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Police: TV Tapes First Tip in Assault Arrest
NBC-17 caught the suspect
on tape on Franklin Street
while the crew was doing
a scenery shot.
By Ashley Stephenson
Senior Writer
A local TV station’s tapes were the
starting point of leads investigators used
to track down a suspect who police
Charter
Schools Set
For Year
Local charter school officials
say they are not worried
about encountering any
problems this year.
BY GINNY SdABBARRASI
Assistant City Editor
With the closing of School in the
Community fresh on their minds and a
new school year in progress, local char
ter school administrators are focusing
on teaching history - not repeating it.
Mike Wilhoyt, principal of the
Orange County Charter School, said he
was aware of the problems faced by
School in the Community but did not
feel his school was at risk.
“It’s all about numbers and if you get
enough kids and you get enough
money, then it’s OK,” he said.
School in the Community, a charter
ichool located in Chapel Hill at 202 S.
Treensboro St., closed its doors last
ipring after low enrollment caused the
ichool to lose its charter.
Wilhoyt said his school had seen an
ncrease in enrollment from 140 stu
lents from last year to 163 this year. He
ittributed the increase to the school’s
ommitment to remaining community
ocused.
Wilhoyt said the school was imple
nenting anew period allowing students
o have the opportunity to meet with
heir teachers and discuss events going
m in their lives.
“I know everybody and everybody
mows me,” he said. “When you know
he kids, you can detect (problems) bet
er.”
Sadie Jordan, principal of Village
Charter School, said charter schools had
o constantly network with other charter
ichools to ensure their success.
UNC Shines in National Survey
Students praised libraries,
campus publications and
athletics as the best parts
of attending the University.
By Anne Fawcett
Staff Writer
College students often are limited to
showing support for their schools at
football games while praises for student
life and academics are left unheard.
A publication to be released Tuesday
by The Princeton Review aims to
change that.
Its ninth
annual guide
book, “The
Best 331
Colleges,” pre
sents profiles
FSU Dubbed Best
Party School by
'Review' Survey
See Page 11
and rankings of colleges nationwide
based on surveys completed by 59,000
students from the 331 schools.
And as it turns out, UNC students
want to cheer about a lot more than the
basketball team. The students surveyed
for UNC’s results gave high ranks to
professors’ accessibility, Chapel Hill’s
atmosphere and opportunities offered.
UNC ranked in the top 20 schools in
six categories, including a No. 1 ranking
I forget what I was taught. I only remember what 1 have learnt.
Patrick White
believe was responsible for attacks on
two UNC students last week, University
Police officials said Wednesday.
NBC-17 had a news crew on campus
Aug. 18 reporting the assaults and
unknowingly caught Jesus Alvarez-
Ramos on tape. Alvarez-Ramos was
arrested Tuesday when University Police
traced him to the Orange County Jail,
where he was being held on charges for
failing to appear in court for a driving
while intoxicated charge.
“Our reporter saw this guy sitting on
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Tui Hayes, a former student at School in the Community, now spends his time working with computer animation, a talent fostered at the school.
“We’re not having any trouble,” she
said. “We’re part of a five-school con
sortium.”
Jordan said her school’s enrollment
was at 155 students, securing them
against having their charter revoked.
“If you’re above 65 (students), you’re
fine,” she said. “The School in the
Community should have been directed
to at-risk and alternative schools.”
Jean Bolduc, whose son attends
Village Charter School, said School in
the Community failed because of lack of
support from the surrounding towns.
“I think the real reason they failed
was not so much the lack of enrollment,
but the cost of the facility was so
severe,” she said. “They should have
had some assistance from Chapel Hill or
Carrboro.”
Fred Battle, chairman of School in the
Community’s school board, said the
Head Over Heels for Rankings
A national survey by The Princeton Review of student opinions ranked UNC high on six
aspects of student life, including school spirit library access and location.
“And the Survey Says...’' UNC's Ranking
(among 331 universities)
■ Everyone loves the Tar Heels No, 1 College newspaper gets read
■ Students love Chapel Hill. No. 8 Students pack the stadiums
■ Political activism is hot. No. 10 Happy students
■ There is a great library. No. 11 Jock schools
■ Registration is a pain. No. 14 Great library
■ There are large classes. No. 18 Great college town
■ Student publications are popular.
■ There is ethnic diversity on campus.
■ Many teaching assistants teach / y
upper-level courses.
SOURCE: THE PRINCETON REVIEW
as the college where students most often
read the campus newspaper. Following
UNC were the University of
Pennsylvania, Michigan State University
and the University of Arizona.
“There are a lot of places where stu
dents don’t pay attention to the campus
newspaper at all,” said Ed Custard, one
of the co-authors for the guide. “At a
place like Chapel Hill or Michigan
State, to know what’s going on, you real
ly do have to read the newspapers.”
Results submitted by UNC students
Thursday, August 26, 1999
Volume 107, Issue 61
"
the wall (outside of
Carolina Coffee
Shop) and com
mented on how
similar he looked
to the composite
sketch,” said Joe
Shaw, NBC-17
system news direc
tor. “They took the
video of him to
the police.”
Alvarez-Ramos
Suspect Jesus
Alvarez-Ramos
closing of the school was damaging to
the local educational field.
“I think that the School in the
Community experience has really trau
matized the community."
Debbie McHenry, the lead adminis
trator for School in the Community, said
closing the school had taken a toll on
her emotionally.
“For me it was so draining that I had
to quit schools altogether,” she said.
“I’ve had my fill of schools for a while.”
McHenry said she would advise
other charter schools to ensure lots of
volunteers and money.
