Soily (Tar MM
Police
Roundup
City
Thursday Sept. 23
■ A Chapel Hill man was the target
of an attempted armed robbery at 2:45
a.m. in front of the Wicked Burrito
Restaurant on West Franklin Street,
reports stated. The 45-year-old man
said he was approached from behind by
a 5-foot-9-inch, 25- to 30-year-old white
man with long, blond hair.
The victim told police that the man
asked for his wallet, but when he
refused, the attacker cut him on his chin
and left arm with a box cutter. Police
found a razor blade at the scene, reports
stated.
Wednesday Sept. 22
■ William A. Jones, 22, was struck in
the left eye some time before 3 a.m.
when an unidentified woman hit him
with a beer bottle at the Alley Oops
Tree House at 157 East Rosemary St.,
reports stated.
According to police spokeswoman
Jane Cousins, the woman struck the
Tree House employee while he was
breaking up a fight between two men.
She fled the nightclub and escaped in
a car that was waiting in the parking lot,
Cousins said.
■ At 11 a.m. a Cary woman
returned to her parked car at University
Mall to find that all four of its tires were
deflating, reports stated.
Janene M. Zentmeyer, a Dillard’s
employee, called police when she dis
covered that someone had let the air out
of the tires on her 1998 Ford Explorer.
■ A Chapel Hill man called police
around 6 p.m. after he discovered that
an unauthorized person had charged
adult entertainment calls to his credit
card, reports stated.
William L. Thorp, of 214-A
McCauley St., called police after he was
surprised by a credit card bill that
included charges for several calls to dif
ferent services, said Jane Cousins, police
spokeswoman.
■ A Carrboro man told police his
car was stolen Monday, although he
didn’t report the incident until
Wednesday at 2:34 p.m., said Sgt. D.
Caldwell.
Torrey Perry, of 501 N.C. 54, Apt. -
3, told police his car was stolen by two
men who he was taking on a test drive
because he was trying to sell them the
1986 Toyota Corolla, reports stated.
One of the men pulled out a gun and
told Perry to drive to Durham, where
they robbed him of S6OO and left him,
reports stated.
University
Thursday Sept. 23
■ Police approached Christopher
Baldwin, who is not a UNC student, in
front of Morrison Residence Hall at
5:14 a.m., reports stated.
The subject was removing a bicycle
in front of the residence hall. When
questioned by the police, he said he
parked the bicycle at Morrison and then
went on campus to consume alcohol,
reports stated.
Officers later discovered the bicycle
was stolen from 31 IB Lindsey St. in
Chapel Hill. The bicycle was returned
to the owner, who did not press charges,
reports stated.
Tuesday, Sept. 21
■ A two-car collision on Manning-
Drive in front of Hinton James
Residence Hall caused approximately
$1,700 in damage.
Michael Hoefle, 53, of Chapel Hill
was driving on Manning Drive when an
18-year-old UNC student pulled off the
curb in front of Hinton James and
attempted to turn into Ehringhaus
Residence Hall.
There were no injuries.
■ Officers responded to a call from
a burglary witness at 3:24 a.m. The wit
ness watched the suspect take a bicycle
from a bicycle rack on the victim’s car
and then walked toward Morehead
Planetarium carrying the bicycle,
reports stated.
The witness described the subject as
a 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-8,140- to 150-pound
black man wearing a white shirt and
dark pants, reports stated. The witness
ran after the subject and saw a suspi
cious white pickup truck leave the
Morehead Planetarium area quickly.
Police questioned Christopher
Baldwin who fit the description but later
released him, reports stated.
Monday, Sept. 20
■ A burglary was reported at Van
Hecke Wettach Hall, reports stated. A
videocassette recorder, valued at S3OO,
was taken from Room 3049. Reports
stated that it was not known exactly
when the last time the VCR was seen or
used.
Flooding Claims Life of ECU Freshman; Recovery Continues
By Taena Kim
Staff Writer
An East Carolina University fresh
man’s body was found floating in a
flooded stream
by campus
police
Wednesday
morning, the
first flood casu
alty at a school
More Coverage
Of the Flooding's
Aftermath
See Page 6
beleaguered by Floyd’s aftermath.
