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The University and Towns
In Brief
Man Injured in Spill
From Fraternity House
A 19-year old man was hospitalized
early Saturday after a fall from the Beta
Theta Pi fraternity house.
Mark Camp Kilcollin, who is not a
student at the University, was residing
with a friend at the fraternity house
located at 114. S. Columbia St. Kilcollin,
who is from West Virginia, was listed in
good condition Tuesday evening at
UNC Hospitals.
The victim suffered head injuries in
the accident. He is believed to have fall
en 10 to 15 feet from a balcony to the
bottom of the basement steps.
Chapel Hill Police Chief Ralph
Pendergraph said alcohol was a con
tributing factor in the accident. Foul
play is not suspected, but the investiga
tion will continue.
Kilcollin has not yet regained his
ability to speak, and no witnesses to the
accident have yet come forward.
Consultant Evaluates
UNC Budget Process
A $11.6 million dollar budget short
fall in the coming fiscal year has raised
concern about the UNC budget.
Jim Ramsey, vice chancellor for busi
ness and finance, called in a national
consultant to evaluate the budget. The
consultant, Dermis Jones, is president of
the National Center for Higher
Education Management Systems in
Boulder, Colo. He found that the
University lacked a “strategic budget.”
State Controller Ed Renfrew, who
has authority over all spending by pub
lic universities, has asked his auditors to
carefully scrutinize UNC spending.
Administrators have asked deans,
department heads, and research center
directors to trim their budgets by
between 1.6 and 10 percent
UNC Alumni Couple
Donate $1 Million Gift
William and Anne Harrison of
Greenwich, Conn., who graduated in
1966 and 1978, respectively, are honor
ing their parents with a $ 1 million gift to
the University.
The money will be divided evenly
between the Kenan-Flagler Business
School and scholarships for the College
of Arts and Sciences. The fathers of
both Harrisons attended the University,
as did their 10 siblings.
ASG President Mirisis
Admits to Plagiarizing
Newly-elected Association of Student
Government President Nicholas Mirisis,
currently a student at UNC-Charlotte,
admitted to Plagiarizing a paper in his
Peace, War and Technology class during
the spring semester, the UNC-C
University Times reported. “It is some
thing 1 am continuing to learn from and
will learn from in the future,” he said.
Nominations Accepted
For Community Award
The Chapel Hill Community Design
Commission is accepting nominations
for its Appearance Awards Program.
The award recognizes the efforts of
individuals, businesses and community
groups who have enhanced the natural
1 or built environment of the town.
Nominations will be accepted in six
categories including commercial or
institutional development, neighbor
hood or community development, res
idential gardens, landscaping, conser
vation or stewardship and rehabilita
fion/restoration/preservation. All nom
inated projects must be within the
Chapel Hill planning jurisdiction and
visible or accessible to the public.
The deadline for nominations is July
31. Applications can be picked up at the
Chapel Hill Planning Department, the
Chapel Hill Public Library and the
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of
Commerce.
Four Track Members
Travel to U.S. Games
UNC sent four members of the track
and field team to compete June 24-26
on University of Oregon in Eugene at
the USA Track and Field Nationals.
Twelve-time All-American Nicole
Gamble will compete in the triple jump.
Gamble has the longest jump in the
country right now, between collegiate
and non-collegiate jumpers. Other com
petitors from UNC include senior Allen
Bradd (shot put), senior LaShonda
Christopher (long jump) and junior
Omar Clinton. The top three finishers
will go on to the World Championships
in Barcelona, Spain. Those finishing
four through six will join the Pan-
American team in Canada.
From staff reports
Freshmen Tackle Initiative
Freshmen participating in
C-TOPS are the first to use
the laptops for the Carolina
Computing Initiative.
Win Foushee
Staff Writer
For the first time, the Carolina
Computing Initiative is becoming more
than just an idea on paper.
Incoming freshmen participating in
C-TOPS are being taught how to use
the new laptops in clinics taking place
during each C-TOPS session.
The initiative requires all freshmen,
starting in the year 2000, to purchase
their own laptop.
