Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / April 5, 2000, edition 1 / Page 3
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
£he Saily ®ar Heel The University and Towns In Brief Unidentified Gunman Attacks Police Officers A routine arrest for trespassing ended in violence as a gunman fired several shots at two Chapel Hill police officers early Tuesday morning. Officers S. Lahew and S. Falise were on bike patrol when they witnessed a man trespassing around 12:30 a.m. near Germains Street and Sykes Street, said Officer Jason Mclntyre of the Chapel Hill Police Department. “While they made the arrest, the sub ject became combative,” Mclntyre said. “They had to pepper spray him and wrestle him to die ground.” At that point, an unknown man fired what the officers believed to be five or six shots at them from the intersection. All of the shots missed, and nobody was hurt in the incident. There is no description of the man, and the police do not have any suspects in the case. Mclntyre said there was no connec tion between the trespassing incident and the shots fired. He said the two offi cers were shaken up and he was sur prised that somebody would take shots at them. “I’ve been here 12 years, and it’s new to me,” Mclntyre said. Nike Swoosh Challenge Draws UNC Students The UNC Student Recreational Center hosted the regional Nike Swoosh Challenge Saturday. Twenty-four teams of two boys and two girls participated in a variety of field and endurance events. The students came from as far south as Florida. The top three overall win ners will advance to the National Swoosh Challenge in Los Angeles. First place was the Carolina Crushers (UNC): Beth Ruch, Sara Tussey, John Hyde and Hayes Permer. Second place was Crack Fiends (UNC): Mary Teachey, Christine Meehan, Brian Burnham and Zack DiCristino. Third place was Elon Gators with two Elon College students, Kari Spiker and Lydia Gould, and two UNC stu dents, Stephen Ridgill and Fred Ardashirpour. Professor to Receive Recognition for Writing UNC English Professor Erika C. Lindemann will receive the John C. Gerber Award in honor of her active role in promoting and celebrating writ ing. The award is presented by the Conference on College Composition and Communication, a constituent group of the National Council of Teachers of English. Lindemann will be honored at the conference’s annual convention in Minneapolis from April 13 to April 15. The National Council of Teachers of English is dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels. Harvard Professor Set To Discuss Latest Book Clayton Christensen, professor of business at Harvard University, will speak April 5 on his book, “The Innovators Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail.” Christensen received his MBA and DBA from Harvard in 1979 and 1992. His research and training interests cen ter on the management of technological innovation, developing organizational capabilities and finding new markets for new technology. The lecture will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Maurice J. Koury Auditorium in McColl Building. BCC and Theta Nu Xi To Present Lecture Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority will present a dialogue in black and white, entitled “Perceptions of Beauty.” Members will discuss the ‘ideal’ woman and body image at 5 p.m. Friday at the Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center. Recreation Department Seeks Summer Help The Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department is seeking day camp counselors, assistants and direc tors to work from June 5 to Aug. 4. Day camp counselors and assistants must be at least 18 years old and direc tors must be 21. The positions pay up to $9 per hour. For a brochure and an application, call .968-2784. From Staff Report Lawmakers Debate Legality of Tobacco Bill By Matthew B. Dees State & National Editor RALEIGH - The N.C. General Assembly will hold a special session today to vote on a bill pro tecting tobacco companies from a Florida smokers’ lawsuit that could cost them hundreds of billions of dollars and jeopardize the state’s economy. And as leaders convene in Raleigh, the Florida jury will begin deliberations to decide how much the five major tobacco companies must pay in punitive damages for marketing a harmful product Florida law requires defen dants to post bond for the amount of the damages they are ordered to pay before they can appeal. State lawmakers hope to place a $25-million cap on the bond that any N.C. com pany must pay in another state’s or nation’s judgment. To prepare for die meeting, legislators Tuesday heard res idents’ concerns and debated the semantics and legality of the bill. While most legislators expressed support for the legislation, some worried that the special session was a capitulation to the tobacco industry rather i c Local Record Labels Fill Music Niches By Ashley Atkinson Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor In this day and age, “any pimply little 17-year-old kid who can get his hands on an acid program is his own label," according to Ron Royster, co-founder of the Chapel Hill record label Freakadelic. As record-production technology