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®lu' iailu (Tar MnT B Newsi * Busin □■H 105 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Drug Store Bandit Arrested The suspect obtained 1,400 Percocet pills by passing forged prescriptions at Chapel Hill pharmacies. By Matt Leclercq Staff Writer A Durham woman who illegally obtained more than 1,400 prescription pills from area pharmacies turned her self in to police Monday. Suzanne King Fowler, 38, of 6710 Ml Herman Church Rd., Durham, was charged with six counts of obtaining the drug Percocet by fraud or forgery and one count of attempting to obtain the drug by similar means, said Cheryl Parker, investigator for the Orange County District Attorney office. All seven counts are felonies, Parker said. Chapel Hill Police investigator Lt. Marvin Clark said Fowler turned herself in after police notified her that she would be arrested. She was released with on an unse cured $5,000 bond and will appear today and Sept. 28 in Orange County District Court, according to police reports. During the past nine months, Parker obtained Percocet on 23 occasions from pharmacies in the Chapel Hill area, according to police reports. On several occasions, she obtained 120 to 180 pills during two-day periods, reports state Percocet is a highly-addictive painkiller similar to morphine, Kerr Drug pharmacist Tom Mansbery said. “There has been a rash of people try ing to obtain it illegally because it’s so addictive,” Mansbery said. “(Percocet) can get you pretty stressed out - it’s very very hard to kick the habit.” Clark said it was probable that Fowler was addicted to die drug. Although Orange County District Attorney Carl Fox had not yet read the investigation report on Fowler, he said See PERCOCET, Page 6 RTH MIKF.KANARIK The Chapel Hill Transit T bus route has been overcrowded since school has started again. Riders complained that they have had to wait for the next bus to arrive 30 minutes later on occasions. Crammed Buses Cause Complaints By Nora Daube Staff Writer Masses of returning students and pro fessionals have caused overcrowding on some Chapel Hill Transit routes, riders and transit officials said. Roxanne Finch a Chapel Hill resi dent who works for the University, said she had not been pleased with the bus service since the beginning of the school year. Finch works in Auxiliary Services University Clarifies Public Consumption Law Officials decided that one public consumption law they had been enforcing was invalid on campus. By Amy Cappiello Senior Writer A recent change in University Police’s enforcement of alcohol has made it less likely that alumni will be punished for tailgating at football games. Students, however, still face University sanctions and possible state citations if caught drinking, starting with this weekend’s matchup against Miami Legislature Re-examines Future of UNC Hospitals The School of Medicine's Physician Practice Plan and UNC Hospitals might join forces to create a more independent healthcare system. By Courtney Weill State & National Editor The future governance of UNC Hospitals lies in the hands of state legislators this week. The House and Senate leadership are pushing forth a bill to combine the faculty practice plan of the School of Medicine with UNC Hospitals to cre ate anew entity - the UNC Healthcare System. Under the compromise plan proposed by UNC system President Molly Broad, Jeffrey Houpt, the current dean of the School of Medicine, would become the CEO of the new healthcare system. The current executive director of UNC Hospitals, Eric Munson, would then report to Houpt instead of Broad. The hospital’s board of directors would expand to include two members of the Physician Practice Plan operated by the School of Medicine and sev eral at-large members to be appointed by Broad and approved by members of the Board of Governors. The proposed plan gives the medical school and rides the T bus to work. “I have not been on a bus that has been on time since the new bus route went into effect Aug. 15,” she said. Finch lives in Timberlyne Apartments, and the only bus that stops nearby is the T bus. Twice last week the bus driver did not even stop at Timberlyne because it was full, she said. The people at the stop were left to wait for the next bus. Finch said because of the over It pays to set drunk with the best people. Joe. E. Lewis Tuesday, September 1,1998 Volume 106, Issue 67 University of Ohio. After reviewing University Police’s enforcement of alcohol violations, administrators found a glitch with the public consumption ordinance for malt beverages. The law, which Capt. Ollie Bowler said had been enforced by University Police since August 1996, is a local ordi nance that is applicable only on town and county land. The University, how ever, lies on state property. University Police officers discovered this conflict two weeks ago after University Counsel Susan Ehringhaus discussed the matter with Orange County District Attorney Carl Fox and determined the law did not apply to the more control over the state hospital. But the expanded board would continue to report to the BOG and the state legislature. “The linkage between the school of medicine and the hospital is critically important,” Broad said. “I think we have struck the right balance with this plan.” By consolidating the existing hospital structure and the Physician Practice Plan, which supplies the hospital’s doctors, the UNC Healthcare System could be more competitive with area healthcare systems in acquiring new hospitals and patient pools. Under the current system, the decision to acquire new entities requires a joint approval by the hospital’s and Physician Practice Plan’s oper ating boards. Acquisitions could be acted on more quickly with the proposed consolidation of power. The proposed plan retains the state retirement plan for UNC Healthcare System employees. But the plan allows the system to outsource employees, determine benefits and create its own personal pay classification system and grievance and vacation policies. Jonathan Kotch, professor of Maternal and Child Health at the School of Public Health, said he was worried about the healthcare system’s pro posed power over state employees. Kotch asked, “Will the opportunity for promo- crowding, she had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus. The T bus serves a number of apartment complexes on Airport Road and Weaver Dairy Road. Scott McClellan, administrative ana lyst for Chapel Hill Transit Authority, said he was unaware of any complaints being made about the T