Aaron Christopher Child, 18, of
Leland, was last seen at his brother’s
Drumming Up Spirit for UNC
By Alicia Peters
Staff Writer
When the band comes roaring in
during halftime of Saturday’s home
football game, it will be marching
to Betty Landers’ beat.
Asa sophomore transfer student
from Fayetteville, Landers plays the
drums for the UNC marching band
- despite her inability to see the
notes.
Difficulties from a premature
birth caused Landers to lose her
vision as an infant.
But she realized early in life that
she loved music as much as she
loved UNC.
“I started banging at a (young)
age, but I never stopped,” Landers
said.
Landers began her musical
career with the violin, but after
practicing the string instrument she
realized that her heart belonged
only to the drums.
“I decided to play in the band
because music has always been part
of my fife,” she said.
In high school, Landers quickly
developed a passion for both her
music and Carolina blue.
“I realized in ninth grade that I
wanted to attend UNC,” Landers
said.
But that road was somewhat
harder than learning to play the
drams. “1 was the first person with a
disability to attend only the public
schools,” Landers said. “(But) I
graduated from high school with
honors.”
After a devastating letter of rejec
tion from UNC her senior year,
Landers’ desire to be a Tar Heel
only grew.
“I did not care that I was not
accepted the first time I applied,”
she said.
“I would have done anything to
come to UNC.”
She spent a year at Gardner-
NAACP Official Questions Prison System
By Kim Minugh
Staff Writer
An NAACP official said Thursday
the cost of funding overcrowded prisons
was financially detrimental to the public
education system.
Elaine Jones, the Director Counsel
for the NAACP Legal Defense and
Education Fund focused on the need to
improve the U.S. public education and
prison systems at UNC’s eighth annual
Murphy Lecture series, which drew a
crowd of nearly 100 law students.
“For a democracy, you have to have
an avenue for our children to be able to
learn and develop their minds,” said
Jones. “And it has to be available to all
our kids regardless of their economic
status. If we don’t do that, we weaken
the democracy.”
Speaker Calls for Labor Action
By Beth O'Brien
Staff Writer
A major figure in the movement
against sweatshops called for more
national student involvement Thursday.
Charles Kemaghan, director of the
National Labor Committee, appealed to
students to continue with the straggle.
“The U.S. student movement is the
strongest human rights movement
today,” Kemaghan said.
He urged students to use that power
in their efforts to end sweatshops.
“These companies are terrified of stu
dent movements,” he said. “It puts you
in the driver’s seat. You can call the cor
porate bluff.”
For more than two years, UNC stu
dents have demanded that all UNC
licensed goods be made under fair
working conditions at a living wage.
Kernaghan’s tone of urgency comes
in response to deteriorating conditions
apartment on Bth Street in Greenville,
according to a police report.
The cause of death was ruled an acci
dental drowning after the State Medical
Examiner’s office conducted an autopsy
Wednesday afternoon.
Despite the tragedy and severe flood
related damage on and around campus,
school officials are anxious to revive the
long-deserted campus.
Students are scheduled to return to
class next Wednesday. “Sooner we open,
sooner we’ll get things back to normal,”
said Cliff Webster, student body presi
dent. “That’s what we’re aiming for. I
iJJ JB ';vhH SHte
DTH/MILLER PEARSALL
Sophomore Betty Landers, a blind percussionist for the Marching Tar Heels, rehearses in her UNC attire
Tuesday afternoon. Landers has combined her passion for music with her love for UNC.
Webb University and then reapplied
to UNC. The second time, she was
finally accepted to the school she
loved.
In the fall, she came to the
University filled with enthusiasm and
school spirit - spirit for UNC she had
been dangerously displaying at other
schools’ activities.
“Now I will not get beat up at the
football games,” Landers said.
During auditions, a UNC percus
sion instructor played rhythms that
Landers cautiously played back on the
snare drum.
“I was very nervous because I had
not played on the drums since my
senior year of high school,” Landers
said.
But when the jittery tryouts were
Jones said the breadth of the educa
tion system did not adequately cover all
who needed it. She said the age-old tra
dition of educating only the wealthy still
existed today.
