2
Wednesday, September 15, 1999
Candidate Proposes Leash-Free Zone
By Jenny Stepp
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill dog owners might have a
new place to bring their pets, if Town
Council candidate Bill Strom has his
way.
Strom held a press conference
Tuesday to announce his proposal to use
a portion of the Nunn Mountain prop
erty, located off Piney Mountain Road,
as a designated leash-free zone for dogs.
“Dog ownership builds community,”
Strom said. “(Chapel Hill) needs to cre
ate places where people can come
together and share interests.”
Town Manager Cal Horton said
Chapel Hill’s leash laws state that own
ers must keep their dogs either on leash
es or under their direct control at all
times. The town has had no leash-free
areas since unleashed dogs were banned
from the Merritt Pasture area last spring.
The Nunn Mountain land is owned
by the Orange Water and Sewer
Authority. Because the land is owned by
OWASA, Strom is proposing that the
Town Council petition OWASA to ded
icate the land to the city of Chapel Hill,
a plan for which he says OWASA has
indicated preliminary support
“I’ve gotten a tremendous amount of
encouragement,” Strom said. “It’s the
subde amenities that make Chapel Hill
an exceptional place to live.”
Strom said the Orange County Joint
Master Recreation and Parks Plan Work
Group, which he has been involved
Student Group Helps Release Prisoner
By Jennifer Heffernan
Staff Writer
After 12 years of sending letters to the
Syrian government, UNC’s Amnesty
International Group 84 can finally cel
ebrate the release of political prisoner
Nabil Ibrahim.
Amy Batchelor, case coordinator for
Ibrahim, and Amanda Tuten, the
group’s president, said they could trace
their efforts resulting in Ibrahim’s
release to an unlikely source - the music
group U 2.
“We all grew up listening to U 2
albums,” Tuten said. “In the lyric books,
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with, looked into alternative recreation
al uses for some of OWASA’s property.
Strom made a similar proposal to the
town council on April 12 -a suggestion
the Town Council turned down, citing
special use permit violations.
Strom claims this time around will be
different, primarily because his previous
proposal that the Nunn Mountain prop
erty be added to the public space inven
tory did not specifically ask that the land
be turned into a leash-free zone, which
would not violate the environmental
protection language of the permit.
Strom plans to put fences around the
designated leash-free area and build a
small gravel parking lot. He claims these
changes would neither disturb the exist
ing environment nor become a signifi
cant cost to taxpayers.
Council member Lee Pavao was
especially concerned about the reaction
of nearby residents to such a plan, refer
ring to the Merritt Pasture controversy
earlier in the year.
“It’s one thing to make a proposal, it’s
another to see how the community
reacts,” Pavao said. “It’s a wonderful
idea, but it hasn’t been flushed out yet.”
But Strom said he was optimistic
about focusing on the continuing issue
of improved “quality of life” in Chapel
Hill.
“It’s time for some generosity from
neighborhood to neighborhood.”
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
it’ll say ‘support Amnesty International’
and it gives the addresses for the United
States and Ireland.”
Since 1987, students have been mak
ing appeals to Syrian government offi
cials.
At a meeting Monday night,
Amnesty members celebrated Ibrahim’s
release with a ceremonial cake.
“I think that being in Amnesty is a
really worthwhile thing to do,” Tuten
said. “A lot of times it seems really
tedious. In over 12 years, we heard once
that (Ibrahim) was alive.”
Ibrahim, who was released last week,
was imprisoned for 15 years because he
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Town Council candidate Bill Strom, with his dog Torie, discusses a plan
to allow unleashed dogs on part of the Nunn Mountain property.
had distributed pamphlets and belonged
to the Syrian Party for Communist
Action, Tuten said.
According to Amnesty’s web-site,
these prisoners are “people who are
detained anywhere for their beliefs or
because of their ethnic origin, sex, color,
language, national or social origin, eco
nomic status or birth and who have not
used or advocated violence.”
“A big part of Amnesty is that the
expression of these people’s beliefs has
to be nonviolent,” Tuten said.
Now that Ibrahim is free, the group’s
main focus is a campaign to help nine
Chinese workers receive a fair trial.
News
The men are currently being held in
China’s Hengyang Prison and were
involved in the 1989 Tiananmen Square
uprising, said Treasurer Robin
Anderson.
With more than 1 million members
in over 160 countries, Amnesty
International thrives on supporters’
involvement.
At UNC, members discuss human
rights violations and undertake letter
writing campaigns.
“There are other things we can do,
but our group is very small,” Batchelor
said. “We hope to expand to bigger
things.”
Getting involved in a stranger’s life
had its benefits, Tuten said.
“Just that feeling of knowing you
contributed in some way to getting this
man released - it’s just a really good
feeling.”
The University Editors can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
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Aldermen Set Sights
On Carrboro's Future
Downtown revitalization is
one of several goals that
Carrboro officials included
in a 20-year town plan.
By Mac Heffner
Staff Writer
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen
said it was looking toward the future and
adopted a proposal Tuesday night that
would address planning for the town’s
new long-range issues.