bus. However, Finch said she had called to complain several times. See T BUS, Page 6 University. “It kind of left us hanging,” Bowler said. “We’ve been so long enforcing public consump tion on campus and now all of a sudden it was pulled out from under us. “I don’t know if it was something foreseen or as a result of a certain incident we had in the department.” University Counsel Susan Ehringhaus said the new alcohol policy was just a language clarification. ETH/JOHNIKEDA A pending bill proposes to combine the faculty practice plan of the School of Medicine with UNC Hospitals to create anew healthcare system. tion, job security and salaries be compromised?” He also worried that the hospital would out source the housekeeping services at minimum wage with no benefits. “It’s a way of taxing poor people so that others can benefit,” he said. But Broad said the new plan would not have any significant implications for current hospital employees. Despite the lack of public discussion on the pro posed consolidation, the legislation continues to move forward in the General Assembly. Contractors Handle Harassment Reports The University depends on contractors to deal with construction workers who sexually harass students. By DeVona A. Brown University Editor University officials, who have received several sexual harassment complaints about construction workers from students and faculty, have made construction managers responsible for dealing with the problem. Rather than suffering punishment of inappropriate behavior from the University, construction workers are subject to punishment by the contractor hired by the University, said Director of Construction Management Ed Willis. “(Contractors) have the responsibili ty for their own workers,” he said. “We expect them to handle such situ ations.” Willis said the University did not have a policy on a construction compa ny that receives more than a certain number of complaints by students or faculty. “It’s not likely it would ever come to that,” he said. “With a building oflso workers, there’s one or two bad apples. So no, there’s not an automatic conse quence." As of last week, Sexual Harassment Officer Judith Scott had received 11 complaints of harassment, citing con struction workers as offenders. She said students made complaints after inci dents with workers near Carroll Hall, near the Health Sciences Library and at The “incident” involved an underage drinking citation given to the daughter of Board of Trustees member Billy Armfield last year. After Lt. C.E. Swain, who issued the citation, accused his superiors of pressuring him to drop the citation because of Armfield’s position, a debate on a possible double standard for alumni and students concerning alcohol enforcement resurfaced. Ending the enforcement of the public consumption law has created another debate since anyone caught drinking alcohol at a campus athletic event is in violation of UNC’s alcohol policy. Non-students found in violation of the policy will first be warned and then issued a citation for trespassing if they the intersection of Cameron Avenue and Raleigh Street. Scott said then that she’d sent an e mail to Willis, warning him of the com plaints, but she was not sure what had happened since that time. Willis said workers had yelled catcalls out of win dows as students walked by. Since then, workers at the Carroll Hall construction site said every work er there received further warning from the contractor. “A letter was given to each worker out here,” said assistant site foreman John Hughes. “I wasn’t in the meeting, but every body received a letter that let them know what happened (as part of the complaints).” Hughes listed a series of changes made to help prevent sexual harassment by workers to passing students and fac ulty members. He said workers were restricted from the sides of the building along the side walks beside Venable and Phillips halls. Workers must now refrain from using offensive language, and they may not lean out of windows. Hughes also said some workers had to wear nametags for identification in case of harassment. Also, he said the workers’ break area was moved from along a sidewalk. “There was a condition put down that if anyone is caught harassing a woman or making comments to some of the guys, you’ll be fired on the spot. You’re liable to go to jail and you’re subject to being sued.” The University Editors can be reached at udesk9unc.edu. News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina O 1998 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. do not comply, Ehringhaus said. Students found in violation, however, will have their names forwarded to the Dean of Students. Students found responsible of an alcohol violation will, in most instances, be required to under go an alcohol education session con ducted through Student Health Service. Bowler said he didn’t know why the public consumption law was being clar ified two years after it had first been strenuously enforced. “Someone may have challenged the law along the way,” Bowler said. “Usually we find out in court when defense attorneys bring it out" See ALCOHOL, Page 6 Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, leads the del egation pushing to pass the legislation before the end of the short session. Some legislators, including Rand, noted a sense of urgency to pass Broad’s plan in light of the recent acquisitions of Durham Regional Hospital and Raleigh Community Hospital by the privately run Duke University Healthcare System, Broad said. UNC Hospitals lost to Duke in the battle for control of Durham Regional. See UNC HOSPITALS, Page 6 Surfing in Space? “Father of the Internet” Vincent Cerf told an audience at the Carolina Inn yesterday that people could soon surf the Internet and use it to communicate with Mars and other areas of outer space. See Page S. All Around the Town Former Student Body President Aaron Nelson has taken anew University post as local relations coordinator. Chapel Hill Town government and University officials say the Carolina graduate is a natural at navigating the complex world of town-gown relations. See Page 2. Stock Market Stumble The Dow Jones industrial average fell over 500 points Monday landing it a spot in history. The market’s second largest drop ever ignited a selling panic that gained momentum in the final hour of operations. See Page S. Today’s Weather Partly Cloudy; £Upper 80s jT-jSSr Wednesday: Partly t' Cloudy; Upper 80s.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 1, 1998, edition 1
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