“Our system is not what it ought to
be, but we’ve got to fix it,” she said. “We
can’t abandon it, because if we do we
will pay a price that you and I will live
to see. We will live to see the folly of our
ways.”
Jones said America’s prison system
benefited at the cost of public education.
She cited California as an example of
one state where prison budget deficits
were funded by money intended for the
higher education system.
The national bill for the existing
prison structure is about S4O million a
year. Jones called the figure a total waste
that was getting out of control. “We have
in sweatshops around the world. The
workers’ mistreatment has escalated to
the point of death threats, he said.
Two women and a labor organization
leader from El Salvador also gave
impassioned speeches that were trans
lated for the audience.
Blanca Ruth Palacios, a 43-year-old
seamstress for Caribbean Apparel, a
manufacturing company that makes
products for Nike, Wal-Mart and
Kathie Lee, said she questioned the
working conditions and was fired for it.
“We aren’t here accusing or claiming
anything except what we’ve suffered in
the flesh,” she said.
Palacios recalled 12- to 15-hour work
ing days and screaming managers who
hit tables to emphasize their points. She
said she was fired when she and some
co-workers began talking about survival.
“We formed a union,” she said, “Our
boss found out, and we were out.”
Lorena del Carmen Hernandez, a 21-
News
am one out of 100 students here. There
is nobody here.”
The school originally planned to start
classes Monday.
The ECU buildings have only sus
tained minor damages, Webster said,
adding that two were flooded and a tree
fell on the Alumni Center.
Chancellor Richard Eakin ended the
widespread rumor that the rest of the fall
semester would be canceled, announc
ing in a press release that faculty mem
bers would report to campus Monday.
The residence halls will reopen
Tuesday for classes to resume
over, Landers became an official
member of the Marching Tar Heels.
She plays in the band’s pit during the
games and stands on the field instead
of marching at halftime.
“The best part about being in the
marching band is that I acquired 300
new brothers and sisters,” she said.
Jeff Fuchs, the band instructor, said
Landers’ personality was an asset to
the organization.
“Betty enjoys being part of the
group and she brings a lot of enthusi
asm with her,” he said.
Phil Gardner, a senior journalism
and mass communication major from
Conover, said he enjoyed being in the
band with Landers.
“Betty is amazing ... and she just
has a great attitude,” he said.
created a system, this prison industrial
complex, on our watch. It is the legacy
we bequeath to our little brothers and
sisters, to our children, to our grandchil
dren. We are better than that. That is a
legacy we should not leave.”
Jones said the enormous increase in
the prison population over the last 30
years could be attributed to the
increased sentencing of people who
committed nonviolent offenses.
She cited statistics that showed the
increasing disproportion of nonviolent
criminals to violent criminals. According
to these statistics, half of the offenders
entering prisons in the 1980s were vio
lent. In 1995, violent offenders consti
tuted less than one-third of prison pop
ulations.
She said called it ridiculous that petty
criminals were overcrowding prisons
year-old seamstress, echoed Palacios.
“But there are worse things to see,”
Hernandez said detailing sexual abuse.
She said her friend wanted to leave
work early to be with her baby. “She
was forced to work until 10 at night,” she
said. “She was beaten and raped, and
offered money to stay quiet about it.”
Jiovanni Fuentes, the union organizer
who deals with factory workers’ com
plaints, mentioned the risk the three had
taken in coming to the United States.
“We’ll be considered illegitimate chil
dren, traitors to our country," he said.
Fuentes already experienced the dan
gers of fighting the system in El
Salvador. Lawyers associated with the
Caribbean Apparel company warned
him to be cautious of his life.
“They told me to leave my work, that
for about $lO they could have anyone in
the country killed,” Fuentes said. “I
thought to myself, ‘What have I done
for them to be telling me this?’”
Wednesday. “Nothing like this has (ever)
happened to Greenville,"said George
Threewitts, assistant director for ECU’s
News Bureau. “There hasn’t been a dis
aster like this in North Carolina.”
But members of the community have
pulled together to get things back to nor
mal, he said.
“An outpouring of goodwill has come
from the community,” Threewitts said.
