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®lu> iatlu sar lieel M News/I J? HD 106 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Death Toll From Flood Reaches 40 By Lucas Fenske Staff Writer Even though Hurricane Floyd ruined thousands of homes and billions of dol lars of property, citizens are counting on community support to pull them through. Thousands are still home less from the flooding N.C. Farmers Fear Worst When Floods Subside See Page 9 brought on by the storm. Forty flood related deaths have been confirmed, but * IP?- ikJSKr Jm DTH/SEFTONIPOCK The Rev. Mary Gooding, mother of convicted murderer Harvey Lee Green, and Frank Ballance, D-Gates, discuss the clemency hearing they attended with Gov. Jim Hunt. Although Hunt was noncommittal, supporters of Green remain hopeful. Appeals Prolong Death Row Wait By Will Aiken Staff Writer Harvey Lee Green, the convicted murderer scheduled to die early Friday morning, has been on death row for 15 years. For many North Carolinians, the road to his execution has been far too long. The state’s average condemned inmate sits on death row for 8 1/2 years, said Patty McQuillan, director of public information for the N.C. Department of Correction. Under current state law, the death penalty is only a form of punishment for people guilty of first-degree murder. When the U.S. Supreme Court abol- ished the death penalty in 1976, it applied to a variety of crimes. In 1978, North Carolina adopted the current first-degree murder criteria. The revised law met constitutional standards, and 12 people have been executed since 1984. Lethal injec tion is the only form of execution allowed by the state. But critics claim the low number of executions carried out by the state indicates the inefficiencies of the process. “In North Carolina, we really don’t have a death penalty,” said Rep. Larry Justus, R-Henderson. He complained that he could count on his hands the number of people executed dur ing his 15-year tenure in the N.C. House. See LAWS, Page 10 CAA Officials to Accentuate Academics in Elections By Geoff Wessel Staff Writer Students will no longer have the only voice in the traditional Mr. and Ms. UNC elections during Homecoming. In efforts to make the contest more academic, the Carolina Athletic Association has instituted a faculty officials expect the number to rise. The eastern two-thirds of the state has been declared a federal disaster area, including Alamance, Bertie, Franklin, Pamlico, Person, Rowan and Wake counties. Tony Rogers, director of the Martin County Emergency Team, said estimat ing the damage was difficult because the storm affected so much of the county. “We’ve had some severe flooding,” Rogers said. “Anywhere from 50 to 100 homes are uninhabitable, and another 500 will probably need a lot of repairs.” He said Martin County was depen How the System Works A death sentence in North Carolina is followed by an appeals process that lasts an average of 81/2 years. This allows the accused several opportunities to plead for anew trial. Initial Trial for First-Degree Murder If convicted and sentenced to death: I N.C. Supreme Court i 1 1 If judge rules if judge rules that there was an If judge rules that there was no error: error in the guilt-innocence an error in the sentencing phase of the initial trial: phase of the initial trial: U.S. Supreme Capital sentencing Court on petition hearing I*l i l Refusal to hear Decision to hear the New trial Death Life in the case case and come to a sentence prison conclusion Post-Conviction Phase Defendant files motion in Defendant has set time to file county Superior Court petition in U.S. District Court i ——i r 1 If the defendant If the state wins: Court ismisses Defendant wins wins: t*' l } o " * Appeal to fourth Circuit m 6W New Filing of petition in Court of Appeals sentencinoor sentencing or N.C. Supreme Court | new tS new tr ' a l .-...i11..- filing of appeal in U.S. State Defendant Supreme Court wins wins . . Court dismisses and I execution date is set Filing of petition New in U.S. Supreme sentencing Gove ! has Court or new trial demency hear i n g I A MATTER OF I LIFE AND DEATH I A weeklong series exploring the death penally in N.C. SOURCE: N.C. SUPREME COURT review board, whose recommendations will count for 25 percent of the selection process. Student elections will count for 75 percent of the decision, rather than being the entire process as in the past. The review board along with several other changes, such as the setting of a 2.8 minimum GPA, are intended to give Nobody is poor unless he stands in need of justice. Lactantius Wednesday, September 22, 1999 Volume 107, Issue 79 dent upon agriculture and expected to lose 50 percent of its crops. “We were already economically stressed from the tobacco cutbacks,” Rogers said. “This will just make things worse. People here are community based and that pulled us through.” Rogers said Martin County was accepting evacuees from neighboring counties and sending them spare sup plies. Tarboro received spare supplies from Martin County. Jean Pettaway, currently staying in the temporary shelter at Tarboro County academics a more important role in the contest. The application process for Mr. and Ms. UNC this year will be different in many ways from the one used to choose the Homecoming king and queen in years past. “There was a definite room for improvement in the process of the past,” High School, said she and her husband were forced to evacuate their home. They were able to drive to the shelter, but the journey was harrowing, she said. “The water was coming in (the house) as we were going out,” Pettaway said. “On the way to the shelter, we had to cross a bridge. Water was flowing over it and on the highway.” Pettaway said she was thankful for making it to the shelter, but she did regret having to leave her home. “I’ll miss the things that can’t be replaced the most,” she said. “I had a son, who’s now lost to me, and he gave Laws„ f f XC& LlraP Green, Supporters Make Final Push To Halt Execution By Kristian Kordila Staff Writer RALEIGH - After a hearing with death row inmate Harvey Lee Green’s trial lawyers and anti-death penal ty activists Tuesday, Gov. Jim Hunt remained non committal in granting clemency. Karolin^pea^utJ n Do you support the death penalty? 