a
rabid Michael Jordan fan, knew exactly
what it would be.
“We got (the cat) the weekend the
(Chicago) Bulls won their third title,”
said Eleanor Tucker, Scott’s mother. “So
naturally he named him 3-peat.”
Eleanor Tucker said the yellow tabby
possesses some Jordan-esque qualities.
“When he was young, 3-peat thought
offices), the elevators would be off,"
BOT Secretary Anne Cates said.
“We had to walk up stairs, and they
were really very scary at night.”
Cates said her concern was for the
safety of the students and faculty work
ing in the building.
“I just want (the students and faculty)
to have a better place to work,” Cates
said.
The lease, which costs the University
$14.60 per square foot, is scheduled to
expire June 30.
Property officer Mike Beery said he
believed the problem would be resolved
by then.
“I think we will work out a solution,”
Beery said.
“I’m optimistic because we do lease a
See NATIONSBANK, Page 4
tournament semifinal at 5:42 p.m. on
Saturday.
Originally, the NCAA had allotted
350 student ticket vouchers to the
University, 30 of which were given to
members of the pep band.
The first 320 vouchers went on sale
Tuesday morning to students who had
been camping out since Monday.
The vouchers for the Final Four tick
ets cost SIOO, and students will
exchange their vouchers for the actual
tickets in Indianapolis.
Backhanding
theWolfpack
UNC women's tennis
tops N.C. State for its
fourth win. Page 9
he was a squirrel and would fly from tree to
tree,” she said. “A little like Michael Jordan, I
guess.
“Maybe Scott, with his choice of names,
willed it on him.”
The county hosts several obvious combina
tions as well. Two boxers named Rocky and
three collies named Lassie struggle for unique
identities.
Like three other owners, Marie Bugge named
her beagle Snoopy.
“Beagles are always snooping around, so why
not name them Snoopy,” said Bugge, a
Hillsborough resident.
“They’re constantly in
motion, wandering every
where sniffing for clues.”
This peripatetic nature
exhausts Bugge’s plump,
6-year-old pure breed, as it
does the famous comic
strip character.
“He loves to sleep, but I
haven’t seen him dozing
on the dog-house roof, yet,” she said.
The showdown
The county also hosts 67 sweet smelling
Daisies, 45 tricksters named Bandit, 33 smart
alecks named Sassy, 18 Gizmos, 15 Troubles,
two poodles named Deja Vu and two more
named Ditto.
Fifteen Rambos and 15 Sissies also roam
about the county.
Brenda Gale Williams said her 15-pound
cockapoo has few Rambolike characteristics, but
See DOGS, Page 4
Sending smoke signals *
The states shaded in gray agreed to the settlement of a lawsuit about smoker
addiction and injury claims with Liggett Tobacco Cos. The settlement awards 26
percent of die company's pretixed profits to die states during the next 25 years.
DTH/ELYSE ALLEY AND JESSICA GODWIN
Officials maintain support
for N.C. tobacco industry
BY JONATHAN COX
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
N.C. officials will continue to protect
the tobacco industry after the Durham
based tobacco manufacturer Liggett
Group Inc., settled a lawsuit with 22
states last week.
“North Carolina’s position on tobac
co stands,” said Kim Brooks, spokes
woman for Gov. Jim Hunt. “Tobacco is
a very important crop in North
Carolina. It supports thousands of fam
ilies in the state.”
Aaron Martin, executive director of
farm services in Johnston County, said
that while tobacco farmers faced tough
times, he did not think the Liggett deci
104 years of editorial freedom
Serving the smdeats aiidthe University
community since 1893
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Chajpel North Carolina
C 1997 Dtp Publishing Coro.
All rights reserved.
Today's
Weather
Cloudy, showers;
lower 70s
Thursday: Fair skies: low 60s
Aldermen:
transit plan
too costly
■ Town leaders said the
proposed plan would give
UNC an unfair advantage.
BY SHARIF DURHAMS
SENIOR WRITER
Carrboro Board of Aldermen mem
bers said a plan to divide transportation
costs between the town, Chapel Hill and
the University charges Carrboro too
much.
Aldermen told Executive Vice
Chancellor Elson Floyd the tentative
agreement, approved by Chapel Hill in
December and that the University is
prepared to sign, puts too much of the
transportation costs onto Carrboro.
“The value of the bus system to the
town is great, but the value of the bus
system to the University is greater,”
Alderman Diana McDuffee said.
Officials last changed the agreement
that manages the bus system with
Carrboro, Chapel Hill and UNC in
1979.
All parties want to change the agree
ment from one where the towns and
University pay based on rider usage to
one based on population.
But McDuffee said the University
should pay somewhat more for the
buses since its students are more depen
dent on the transportation system.
“I feel like that my objection has
never been to the dollar figure of the
increase but to the principle behind the
calculation,” McDuffee said.
Mayor Mike Nelson said disputes
between the town and University oveT
flying jets into the Horace Williams
Airport and the town’s desire to place
an occupancy tax on the University has
made transportation negotiations more
difficult.
“The town-gown relations between
the University and Chapel Hill and
Carrboro are at a low,” Nelson said. “I
don’t think that’s anyone’s fault.
Nonetheless, things have happened
because there is tension.”
But Floyd said Carrboro had a voice
in negotiating the proposal. Town staff
helped create the proposal and recom-
See ALDERMEN, Page 4
sion would further affect the industry.
“The overall trend has been tough on
the tobacco farmer,” Martin said.
“Liggett is a very small part of the
tobacco situation in North Carolina.”
But, this “small part” affected stock
trading after the announcement. Phillip
Morris fell by 6 percent and R.J.
Reynolds fell by 2 percent while Liggett
gained 12 percent.
According to the settlement, the com
pany will place labels on cigarette pack
ages warning buyers that smoking can
cause cancer and that nicotine is addic
tive. The company also agreed to work
with states suing other tobacco manu-
See LIGGETT, Page 4