grows more accessible, independent labels have cropped up around the country and in the Triangle. The area - especially Chapel Hill - has earned a reputation for rock startups, with well-known labels like Merge and Mammoth pro viding support for the genre. But the Triangle also proves an unlikely breeding ground for labels that fill smaller niche markets, focusing on releases from a particular genre. Even most music fans prob ably don’t realize that the area is home to labels specializing in bluegrass, indie folk rock, world music, electronica and even female/gay rock. Kaia Wilson, co-founder of Durham’s Mr. Lady Records, said she and UNC assistant art Professor Tammy Rae Carland started the label because, as musicians, “we couldn’t think of who could carry our work as really out, queer, political feminists.” Although it was not what Wilson calls a consci entious decision, all of Mr. Lady’s artists are women, most of whom perform some variation of rock. Durham seems an unlikely home for a lesbian based record label. But, Wilson said, “Durham picked us.” Wilson and Carland were living in Indiana when they founded the label in 1997 but moved when Carland was hired at UNC. Although Wilson said the South has very different politics than her hometown of Portland, Ore., the Station Owners Deflate Prices Students and commuters have cut back on road trips and participated in carpools to combat the high cost of gasoline. By Anjali Kalani Staff Writer In an attempt to lure customers who have opted for alter native forms of transportation in the face of skyrocketing gas prices, Chapel Hill gas station owners have been forced to reduce the price of the now-cosdy fuel. D. Gandhi, the proprietor of Eagle Food Mart, located on U.S. 15-501, said he had reduced the price of gasoline from $1.51 to $1.47 per gallon for regular unleaded gas because his business had been suffering. “Our sales had gone down by at least 30 to 40 percent,” he said. Karen Little, a law student at UNC, said she had to move to campus because traveling from Oxford had become too expensive. “It used to cost me $25 to $27 each week to fill up my car to commute to campus," she said. “And sometimes it would n’t even last that long.” Lara Rickard, a resident of Chapel Hill, said she drove her car less than she normally would because gas was getting expensive. She said it affected her taking long road trips. “It’s almost cheaper to fly if you take a long trip,” Rickard said. than a move to protect all state businesses from for eign judgments, as it is written. A trial lawyer also questioned the constitution ality of the initiative. But tobacco workers, farmers and executives pleaded with legislators to preserve their way of life. “We ask that you take whatever action is neces sary to protect our jobs and our livelihoods,” said Randy Faulk, a 27-year employee of Lorillard, one of five tobacco companies named as defendants in the Florida lawsuit “We don’t want unemployment checks, we don’t 7 think what’s going to resonate with legislators is their contributors and the power of tobacco.” Charles Gromer Legislative Counsel But Charles Cromer, leg islative counsel for the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, said the proposed bill was unconstitu tional, violating a provision requiring states to See SESSION, Page 6 IHt * " idrwM HHe _ dmjm Focus on DTH/CARA B RICKMAN Tim Harper, who records under the name Dub Assassin, performs at Freakadelic Records' Fool's Eve Freak-for-AII at Local 506 on Friday. Harper, along with Ron Royster, founded the Freakadelic label with the goal of combining electronic music with live performances. Triangle is generally receptive to Mr. Lady’s music, she said. “There are almost too many dyke punks there. Here it’s very different.” Chapel Hill also provides a different environment for Bob Haddad’s label. Music of the World. He relo cated the label from New York in 1989. It’s one of only a few labels on the continent that deal in traditional world music, Haddad said. “I didn’t have a professional focus in mind when I relocated here, but just to get out of New York and be in a place that was friendly,” he said. “Now, it’s really cool to be here. I’m impressed with the community.” Technology, he said, makes it easy to be in touch with artists he works with in locales like Cambodia. And with a roster of 85 releases, Music of the World keeps expanding. Its artists have been featured in movies and commercials, and the label recendy merged with the Internet company emusic.com. All “in little old sleepy Chapel Hill,” Haddad said. Awakening Records also helps fill a national niche Genre Labels The DTH looks at an issue in-depth. See Page 5 The High Price of Driving Local gas stations have been forced to lower their pricesoecause of poor business, but some residents think prices are still too high. Service Station Regular Mid-Grade Premium Eagle Food Mart $1.47 $1.57 $1.67 11620 U. 5.15-501 N Short Stop Food Mart 1.47 1.55 1.65 300 W. Main St. Walker's BP Service 1.41 1.51 1.61 1500 E. Franklin St. Wilco Number 1 1.45 1.55 1.69 1213 Airport Road Glen Lennox 1.49 1.59 1.69 Service Station 1200 Raleigh Road SOURCE LOCAL SERVICE STATIONS DTH/T |AY RICHARDS Collin Quinn, a junior at UNC majoring in health policy and administration, said he had started biking to school because his car took only premium gas, which was priced higher than regular gas. Emily Atkinson, a senior sociology major, said she drove a great distance to obtain cheaper gas. See GAS, Page 6 News want welfare, we just want jobs to go to. We want you to make sure our company has its day in court before taking our jobs away from us.” State business leaders also argued that the tobacco indus try was vital to the state’s econ omy, creating thousands of jobs and pumping billions of dollars into North Carolina. - i * ft DTH/MATTHF.W B DEES Richard Williams, a representative of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Cos., emphasizes the philanthropic efforts of tobacco firms at a legislative hearing in Raleigh on Tuesday. from its Chapel Hill home. The label terms its music indie folk, but it’s “kind of indie Christian,” said Dan Alger, a UNC junior and Awakening employee. “Our artists are musicians who happen to be Christian,” he said. The label releases one compilation album featur ing up-and-coming artists each year, and also carries releases from the featured artists. Awakening was bom in 1997, after founders Scott Sanders and Steve Reavis graduated from UNC. “They were talking about how there were so many good local groups and independent musicians,” Alger said. They planned to gather some indepen dent musicians on a CD to distribute to friends, and the idea grew into Awakening. Durham’s Sugar Hill Records grew out of founder Barry Poss’s interest in America’s traditional music. Poss gave up a teaching career at Duke University to See LABELS, Page 5 Students Finalizing Search for Housing By Joseph Pardington Staff Writer It’s that time of year - students are scrambling to find a place to call home for the next school year, looking for apartments that are both affordable and accessible. W’hile some apartments recmit undergraduates, others look for older residents, such as graduate students and nonstudents. Several apartment com plexes place age limits and financial requirements on applicants to cater to a specific group of renters. Many students look for several roommates in order to afford the cost of living in Orange County. Dan Vogel, manager at The Chateau Apartments, located at the N.C. 54 bypass in Carrboro, said the cost often excluded undergraduate students. “We are only one bedroom, so that pretty much does away with the under graduate market,” he said. “Not too many undergraduates can afford a one Wednesday, April 5, 2000 N.C. Court To Rule on DWI Case Defense attorneys for a drunken driver are asking that the murder charge be reduced to second-degree. By Jennifer Hagin Staff Writer The fate of an N.C. drunken driving case that could set a national precedent lies in the state Supreme Court’s hands. The case involves a Superior Court ruling that convicted an N.C. man of first-degree murder after his vehicle slammed into another car in 1996, killing two Wake Forest University sty dents and injuring three others. If upheld, the N.C. ruling coyld have ramifications nationwide, and future convicted drunken drivers could face the death penalty. Although the jury spared him the death penalty, Jones’ defense attorneys argue that first-degree murder is an improper sentence and want it reduced to second-degree. And while representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving favor stricter consequences for drunken dri vers, some N.C. officials are wary that, should the ruling be upheld, prosecu tors might seek first-degree murder charges more freely in traffic cases. Jones’ blood alcohol level was dis covered to be .04, below the legal limit. But prescription drugs were also found in his system, further impairing his judg ment, officials said. According to witnesses, Jones dis played erratic behavior shortly before the accident, rear-ending a car and then speeding around it. Superior Court Judge William Freeman allowed prosecutors to charge Jones with fust-degree murder. Jones’ trial is now in the hands of the N.C. Supreme Court, which heard clos ing arguments March 13. Officials reached Tuesday at the state attorney general’s office were uncertain when the See DWI, Page 6 bedroom apartment. We do welcome graduate students.” Vogel said most undergraduates sought roommates to cut costs. The complex occasionally rents to older undergraduates but does not allow co signatures for rental applicants and will not rent to people under 21-years-old, he said. In contrast. Autumn Woods Apartments, located at 222 Old Fayetteville Road, Carrboro, actively targets undergraduate students. Andrea Walton, the apartment manager, said students who were qualified financially or could provide a co signer were wel come. “We are coming up with a UNC incentive program. We (will) give dis counts to UNC students,” she said. Pat Calhoun, manager for Southern Village Apartments, located at 200 Copperline Dr., said they had no special deals for students. See APARTMENTS, Page 6 3
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 5, 2000, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75