60 to www.unc.edu/dth to cast your vote. do the right thing,” Dear said. “There are so many rea sons to grant clemency. The racism, his repentence, an unfair judicial process and other issues we’ve raised.” At a pre-hearing press conference, religious leaders focused on what they feel is the immorality of the death penalty. Diane Corlett, rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Raleigh, said the death penal ty was not an acceptable form of punishment. “It is not our right to take a life,” Corlett said. “We don’t wish to participate silently in his execution.” Green is scheduled to be executed at 2 a.m. Friday for the November 1983 clubbing of church organist John Michael Edmondson and 17-year-old clerk Sheila Marlene Bland, both during an attempted robbery. Dear said racial prejudices played a major part in Green’s sentencing. “This case was infected with racism,” Dear said. “In 1983, there were over 500 homicides in the state.” But the death penalty was only imposed in Green’s case that year, Dear said. He said the jury, which con sisted of 11 whites and only one black, was biased against Green, who is black. Some supporters feel that Greene, after 15 years on death row, is genuinely remorseful and has been reha bilitated. “He has changed as a human being,” Cortlett said. “He is not the same man. When you give the death penalty, you are saying that people can’t change.” Green’s mother, Rev. Mary Gooding of an AME Zion Church in Jones County, was present at the hear ing. One of her four children, Green’s sister Brenda Sims, was also in attendance. See CLEMENCY, Page 10 DTH/ DANA CRAIG said CAA president Tee Pruitt. “It was a goal of this year’s (CAA) Cabinet to take a step back and look at ways we could make this process a more efficient and fair system for those involved.” The decision to take a closer look at the Homecoming Court process was prompted in part by a great deal of con me a desk he made while in high school. I’ll probably never see that desk again.” Phyllis Talbot, who is volunteering at the Tarboro shelter, said the majority of the evacuees were airlifted from the roofs of their homes. She said the shelter was housing about 3,000 people, even though Tarboro shelter was built for 900 stu dents. Tarboro has a population of roughly 10,000. It was difficult to main tain a count, officials said, because as some people left others were arriving. See DEATHS, Page 10 An exhausted-looking Hunt refused to comment on the day’s proceedings after the hearing. The families of Green’s victims and state attorneys also met with Hunt on Tuesday but were unavailable for comment. Stephen Dear, executive direc tor of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, voiced his frustra tion at a press conference outside the state Capitol Building after the hearing. “It’s discouraging. We are hopeful that Governor Hunt will troversy that surrounded last year’s elec tions. Pruitt said because the selection pro cedures were unclear, some students took actions which were considered to be unethical. In one case, e-mails circulated urging See HOMECOMING, Page 10 News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina © 1999 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. UNC Group New Niche For GLBTs Some graduate gay and lesbian students say they often feel isolated from the rest of the University. By Kate Macek Staff Writer When Glenn Grossman came to UNC’s graduate program last year, he was expecting more resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender stu dents. A few groups already existed within certain schools, but Grossman and fel low graduate student Frederick Isasi thought something more extensive was needed. They created Carolina Alternative Meetings of Professional and Graduate Students, to serve the graduate and pro fesional communities. “Most other universities have pro grams (for GLBT students),” said Grossman, CAMP co-chairman. “I was surprised to come down here and find there wasn’t one. “We realized a program was needed for graduate and professional students that covered the entire campus.” Graduate students often feel more separated from their communities than undergraduates, but this is especially true for GLBTs, Grossman said. “Graduate students tend not to inter act with students from other schools. This presents another set of barriers (for GLBT students),” he said. “There might not be any other gay or lesbian students in your department or there might be only one or two.” Dental student Deb Conner has felt this kind of isolation. “I’m so buried in the bowels of Tarrson Hall that I never see the light of day,” Conner said. “There’s no way, unless your ‘gaydar’ is completely in tune, that you can tell just by looking at somebody (that they are gay). It’s just so tremendously helpful to have that ready-made support group.” CAMP aids the GLBT community in finding available resources and services, Grossman said. It also helps create a safe environment, encourages commu nication and organizes events. “(We aim to) build bridges between GLBTs and the rest of the community,” Grossman said. About 160 people cur rently belong to the organization, and monthly social receptions draw an aver age of 45 people, Grossman said. They have held movie nights and See GLBT, Page 10 a m as agb aaa Hat HI cj Ir% i Wednesday Dealing With Disaster Though Hurricane Floyd caused little damage to Chapel Hill, the storm ravaged other parts of the state. The Daily Tar Heel wants to hear from any UNC students with family or friends in eastern North Carolina who are struggling to recoup after the storm. Contact Editor Rob Nelson at 962- 4086 or at rnelson@email.unc.edu. Uncovering UNC Applications for the Joanna Howell Fund, which honors the memory of a DTH editorial writer who died in the 1996 Phi Gamma Delta fraternity fire, will be available at the DTH front desk in Suite 104 of the Student Union and are due by Oct. 4. The fund provides $250 for a student to write an in-depth article about an issue affecting the University communi ty. Issues explored in the past include recycling and race relations on campus. The article will be published in the DTH in November. Today’s Weather Sunny; High 60s. Thursday: Sunny; Low 70s.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 22, 1999, edition 1
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