“You have got to have big money
behind you and parents with money
supporting you,” she said.
Seven of the students from School in
the Community finished their education
See CHARTER, Page 9
~ l)T!l/D\NACRAIG
also placed the school near the top of
other categories such as happiest stu
dents and student support of athletics.
“UNC comes out great," Custard
said. “There are plenty of schools who
would love to have as enthusiastic a
response as Chapel Hill.”
One student wrote, “A lot of private
schools look down on kids at state
schools like Carolina, t he truth is that
we have more fun, beat them in sports,
See SURVEY, Page 9
was employed at Carolina Coffee Shop,
a location close to where one of the
attacks took place. After the Aug. 15 and
Aug. 17 attacks, University Police posted
fliers featuring a composite sketch of the
suspect in all campus buildings.
The Aug. 17 attack took place in the
alley between the coffee shop and
Hanes Art Center.
“We didn’t know he was the suspect
at the time,” Shaw said. “We were basi
rally just shooting the scenery."
Shaw said the station found out
DTH'SEFTON IPOCK
School in the Community, a charter school, closed last March. The dis
placed students had to attend different schools or join the work force.
Group Readies Response
For Labor Disclosures
All UNC licensees must
release the locations of
their manufacturing sites
by March 31 of next year.
By Alexandra Molaire
Assistant University Editor
A group of UNC faculty and students
are mapping out how to handle prob
lems that could arise as companies pro
ducing UNC apparel release informa
tion about labor conditions.
The Licensing Labor Code Advisory
Committee will develop a complaint
system to handle complications or con
cerns as licensees disclose manufactur
ing sites to the University.
An Aug. 15 letter from UNC and the
Collegiate Licensing Cos. notified
licensees about the contract renewal
requirements, which include a March 31
deadline for site disclosure for compa
nies who renew between Nov. 15 and
March 31.
Former Chancellor Michael Hooker
appointed the committee in March 1998
to advise him on licensing labor codes.
In April, students staged a sit-in at
Tuesday police had arrested the same
man they caught on tape.
The tape was aired at 6 p.m. and 11
p.m. on the station Tuesday, he said.
University Police Chief Derek Poarch
said NBC-17 as well as the News &
Observer of Raleigh had given police
tips. After a press conference in which
police updated the media on their
search for the assailant, Poarch said a
reporter from the N&O approached him
See BOLO, Page 9
South Building and forced McCoy to
endorse their demands concerning
licensees’ sweatshop conditions.
UNC and other universities, many of
which use the same licensees, have been
working for more than two years to
enforce fair labor conditions.
Duke University set Jan. 1, 2000, as
its disclosure deadline, said Rut Tufts,
committee co-chairman.
And with Duke’s early deadline,
some licensees will have already dis
closed their locations before UNC’s
March deadline.
In addition to location information,
licensees must meet the CLC’s code of
conduct, which includes requirements
concerning health, safety and child
labor, within 90 days.
The letter also stated that the
licensees must either join the Fair Labor
Association, a group that monitors
working conditions, or agree to have the
FLA monitor their manufacturing sites.
Licensees renewing after the March
date must implement all the new
requirements, including full disclosure.
Three-fifths of UNC’s licensees are
up for contract renewals before March
See LABOR, Page 9
News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245
Business/Ad vertising 962-1163
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C 1999 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
N.C. Farms
Declared
Disastrous
Farmers who have lost more
than 30 percent of profits
can apply for emergency
loans to cushion the blow.
Staff Report
After months of severe drought, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
declared North Carolina and several
other states agricultural disaster areas
Wednesday.
Farmers are eligible for emergency,
low-interest loans to help compensate
for losses due to heat and drought
across North Carolina, 14 counties in
Maine and 13 counties in Virginia,
department Secretary Dan Glickman
announced.
“This drought continues to wreak
havoc throughout the Mid-Adantic and
Northeast,” Glickman stated in a press
release.
He stated that he would continue
working with Congress to provide
direct cash grants to straggling farmers.
“We are reminded again of how
widespread and severe this drought is,”
President Bill Clinton stated in a press
release.
“Its impact on farmers across the
Mid-Adantic and Northeast is devastat
ing.”
To apply for the loans, farmers must
have suffered at least a 30 percent loss
within a single product, be able to repay
the loan, have adequate security and
not be able to receive credit elsewhere.
They have eight months to apply.
N.C. farmers said the problem
deserved the immediate attention. “It’s
serious around here,” said Roxboro
farmer Jay Chambers.
Mark Garrett, another fanner from
Roxboro, said the drought had caused
him financial problems. “We all work
for money,” he said. “The corn crop is
lost. The soybean crop depends on
what happens next. The tobacco crop is
hurt.”
Farmers nationwide have been
plagued by dry conditions this summer,
prompting some midwestem and west
ern states to be declared disaster areas
earlier this year.
The department is still evaluating
damage in other states that asked for
disaster area status.
The eastern side of the United States
- including New England, western
North Carolina and northern Florida -
was most affected by the absence of
rain.
See DROUGHT, Page 9
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Thursday
In Your Own Backyard
fM
Local music fans hold bragging rights
for the area’s growing music scene.
Some bands have performed in local
venues for decades, while others have
reached national recognition. Despite
where they are now, these musicians
all call the Triangle home. See Page S.
The Clock Is Ticking
The Daily Tar Heel is hiring writers,
photographers, copy editors and online
staff. Applications are available at the
DTH office in Suite 104 of the Student
Union and are due by 5 p.m. Friday.
Today’s Weather
Sunny;
Low 90s.
Friday: Sunny;
High 80s.