4
Monday, April 5, 1999
Bill Uses License to Curb School Violence
By James Pharr
Staff Writer
N.C. lawmakers are increasing their
efforts to get the attention of high school
students who are violent at school.
A bill in the House proposes punish
ing violent offenders by taking perhaps
their most prized possessions - their dri
vers licenses. The “Lose Control, Lose
Your License” bill passed unanimously
in the N.C. Senate and now awaits
approval in the House.
Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker introduced
this bill to send a powerful message to
violent offenders, said Bob Phillips,
Wicker’s press secretary. A student’s
license would be revoked for one year
for the possession of drugs or alcohol on
campus, assaulting a school employee or
bringing a weapon to school, he said.
Danville
Wine Festival '
April 10th. 11a.m. -6 p.m.,
At tho Community Market ■
Downtown, Danville, Va.
12 Virginia Wineries j
Live Music
The King Bees
Martha & The Mood* wingers :
Supermuraatroid
Swing Dnno# Exhibitions & Lossons jj
Oourmot Foods * Bitods A Cheeses
Advance SIO.OO/ $14.00 Gale j
Tutor* mutt be 21 • 10 required
Pries includes glut for totting.
Food & Beverage Extra
Children & Non-Ttstor- $6.00
Reserved Corporate Tables
Limited - Advance Only
Table for 8-5200.00 6 -5150.00
Tickets
Concepts Promotions
P.0.80x 552
Danville, Va. 24543
804-793-9955
www.conceptspromotions.com
sex in the last three
days, emergency
contraceptive pills
can prevent
A pregnancy if you
IS start treatment
Up?i * within 72 hours.
(Chapel Hill) .
■lk:' m
* v, 'tr " ''
pl/in nt'dp'irenthood org
The bill would increase existing
penalities. Current law stipulates a one
year suspension for any student who
brings a weapon to school, while pun
ishments for other violent offenses are
determined by the principal.
“This bill gives schools another tool
to help control student behavior,” said
Sen. Roy Cooper 111, D-Nash, who
sponsored the bill in the Senate.
“Suspension is not enough to control
school violence.”
A report released by the National
Center for Education Statistics last
March stated that more than half of U.S.
public schools reported at least one
crime incident in the 1996-97 school
year, and one in 10 schools reported at
least one serious violent crime that year.
But the bill comes at a time when vio
lence in N.C. schools is on the decline.
Carrboro Creates Group to Preserve History
By Jeff Crawford
Staff Writer
The memory of a quiet mill town on
the outskirts of Chapel Hill will not be
forgotten, heads of the recendy formed
Carrboro Historical Committee say.
“The town has grown so much, I’m
afraid that the early history will be for
gotten,” said Carrboro resident Richard
Ellington, a committee co-chairman.
“I don’t want us to lose sight of the
old Carrboro, a working-class mill
town.”
! F RIE' DELI VERY*® $7 MINIMUM* I
lup cmi
i W GRILL i
I iHp] ivfiiri
929-6551
t 107 E. Franklin Street • 929-6551 >
• M-W 11am-I:3oam, Th-Sat 11am-2:3oam, Sun 6pm-12pm j
According to a report released by the
Department of Public Instruction, the
1997-98 school year saw a 7.35 percent
decrease in incidents of violence from
the previous year. In 1996-97, there was
a reported 8,141 incidents of violence.
That number decreased to 7,543 in
1997-98.
Two-thirds of the violent acts com
mitted last year fall into the categories
targeted by this bill, Phillips said.
This is not the first time lawmakers in
North Carolina have used drivers licens
es to get students’ attention. In
December, the N.C. General Assembly
passed a bill in which students who drop
out or do not make satisfactory progress
toward graduation will lose their license.
“North Carolina is on the cutting
edge in their efforts to control school
violence,” Cooper said.
Last month, the Carrboro Board of
Aldermen named Ellington and UNC
history Professor David Griffiths as co
chairmen of the committee, which will
collect and archive historical docu
ments, photos and recordings.
The duo came up with a list of possi
ble members for the committee, includ
ing long-time residents and UNC
Department of History professors, and
the group will meet Sunday to write a
work agenda, Griffiths said.
The list of potential committee mem
bers, along with a request for a few hun-
News
Phillips said that in addition to send
ing a strong message, the bill would pro
vide troubled students with an incentive
to get help. Violent offenders can have
their licenses returned in half the penal
ty time if they complete an approved
program of therapy or counseling.
Rep. Phillip Baddour, D-Lenoir, said
the bill was pending approval in the
Judiciary IV Committee of the House.
He said the bill would not pass without
opposition.
But Cooper said the bill would be
well-received in the House.
“Throughout North Carolina educators,
parents and students believe that safe
schools are the cornerstone of improv
ing public education.”