A Floyd Relief Resource Center has
been established in a dining hall for stu
dents seeking aid in replacing books and
searching for a place to stay.
Threewitts said the center had made
A psychology major, Landers said
she often found schoolwork abundant
and difficult, but she used music to
keep her spirit upbeat.
“I am addicted to music and I use it
as a way to relax from the struggles of
being a student,” Landers said.
After graduation, Landers wants to
be a social worker for the blind. She
said she hoped her own experiences
would encourage and inspire others
like her.
“I am afraid of failure, and I will
not accept anything less then the
best,” she said.
With her intense spirit and enthusi
asm, she said she wanted not only to
reach her dreams but also to help oth-
See STARHEEL, Page 6
and serving longer prison terms than
necessary. Jones has been fighting social
injustice with the LDF for 30 years. The
organization was founded by Thurgood
Marshall in the 19405. It is a nationwide
civil rights law firm.
She received a standing ovation at the
end of her lecture.” She’s a really ener
getic speaker,” Chris Willett, a third year
student in the UNC School of Law, said.
“It makes you want to go out and do
whatever you can do, and that’s not a
thing that law school typically inspires.”
“She is a symbol of die reason why I
came to law school, in that she’s an
advocate,” said Rachel Esposito, a third
student in the law school. “It’s not often
we hear a voice like this.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
DTH/KAARIN MOORE
Charlie Kemaghan comments on apparel made under Kathie Lee
Gifford's name. Kemaghan criticized Gifford and sweatshop conditions.
Kemaghan and the workers from El
Salvador emphasized the role students
could play in keeping these events in the
public eye. “It’s sad and beautiful to see
and hear you,” Palacios said, tears edg
Friday, September 24, 1999
a list of available apartments for students
to live in until their homes were assessed
for damage and repaired.
“We have secured some money to
give to students who need a place to
stay,” said Kay Wilkerson, director of
ECU’s Student Health Service.
Webster expressed concern with pos
sible student shock and withdrawal due
to the massive flooding. “I know if every
student and faculty member experiences
the shock I did, it is going to be hell.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Volunteer
Programs
Join Forces
Volunteer Orange! has a
new office at the Campus Y
in an effort to recruit
more students to volunteer.
By Brian Young
Staff Writer
A merger of two civic-minded orga
nizations will make it much easier for
residents to volunteer this semester.
Volunteer Orange!, a service of the
Triangle United Way, has joined forces
with the Campus Y in an effort to gain
greater access to the students and facul
ty of UNC.
In the past, the organization’s recruit
ment of volunteers has been somewhat
hampered by its less-than-ideal location
off campus.
This should change with its new
office in the Campus Y and its new
main office, located on North Columbia
Street
“The appeal of being on campus is
obvious,” said Volunteer Coordinator
and 1998 UNC graduate Betsy Alley.
“Campus Y is in the center of things.
“It’s just easier for students and fac
ulty to find out about volunteer oppor
tunities while on campus.”
Alley said it made more sense for
both organizations to be working
together, rather than separately to serve
the volunteer community.
Volunteer Orange!, which Offers vol
unteers to the more than 100 agencies
with which it maintains contact, won’t
be the sole beneficiary of the new asso
ciation.
Campus Y, which serves as an
umbrella for a multitude of service
minded organizations in the area, will
also benefit from the connection of the
two groups.
“Volunteer Orange! will provide an
outlet into the surrounding communi
ty,” said Campus Y Director Zenobia
Hatcher-Wilson.
“Their database of agencies will give
students more choices in where they
volunteer,” she said.
Katherine Liu, a freshman business
major, volunteers as co-chair of the
Hunger and Homelessness Outreach
Project, one of Campus Y”s subcommit
tees.
She said the presence on campus of
Volunteer Orange! in conjunction with
Campus Y would be positive for stu
dents and residents alike.
“Lots of students know about
(Campus Y),” Liu said. “They’ll come in
and find out about even more volunteer
work available.”
Alley said Campus Y could find a
match for a willing volunteer, no matter
what the student’s interest, skill or
schedule.
There are opportunities for one-day
service projects, which should appeal to
See VOLUNTEER, Page 6
ing her voice, “I know that working
together, we can gain a little bit”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
3