The Academic and Technology
Network’s Training Center has been dis
tributing laptops to incoming freshmen
and showing them how to use them in
preparation for fall semester.
Freshmen have the choice of two dif
ferent laptop computers, an IBM
Think Pad 390 or 600.
ATN has led three training sessions a
day on the last day of each C-TOPS ses
sion in Chase Hall, ATN team member
Gregjansen said.
Students’ laptops are equipped with
Microsoft Office ‘9B and a Microsoft
Office 2000 upgrade free of charge.
Students are asked not to use die
upgrade until the fall in order to give
the training staff time to get oriented
with the new software, Jansen said.
Freshmen are introduced to their
new laptops, the contents of the box
and how to properly operate the com
puter without voiding the warranty.
The ATN staff took students through
Death Heightens Construction Safety
By Jason Sugar
Staff Writer
Last week’s death of a construction
worker at the University has sparked an
investigation by the N.C. Department of
Labor and increased safety conscious
ness of campus construction workers.
“Essentially, we know what hap
pened, but we don’t know why it hap
pened,” Greg Cook, a spokesman for
the labor department, said.
According to police reports, on June
16, 41-year-old David Allen Matthews,
of Hillsborough, fell 30 feet from a fifth
floor scaffold at the Biological Sciences
Research Center in the University’s sci
ence and medical complex off Mason
Farm Road. He was welding steel sup
ports for a brick wall. The accident hap
pened about 8:10 a.m., and police
Housing Proposal Meets Opposition
By Amy Anderson
Staff Writer
A proposal to build anew affordable
housing complex in Chapel Hill has
been met with emotional outbursts from
concerned and supportive residents.
At Monday night’s public hearing the
Chapel Hill Town Council received
comments on a proposal to build
Scarlette Drive Townhomes. The pro
posal includes the construction of 14
townhomes, a 25-space parking lot and
a recreational and garden area at the
comer of Scarlette Drive and Legion
Road in Chapel Hill.
The proposed site is located off U.S.
15-501 near the Chapel Hill Cemetery
and Hardee’s.
If the proposal is approved, the town
would have to rezone die site to accom
modate a more dense living area.
Over 10 residents from adjacent
neighborhoods spoke at the hearing.
CONSTRUCTION BLUES
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DTH/EMILIA RUIZ
A maze of cones is evidence of Manning Drive's steam-line construction
project. Slated for completion in March 2000, the construction will not
impede any of the Special Olympics events, officials say.
University & City
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DTH/EMIUA RUIZ
Incoming freshmen attend a two-hour lecture Wednesday afternoon instructing them how to use their new
IBM laptops. The University requires all freshmen, starting in the year 2000, to purchase their own laptops.
a step-by-step setup of Microsoft
Windows ‘9B, with the exception of the
printer setup. Jansen said since students
had the choice of buying any type of
printer they wanted, ATN did not single
out a particular one to introduce.
Students were taught how to set up
Internet connections and establish their
UNC e-mail accounts.
Jansen said students also took a tour
of the ATN Web site to get acclimated to
the Residential Networking Program, a
arrived on the scene at 8:15 a.m., pro
nouncing Matthews dead, Capt. Mark
Mclntyre of University Police said.
Matthews worked for J.D. Park Steel
Cos., a subcontractor working on the
center, which is scheduled to open in
May 2000. The state Occupational
Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), a division of the labor depart
ment, is investigating last week’s acci
dent.
Jim Lutz, a construction worker for
more than 20 years, said following
OSHA safety regulations virtually elim
inated construction accidents. “If work
ers follow what codes are in effect, there
isn’t any reason why anyone shouldn’t
have a safe day on the job,” Lutz said at
the Graham Memorial construction site.
After hearing about last week’s acci
dent, Lutz said he was not deterred from
Many of them shared worries over safe
ty, traffic, property values and recre
ational facilities.
Margot Wilkinson, a resident who
lives near the proposed site, said the
proposal had already been approved
without regard to the feelings of the
neighborhood residents.