The plan, called 2020 Vision, will
replace the year 2000 task force that has
been in place since 1989. The new plan
will focus on development, amenities,
transportation and
economic devel
opment in
Carrboro.
The aldermen
took those four
points from the
year 2000 docu
ment as a starting
point for the 2020
Vision project.
“The goals (of
2020) don’t have
to be identical,”
alderman Allen
Spalt said. “But
they have to be
consistent.”
f
Carrboro Alderman
Alex Zaffron
said planning future
town goals should
include the voice of
residents.
Falling under the amenities category
were parks and recreation, arts and cul
ture and human services.
The development category included
topics such as public health and safety,
preservation of the natural environment
and retaining the small-town character
name.
Economic development included
plans to revitalize the downtown area
and work on new commercial growth.
Campus Calendar
Today
noon - The Sonja H. Stone Black
Cultural Center will hold “Going
Natural,” a showcase of hairstyles. The
discussion, which is part of the group’s
“Around the Circle” series will be held
in the BCC.
1: 15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. - The Center
for Teaching and Learning will present
“Using Student Learning Outcomes
as the Basis of Course Planning,” a
Foundations in Teaching Workshop for
Instructors in Union 205-206.
To register, call 966-1289 or e-mail
ctl@unc.edu.
2 p.m. - Stuart Rojstaczer will read
from his new book “Gone for Good:
Ullje laily (Ear MM
The transportation project called for
improving public mass transit, along
with bicycle and pedestrian travel.
Before the board adopted the project,
Mayor Mike Nelson made three
changes in the proposal. ,
The first was to initiate brain-storm
ing sessions with the public. Nelson also
asked that additions to the document be
allowed as needed.
Third, he asked that the number of
board members on the project be
increased from one to two members of
the public.
The aldermen also set a target date of
January 31,2000, for a timeline to be in
place for the 20-year project. I
Alderman Alex Zaffron added that
the goals defined by the board should
be included with goals of the people in
the community.
“Our goals should be used as a point
of reference,” he said. “It should not
limit our future plans.”
Alderman Hilliard Caldwell said the
board needed to consider the financial
aspects before proceeding.
“We have to look at what the people
want this community to look like in
twenty years,” he said. “But you have to
look at when we do it and how much it
will cost.” • i
Before adjourning, the aldermen sug
gested that several dates be set up fdr
the public to give feedback about the
new 2020 Vision.
Alderman Diana McDuffee said the
group meetings should not conflict, so
people could give input into more than
just one area of the project.
While the Jan. 31 target date for the
project time line was set, the aldermen
agreed it was an aggressive deadline that
could be adjusted if more time was
needed to plan the project.
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu ,
Tales of University Life After thq
Golden Age,” in the Bull’s Head
Bookshop at Student Stores.
The event is free and open to the
public.
5 p.m. - The National
Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws will hold its first meet
ing of the year in Union 205.
5:30 p.m. - The Black Student
Movement will hold a resume writing
workshop in Upendo Lounge above
Chase Hall in preparation for the
Minority Career Night on Sept. 29.
The workshop is facilitated by
Maiian Holmes, a representative of
University Career Services.
5:30 p.m. - Student night at the
Newman Catholic Student Center
will be a picnic at Professor George
Lensing’s house.
Meet at the Newman Center for
rides.
7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. - Souljoum will
host a self-defense seminar at the
Student Recreation Center. The semi
nar will be led by seventh-degree black
belt master S.P. Sully.
7:30 p.m. - The Sonja H. Stone
Black Cultural Center will hold a
BCC Ambassadors interest meeting.
8 p.m. - The class of 2000 will hold
an information session for those with
questions or concerns about the senior
class gift.
For more information, call Minesh
Patel at 962-5608.
Thursday
noon to 1 p.m. - The Trial Law
Academy will sponsor the Mock Trial'
Competition, which is open to teams of
graduate and undergraduate students.
Knowledge of technical legal issues is
not required. Interested teams should
register at the School of Law on Ridge
Road.
3 p.m. - Merle Black, ASA G.
Chandler Professor of Politics and
Government at Emory University, will
speak on “Politics in the Modern
South: Race, Religion, Gender and
Income” in Gerrard Hall.
3:30 p.m. - Carol Mavor, associate
professor of art, will read from her new
book, “Becoming: The Photographs
of Clementina, Viscountess
Hawarden,” at the Bull’s Head
Bookshop at Student Stores as part of
the Faculty Unplugged series.
5 p.m. - This is the deadline for sub
missions to The Catalyst magazine,
which is accepting opinion pieces,
essays, personal narratives, fiction, poet- 1
ry, photography and artwork.
For more information, call Meagan •
Patterson at 933-1082.
5:45 p.m. - Acoustic Christian artist
Claire Holley will be performing at the
Battle House located on Battle Lane
behind Kenan Residence Hall in the
Baptist Student Union.
7 p.m. - Students for the
Advancement of Race Relations, a
Campus Y committee, will hold a gen
eral interest meeting at the Campus Y ‘
building.
For more information, call Jermain
Reeves at 914-3404.
7:30 p.m. - The Pre-Physical
Therapy or Pre-Occupational
Therapy Club will hold an interest
meeting in 304 Woollen Gym.