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®ljp Satly <Sar BM © ■■ 104 nan of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 360° contract radiates problems for staff ■ Anew UNC contract could mean cellular service antennas on campus. BYLESANAGY STAFF WRITER University staff members are upset about possible radiation emissions from antennas that a private cellular phone company wants to put on the roof of Hamilton Hall. Faculty members who heard rumors about the proposal to place antennas on Hamilton reported their concerns about high radiation to University administra tors who called a meeting Thursday to hear their complaints. Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management Bruce Runberg said that last year 360' Communications asked UNC for permission to put anten nas on the campus to expand cellular A community borderline ■ The Midway and Northside areas were once a part of a thriving black business district and community. Tomas Britton spends most of his time on the front porch of his house on Broad Street. He said the police drive by like clockwork. “They come by every five or 10 minutes,” he said. Britton can expect more police in the future. He lives just inside the Canboro town limits, in an area that will be the focus of a joint task force made up of Chapel j Hill and Canboro police officers. The task force will i patrol the border areas of both towns in an effort to ~~ crack down on illegal drug activities. This area, made up of the Midway and Northside communities, is one of the oldest parts of both towns. Carrboro Alderman Hank Anderson said the Midway commu nity used to be a thriving black business district, but it has seen BY JON OSTENDORFF CITY EDITOR some hard times in the last 20 years. Anderson said he has asked the board to help the youths of Midway stay out of trouble through more support in recreation and education. “I have asked my town to work with these kids, to get them involved in something,” he said. Like many communities with similar problems, ' most of the people want to stop the drug abuse. But Anderson said without support many will fall through the cracks. “There are a lot of good kids out there, but unfortunately some of them hang out with the bad kids,” he said. This is where local government can come into play, he said, adding that the town government’s role was to give each of its citizens a fair shot in the community. “We need to teach kids how to think independently, not just how to become robot employees.” Dip Council, owner of Dip’s Country Kitchen on West Rosemary Street, said many of the black businesses she remembered from her youth have disappeared. She said this trend began shortly after integration in the late ’sos. Council, who has owned her restaurant for 21 years, said many of the black businesses could not compete with national fast-food chains and other larger businesses. “We don’t have many black-owned business any more,” she said. “I think a lot of it has to do with competition.” Council said one of the big problems of the commu nity is the working poor. She said she has raised eight chil dren and knows what it’s like to struggle to get by. Council said she had faith in welfare-reform programs like North Carolina’s Work First and felt this will be the next big step Groundhog Day is based on a custom that people from 4 Germany and Great Britain brought to America. According to legend, the groundhog awakens from its long winter sleep on Feb. 2. It sticks its head out of its home in the ground ■ and looks around. Ifthegroundhogseesitsshadow.it means six more weeks of winter, if the goundhog does not see its shadow, spring is just around the comer. '- S * i I'£ Kbit. DTH/IEREMYDOETSCH phone service. “Until recently I didn’t realize there was opposition to the antennas,” Runberg said. The project involves placing an 8-by -10 fiberglass unit and four antennas, each 1 foot wide by 4 feet tall, on the roof of Hamilton Hall, home to the departments of political science, history and sociology. Carol Nichols, an administrative sec retary in the political science depart ment, asked why the University would allow the private company to use the campus buildings. “Will someone at the University receive kickbacks, such as free cellular phones and service, from the deal?” Nichols asked. Runberg said UNC and 360’ were negotiating a use agreement but that the agreement’s specifics, including the fee paid to UNC, had not been agreed upon. Jane Lindley, who works in the histo ry department, was also one of the fac Ht\\ V f n VVI \ r §••#<!£•'■ rfk:r-K X miL Jk- m \ .Iff V mam Jr M DTK/fON GARDINER Joe Fernell (left) stopped by Tomas Britton's Broad Street home on Friday afternoon to wish him a happy birthday. Fernell, who has lived in the Northside area for 26 years, says he has noticed a dramatic change in the community during the past few years. to follow integration. But the most important tool to improve the communi ty is the people, she said. “Every town needs to use its people to make things work,” Council said. The mission of the Hargraves Community Center on Roberson Street is in line with Council’s philosophy. The center offers many programs, most of them free of charge, that concentrate on education and recreation. Any mem ber of the community is welcome to attend a class, or just show up to hang out. Andre Boynton, assistant manager of the center, said most African-Americans in Chapel Hill have used the cen ter at one time or another. “This is the heart of the black community,” he said. Boynton said one reason for the community’s problems was a lack of employment for teenagers. He said more programs concentrating on entre preneurial skills would be one way to fight this problem. See MIDWAY, Page 4 Boys don’t make passes at female smart-asses. Letty Cottin Pogrebin Monday, February 2,1998 Volume 105, Issue 144 ulty members heading the opposition. She said that in negotiating the contract, University officials should consider the health effects on those in Hamilton from electromagnetic radiation. UNC radiation safety officer Bob Wilson said he had requested a survey from Duke Power on a similar tower in downtown Chapel Hill. The survey showed that the radiation emitted was not strong enough to cause immediate danger. “A cell phone antenna would not be a radio frequency risk unless someone was working on it with it directly pointed at them,” Wilson said. Nichols, however, said she was con cerned about any hidden health risks of the antennas. “Cell phone usage is something new,” Nichols said. “How