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iatlti ®ar Ifwl B News/ * Busln( J? 105 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 House Votes for Inquiry ■ SHARIF DURHAMS EDITOR Political Gaming By Representatives Is Politics at Work Today is the last day for voter registration, and now there’s plenty of reason to keep those students who tend to parade through lecture halls with voter registration forms busy signing students up. After all, there’s an important refer endum at stake. Will the nation keep it’s 42nd president or will he be boot ed out of office? During Watergate, politics played a large role. But voters’ opinions never had the impact that our near-instant polling has now. Politicians were basically tripping over each other this week to see whether their constituents wanted to boot the president they elected two years ago. “This election is crucially important in determining what the next phase of this inquiry' looks like,” said Thomas Mann, director of governmental stud ies at the Brookings Institution, a polit ical think tank. Senior White House officials, Senate and House political aides and other various spin meisters spent the day on Thursday counting constituents votes. Ironically, the counting for Clinton is much simpler. Five hundred and thirty five men and women, many of whom are up for re-election, control his fate. Now whether Congress impeaches Clinton, censures him or just lets him go, his presidency is behind an eight ball. Whether he deserved it or not, the man many Americans trusted to lead them will forever be tainted with mis trust. Clinton’s misdeeds did most of the job ruining his reputation; partisan politics hurt it further. And the politi cal games played by Clinton’s Democratic colleagues have also made the serious accusations of perjury and obstruction of justice seem more like political gaming. Unfortunately, this is not a game, and the nation’s leaders are realizing, hopefully, that the political wrangling has hurt. “We re all profoundly’ hurt by what the president has done,” Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri said. “But this investigation must end fairly and quickly. It has hurt our nation and children. We must not compound that hurt.” So voters who chose to give Clinton See GAMING, Page 5 UNC Football Player's Trial to Begin Today Jon Hall played in UNC's first football game against Miami of Ohio, but missed the team's last three games. Bv Monica Dev Staff Writer Suspended UNC football player Jon Hall will have his first appearance today in Orange County District Court at 9 a.m. The starting right guard for the Tar Heels was suspended indefinitely Sept. 15 after being issued an arrest warrant We don't make any judgements. We simply begin a search for truth. Judicial Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-111. a * p ijg mmmm * s HI | . : 0 •. Mr ‘ ' Ijg i B|k; COURTESY OF THE SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE/EVAN EILE House Republicans, mostly from the Judiciary Committee, address the media after a partisan vote for an unlimited investigation of allegations of presidential misconduct, despite Democratic appeals for a more narrow probe. Majority of N.C. Representatives Vote for Inquiry Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., says the House inquiry is appropriate and necessary. Bv Courtney Weill State & National Editor WASHINGTON - As the rain poured down on Capitol Hill on Thursday afternoon, eight of the 12 N.C. Representatives in the House cast their votes toward a daunting new era in American politics. The House voted 258-176 in favor of conducting an unlimited investigation into President Clinton’s activities, making him only the third U.S. president to face the prospect of impeachment proceedings. Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the proceedings Sept. 9 for misdemeanor counts of com municating threats and domestic assault on a female. He was suspended from all football-related activities. “He is personally suspended from the football team until this is cleared up,” Hall’s attorney James Williams said on Thursday. “He’s been personally embarrassed, but he’s trying to keep a cheerful dispo sition and move on,” Williams said. Hall’s suspension has already forced the junior from Hagerstown, Md., to miss games against Stanford, Georgia Tech and Clemson universities. Hall started for UNC in the season-opening loss against Miami University of Ohio Friday, October 9, 1998 Volume 106, Issue 93 were appropriate and necessary. “There are too many loose ends dangling and they can be secured only with additional investiga tion,” he said. “This is not a fishing expedi tion. No one is trolling for addi tional evidence,” Coble said. “Contrary to what my Democratic friends have said, this has been handled in a very even-handed manner.” Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., also cast his vote with the Republican majority. “Just as President Clinton took an oath of office when being sworn in as President of the United States, I too took an oath as a member of Congress to uphold the law,” Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., said in a press release. “For that reason, I fully sup ported the passage of this resolu tion.” Two N.C. Democrats - Rep. Bob Ethridge, D-N.C., and Rep. on Sept. 5. Steve Kirschner, director of media relations for foot ball and men’s basketball, said Hall’s team posi tion would be decided after his case had been resolved. UNC senior Katherine Stanley filed both com plaints against Hall on Sept. 8. Neither Hall John Hall was the Tar Heels' starting right guard before being suspended from the team on Sept. 15 J0 1 . | 'eft - JjjgjM % ip DTH/VICTORIA ECKENRODE Rep. David Price, D-N.C., hurries back to his office following Thursday's afternoon of debates and the final vote. Price supported a limited impeachment inquiry, but voted against the open-ended inquiry, which the House eventually passed. Mike Mclntyre, D-N.C., - crossed party lines to vote for the unlimit ed inquiry proposed by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-111. But the rest of state Democrats voted against the Hyde resolution and in favor of a proposal by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., that limited the length and the scope of the inquiry. nor Stanley could be reached for com ment Thursday. Hall’s court date is not the UNC foot ball team’s only brush with legal trou bles this season. Defensive tackles Ricco McCain and Varian Ballard each served 10 days in jail in August. Those jail terms were handed down because the two did not fulfill commu nity service sentences stemming from an assault outside Gotham nightclub in December 1997. McCain and Ballard were dismissed from the team. The University Editors can be reached atudesk@unc.edu. “I voted for the Boucher alter native because it would make for a more focused and fair and more expedited inquiry; all of which we need to ensure,” said Rep. David Price, D-N.C. “We need to do a thorough job but we also need to have a reason- See REACTION, Page 5 Hamm Lends A Hand Former UNC women’s soccer player Mia Hamm held a soccer clinic at Fetzer Field on Thursday to raise awareness for the upcoming 1999 Special Olympics in Raleigh. See Page 9. News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina C 1998 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Clinton Supporters Fail to Limit Probe On Impeachment Associated Press WASHINGTON - The House triggered an open-ended impeachment inquiry against President Clinton on Thursday in a momentous vote cast in the shadow of midterm elections. Thirty-one Democrats joined majority Republicans in increas ing the peril for the embattled chief executive. The 258-176 vote opened the way for nationally televised impeachment hearings later this year, with possible witness es ranging from Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr to Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp and other central characters in the sex-and-cover-up drama that has commanded the nation’s attention for nine months. Clinton, the nation’s 42nd president, becomes the third occupant of his office to face serious impeachment prospects. Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House in 1868 but remained in office after the Senate fell one vote shy of forc ing his removal. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 rather than face impeachment over Watergate. “I do not think that we want to settle for less than the whole truth,” said Rep. Henry Hyde, R-111., chairman of the Judiciary Committee. To the nation watching on television -as well as to openly skeptical Democrats sitting across the aisle in the House chamber- he pledged fairness in the months ahead. “Too much hangs in the balance for us not to rise above partisan politics,” Hyde said. At the White House, press secretary Joe Lockhart said the proceedings in the Republican-controlled House had become “infected with politics and partisanship. ... As we move for ward, we will work with the committee, and we hope that the process becomes more fair because I think that’s what the American public expects and deserves,” he said. House Democrats argued in vain for an inquiry limited to Starr’s evidence, to be wrapped up by Dec. 31. “We’re all profoundly hurt by what the president has done,” said Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri. “But this investigation must be ended fairly and quickly. It has hurt our nation and it’s hurt our children. We must not com pound the hurt” The visitors gallery was packed as the historic debate unfolded. Underscoring the gravity of the moment Speaker Newt Gingrich presided throughout. And when one Democrat, Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, scanned the House chamber and saw many empty seats, he grabbed the microphone to urge that absent lawmakers drop whatever they were doing and “get their tails here.” There was plenty of partisanship on display. When Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., complained that See INQUIRY, Page 5 INVESTIGATING THE PRESIDENT More Coverage, Page 5 ■ Washington, D.C. students say they hope the Clinton scandal will end soon. ■ Despite the House vote, Clinton struggled to keep Thursday a normal day. ■ Thirty-one Democrats joined Republicans in voting to open the inquiry. Friday See What Develops With support from Chancellor Michael Hooker, the Office of Economic Development will use a $400,000 University grant to help the state battle unemployment and low wages. See Page 3. Today’s Weather Mostly sunny; mid 70s Weekend: Mostly sunny, mid 70s. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-111., said he did not think the House wanted to settle for less than the truth. B
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