“We feel defenseless in our neighbor
hood,” she said, “We feel demoralized
and are very, very angry. No one is lis
tening to us - no one is listening to our
plight.”
Robert Dowling, the director of the
Orange Community Housing
Corporation, a non-profit organization
whose main objective is to build afford
able housing, filed the application to
build on the Scarlette Drive site. He
said discussions about the site had been
going on for over a year, and the coun
cil had always been very supportive.
“I think the residents brought valid
points to the meeting, but I do not agree
service which provides high-speed
Ethernet connections to students living
in Res Net-ready residence halls.
But some incoming freshmen said
they had mixed feelings about the ses
sions.
Preston Allmond, an incoming fresh
man from Denver, said the training ses
sion was well worth it. “I might have
had problems setting up my computer
in the fall without this session,” he said.
But Courtney Flaks, an incoming
climbing onto a scaffold again.“Most of
the time accidents are brought on by
individuals. That’s nine-tenths of the
problem right there,” he said.
Cook said OSHA would spend the
next four to six weeks determining the
cause of Matthews’ fall. OSHA officials
will interview witnesses, check on
employer safety programs and look over
thousands of safety requirements, Cook
said.
Any number of factors may have
contributed to the fall, Cook said.
“Sometimes scaffolds aren’t built
properly,” he said. “Sometimes they are
and the construction employee is not
wearing a fall-protection device and gets
in a hurry and falls off the scaffolding.”
Cook said construction companies
must instill safe habits in its workers by
implementing safety programs, teaching
with everything they had to say,” he
said. “While the council members have
voiced their support for this project,
they are very wise to listen to the citi
zens.”
Linda Tiggen, a resident who lives
near the proposed site, also spoke out
against affordable housing in the area.
“Affordable housing is a critical need
in Chapel Hill, but we need to preserve
our existing neighborhoods,” she said.
“This building will not blend in. It is not
a suitable site. There is no parking space
or recreation space. This is not accept
able. There are no sidewalks. This is
unsafe. There are no acceptable traffic
patterns. This is dangerous."
Council member Flicka Bateman said
she supported the proposal and wanted
the process to get started.
“I respect all of your positions,” she
said. “But, I am willing to bite the bul
let and begin this project."
Nancy Gabrielle, who lives near the
Pine Knolls Avoids Foreclosure
Sophie Milam
Staff Writer
The town of Chapel Hill has decided
to drop foreclosure proceedings on four
homes in the Pine Knolls neighborhood
after community leaders made final pay
ment on an outstanding debt.
The last of the payments were
received from the Pines Community
Center Inc. on June 11. Attorney, filing
and trustee fees were added to the loan
amount of $105,326.06, bringing the
total figure to $209,950.95 for the four
houses.
Lauren Barnes, community develop
ment planner for the town, said steps
had already been taken to auction off
the homes. While town leaders had
hoped to sell the homes to low-income
families, the necessity of an auction
would have made it impossible to regu-
freshman from North Brunswick, NJ.,
said it could have been handled differ
ently. “I already knew about Windows.
It could have been done faster, and I
could have done this by myself.”
Jansen said, “They are getting a lot of
information, but they are also getting
their computers and the entire summer
to tinker with them.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
proper use of safety equipment and
making safety its top priority.
“Most employers are responsible and
good players,” he said. “Some are not.”
While the accident happened on
campus property, the University is pri
marily concerned with hazards outside
of the construction site, including debris
falling on pedestrians and fences
obstructing walkways, said Don
Willhoit, director of the UNC Health
and Safety Office. “We don’t have
responsibility for employee safety inside
the construction site,” he said.
Cook said the tragedy provided an
important lesson. “It will serve as a
reminder that construction can be a very
dangerous business.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
proposed site, was the only resident who
voiced support for the proposal.
“We need to foster a true sense of
community,” she said. “Let’s practice
what we preach. These homes will
increase the value of the the surround
ing properties. Realize that density is not
a dirty word.”
The council did not make a decision
on the Scarlette Drive Townhomes pro
posal, but agreed to hold another public
hearing onjuly 7.