The State & National Editors can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
dred dollars for start-up costs, will go
before the aldermen for approval in two
weeks, he said.
“I’m interested in doing this in part
because there is an older segment of
Carrboro that remembers the Carrboro
before its affiliation with the University
in the ’6os -a real small homogenous
mill town,” Griffiths said.
The committee already has census
data from as far back as 1920, record
ings and photographs from families that
have lived in the town for years.
“I think (the committee) is important
now because it grows out of less-orga
nized efforts to explore the history of
the town,” Alderman Allen Spalt said.
Interviews of long-time residents,
taped last May during the town’s annu
al Carrboro Day, have also been com
piled. “There are many documents
spread around Town Hall, such as old
pictures and things in the town manag
er’s safe,” Griffiths said.
Because there is currently no space to
store materials, Griffiths said the com
mittee would also ask the aldermen to
set aside room for the archives in a
future community center.
Ellington said it was important to
preserve history for future generations.
“What we want to do is preserve the
memories of the people of the town
because the memories are what really
make a town.”
The City Editor can be retched at
citydesk@unc.edu.
Begin Your
Career With
Employment
Opportunities
All Around
The World.
JfKL £ £tfßsj
CampusCareerCenter
Worldwide
Your Gateway to a Worldly Future
Town Seeks Ways;
To Police Alcohol
Local police say they are
not allowed to enter private
establishments without the
permission of management.
By Rudy Kleysteuber
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill leaders want more con
trol over establishments selling alcohol,
as well as the authority to enter and
monitor private clubs.
The town has joined with other
municipalities across the state in asking
the N.C. Genera! Assembly for better
enforcement of alcohol laws and more
control in beverage licensing. Chapel
Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf said.
Chapel Hill police are also hoping
that legislators will change state alcohol
regulations to bring private clubs under
their jurisdiction, even though police
officers could be enlisted under a little
used provision to enforce alcohol laws
through the Orange County Alcoholic
Beverage Control Commission.
Private clubs
are required by
law to admit only
members and their
guests and to have
a three-day waiting
period for mem
bership, N.C.
ABC spokesman
Mike Herring said.
Only private
clubs, sit-down
“Municipalpolice don't have
any right to stay on (private
establishments') premises
the way ALE does .“
Terrie Gale
Attorney for Chapel Hill
restaurants and hotels can serve mixed
drinks.
Chapel Hill Police Chief Ralph
Pendergraph said more alcohol enforce
ment was especially needed inside pri
vate establishments, which police can
not enter without the permission of the
manager.
But regulation of those businesses can
only be enforced by authorized state
agents of the ABC Commission,
Alcohol Law Enforcement Agency and
contracted officers of local ABC boards.
“Since those businesses are in our
jurisdiction, it would seem to be reason
able to police those establishments just
like we police everyone else in our juris
diction,” Pendergraph said.
Because the ALE is understaffed,
Chapel Hill is not getting the level of
Attention
undergraduate and
graduate students
around the world!
OCCjs your resource
for job opportunities aftd.
internships, across the . ilobe
Get our services working for
you todqy and have a job
■ lined up before you graduate
At'iv )>V: )•, \ ■'
V\ ■ I!• i■\ -i ■
O' . >-:d ’
J'; 1 •' !. .
|| ): : M' b
: ! . r••
ji : v ;
QUjr Hotly (Tor HM*
enforcement it
needs,
Pendergraph said.
“(The ALE’s)
schedule is unbe
lievable,” he said.
“With more
agents, they could
be more consistent
and aggressive in
their enforcement
here.”
Terrie Gale, an
attorney for
Chapel Hill, said a
private establish
ment could keep
Chapel Hill Mayor
Rosemary Waldorf
said the town
wanted periodic
re-evaluations of
alcohol licenses.
police from entering except in emer
gencies.
“Municipal police don’t have any
right to stay on premises the way ALE
does,” she said.
However, Herring said, with proper
training, Chapel Hill police officers
could get authorization from Orange
County ABC to enter private clubs.
“I think it would be good for them to
take it on, but I think you have to look
at other things, like
what they’re
already doing,”
Herring said.
“Law enforce
ment needs more
funding and man
power as it is.”
Pendergraph
said he had consid
ered the option but
that local police
should not have to perform the duties
that other agencies were designed to do.
“It seems only reasonable to use the
folks that are there already,” he said.
“We have discussed (using our own
officers) amongst ourselves. It seems like
a back-door way of doing business.”
Waldorf said the town also wanted
more local control over establishments
selling alcohol. “We would like period
ic re-evaluations (of alcohol licenses)
and speedy response to complaints.”
She suggested that if the proposed
legislation would increase expenses,
those costs could be paid by increased
licensing fees.
Shelley Levine contributed to this story.
The City Editor can be reached at
, citydesk@unc.edu.
ca m pusca reercenter.com