many things did we think were safe when they came out and found out 10 years later that they were dangerous?” Another major concern among facul Platform promises get passed down BY EVAN MARKFIELD SENIOR WRITER Promises, promises. Every year they are what student body president hopefuls depend on to get into office. But looking back at several years of student body president platforms, the method is not the only consistent Elections m part of this process the promises themselves often remain the same from year to year. Student Body President Mo Nathan “A cell-phone antenna would not be a radio frequency risk unless someone was working on it with it directly pointed at them. ” 808 WILSON University radiation safety officer ty members was the lack of consultation with the faculty, staff and students who walk into Hamilton daily. “The project was well under way before anyone was asked about it,” Lindley said. Lindley and Nichols agreed that the failure to notify faculty of the plans was either a serious failure in communica tion or an effort to maintain secrecy to avoid negative publicity. Nichols said faculty members were told during Thursday’s meeting that \ Chapel said a candidate’s platforms would often contain a combination of issues impor tant to the candidate and issues added solely for the sake of adding them. “(As a student), it’s important to deconstruct platforms for different things tasks and initiatives,” Nathan said. An example of an initiative would be reform of the advising system, some thing Nathan’s administration has been working on this year. A sample task would be Nathan’s effort to put garbage cans on the path to South Campus and receycling bins on Polk Place. “The tasks usually change, but the initiatives can be repetitive,” Nathan said. their permission was not needed because it was a “University problem.” Runberg said the University planners were interested in the concerns of the faculty but insisted that the University should help 360' because UNC was a public institution with high usage of cel lular phones by people on campus. Runberg said the Hamilton site would not be approved until safety issues were resolved. He said Hamilton was the best choice of the buildings con sidered because of the roof’s layered structure. “It’s still in planning,” Runberg said. “We are interested in reviewing the con cerns and will consult more with faculty before final decisions are made.” Lindley said that although she would not wish the possible health risks on anyone, she hoped the University could find a more suitable place. Facilities planning and the building and grounds committee will make the ultimate decision. He said most initiatives are seen year after year because they usually involve situations that the University cannot remedy during a single president’s tenure. Platform items consistently repeated in recent years include environmental issues, advising reform, campus safety and several minority student issues. “Nothing of value changes at this university in a span of less than three years,” Nathan said. And the concept of gradual change is not lost on the various campus groups and individuals on the receiving end of a candidate’s promises. See PLATFORMS, Page 4 Nesvs/Feanms/Am/Spoits: 9624245 Bimnar/Advrrnxmg: 9621165 Chapel Hill, North Carolina C 1998 PIH Publishing Coup. All lights reserved. Housing plan leaves some feeling angry ■ Officials say that giving students priority for other rooms was a fair decision. BY BIANCA D’SOUZA STAFF WRITER The University decision to make Old West, Manly and Winston residence halls “substance free” has left many cur rent residents feeling as if they have been shortchanged. Senior Jennifer Pender, a Manly res ident, said that she felt bad for residents who wished to continue to stay in their rooms but would now have to abide by the new substance-free policy or get kicked out. Melissa Rutala, a sophomore and Winston resident, said she wished the notice had not come as such a surprise. Last week, residents received letters from the Department of University Housing informing them about the sub stance-free plan. The policy bans any use of tobacco products, alcoholic bev erages, illegal (frugs and the misuse of legal drugs. Residents will lose the right to live in their rooms next semester should they choose not to follow the policy. “I wish we could have had more of a say, to respond with ideas how to do it differently and make it more beneficial to everybody involved,” Rutala said. Jason Darwin, a senior and Old West resident, said that having a say did not necessarily mean being listened to. He and other residents attended an interest meeting Thursday to voice their concerns, which they said officials did not address. Darwin suggested making Aycock and Graham residence halls substance free rather than those proposed. Students are not living there this year because of construction. Another alter native would be to make the residence halls partially substance free to leave a floor or two open to all students, Darwin said. He said that a policy that gives certain students room priority over those who are older than 21 and drink responsibly is discrimination. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Sue Kitchen said that the decision “was n’t just about underage drinking. “A lot of students of all ages want to live in substance-free halls, and up until now, their only option has been Ehringhaus,” she said. She said that contrary to popular belief, students, at least those on the Housing Advisory Committee, had been involved in the decision-making process. And University housing Director Wayne Kuncl said that giving residents first priority on next year’s housing assignments fairly compensated those who didn’t want to join the program. Darwin said most residents were not against a substance-free program. But he said that by converting some of the campus’ best residence halls, officials would attract individuals who were more interested in the halls’ location than the program. INSIDE The Road to Suite C & StHflMt no Gettin 9 into \XWWWBH the spirit of the election season, this Hfi&i IS ’9B weeks uwiivho wv Op-Ed page lists the platforms of the student body president candidates. Page 11 ♦ Bring in the coffee As sipping coffee becomes a symbol of the intellectual climate, libraries are bringing it between the stacks. Page 4 # Today's weather Mostly cloudy; low 50s Tuesday Rain; high 40s
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Feb. 2, 1998, edition 1
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