Council member Joe Capowski said
the main purpose of the hearing was to
give the council a chance to hear public
opinion regarding the proposed devel
opment.
“It is just a chance for council mem
bers to listen to the concerns of the peo
ple,” he said. “We have to treat this sit
uation with sensitivity.”
The City/State & National Editor
can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.
late who bought the houses.
“If the auction had gone through,
there is no way to tell who would have
gotten the homes,” she said.
The homes are located near campus,
making them an attractive option to
developers seeking to build student
housing, reports state.
Separate audits by the town and the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development in 1996 decided that the
group was not delivering on its promis
es to provide affordable homes.
George Sanford, president of Pine
Knolls, said most of their problems start
ed when the town subsequently banned
further loans to the Pines Center in the
fall of 1996. Until then, center officials
had used town-offered money to buy
and renovate low-cost homes.
“Saving the homes was our only
goal,” he said. “We weren’t trying to
Thursday, June 24, 1999
County
Tax Hike
Approved
Chapel Hill-Carrboro School
officials say a 1.9 percent
county tax increase will not
cover school expenses.
By Ted Stokley
Staff Writer
The county budget, which calls for a
1.9 percent tax increase, has elicited
concerns from local school officials.
The Orange County Board of
Commissioners decided to approve a
smaller increase instead of the 3 percent
increase members had originally dis
cussed.
Neil Pedersen, superintendent for
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools,
said the lower tax increase would neg
atively impact his request for additional
school funds.
“We asked for $4.96 million (more),”
Pedersen said. “The county manager’s
recommendation cut approximately
$900,000.”
Last year’s school budget was $27
million, and Pedersen had requested
$31.96 million for fiscal year 1999-2000.
The new budget allocates s3l million to
Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools, reports
state.
Pedersen said although this cut
would not affect current programs, it
would threaten the future of new pro
grams.
“It won’t cut existing programs, but
we may not be able to implement pro
grams we had requested,” Pedersen
said. “There may be some reductions in
those programs.”
Pedersen said these programs includ
ed school growth, the opening of anew
elementary school, a high school expan
sion and a proposed salary increase for
teachers.
Orange County Commissioner Barry
Jacobs said the cut should not be a
problem. “This is still an increase of
13.5 percent for the budget on the two
school systems,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said Orange County still sur
passes other counties in the state in
school funding.
“We have the highest school spend
ing in the state,” Jacobs said.
Rod Visser, Orange County assistant
manager, said the tax rate would rise to
91.9 cents per SIOO,OOO, a 1.7 cent
increase from last year.
Visser said approximately half of the
county’s budget goes to the county’s
schools.
Pedersen said although the Chapel
Hill-Carrboro Board of Education had
considered bringing a lawsuit against
the county, the board had no plans to
do so at this time.
“At this time the Board of Education
does not plan to pursue that,” Pedersen
said.
Visser said lawsuits of this nature
were a part of state law.
“There’s a judicial provision in state
law where if the Board of Education
feels the Board of Commissioners has
failed to provide adequate funding, they
can go through the clerk of court for
arbitration,” Visser said.
Visser said this kind of lawsuit was
uncommon.
“In the 15 years I have been in
Orange County, it hasn’t been
invoked.”
Jacobs said he did not expect the
school board would bring a lawsuit
against the county.
“I don’t believe the school system
will bring a lawsuit,” Jacobs said. “I
would be surprised if they did, as well as
very disappointed. There has been an
increasingly good relation between the
two school systems and the Orange
County commissioners.”
The CitylState & National Editor
can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.
beat the town out of any money.”
At one point, money was so tight that
Sanford paid the insurance on some of
the houses out of his own pocket just to
save the homes.
“That’s money I may not get back,”
Sanford said.
The center took out individual loans
and mortgages because it couldn’t get
grants to complete their project But
Sanford does not regret the years he has
worked on the project
“It’s been a good experience for us
because we know how to do it now,”
Sanford said.
Two of the four homes were sold in
late May and early June. Families are
now living in the homes. The other two
homes are still owned by Pine Knolls.
The CitylState & National Editor
can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.
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