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®lir latlu ®ar Heel 9 News/ J? nB 107 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Residents Lend Support To Weekend Fire Victims Local residents now must recover from an early Friday morning blaze that totaled nearly $450,000 in damage. Bv Theresa Chen Staff Writer For those affected by a fire that raged through a local apartment building over the weekend, the pain has been made bearable by an outpouring of support from Chapel Hill residents. The Chapel Hill Fire Department responded to a report of a fire at Timberlyne Apartments, 200 Westminster Drive, at about 6:53 a.m. Friday. There were no serious injuries in the blaze, as firefighters rescued two resi dents and 11 others evacuated safely. Authorities estimated damage at about $450,1X10. Six apartments in the L Building of the complex were heavily damaged by fire, water and smoke, and at least six residents were forced to move to other units. Even as Ruth Lucus, 20, of 139 L Town Faces Problems Of Growth Area officials are preparing for an increase in UNC enrollment by examining town housing ordinances. By Lisa Crist Staff Writer The town of Chapel Hill is bracing itself for a heightened demand on local resources as the UNC student popula tion continues to grow. Like East Carolina University, UNC plans to open its doors to more students than ever before, which means signifi cant impacts not only on the campus but on the surrounding areas as well. Roger Walden, planning director for the town, said the increase in student enrollment could have a variety of, impacts on the area. “Housing has been discussed exten sively,” he said. “The University wants a ‘bed for every head.’” Walden said this policy was to help account for the increased off-campus housing demands in the residential areas surrounding the campus. “We’ve had lots of concerns and reg ular complaints about students compet ing in the off-campus housing market,” he said. “Students can collectively pay more rent than a single family, raising housing prices.” Walden also said many residents complained about automobile and parking problems that resulted from stu dents sharing houses in neighborhoods. “Students have more cars associated with each house,” he said. Students’ housing concerns were the driving force behind a plan presented to the Chapel Hill Town Council in early February by Lee Conner, former presi dent of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation. The plan called for stricter housing ordinances, possibly limiting the num ber of unrelated individuals that could occupy the same residence. Conner said the council had created a work group composed of council members, students and landlords to evaluate the proposals, which he hoped would be put into effect in August when students return to the University. “The plan is near its final stages,” he said. Kevin Foy, a council member, echoed Conner’s feelings about the See GROWTH, Page 6 It has yet to be proved that intelligence has any survival value. Arthur C. Clarke building, and her roommate, Sharon Roth, 19, a sociology major, were mov ing belongings out of their apartment Sunday afternoon, neighbors and co workers were on hand sacrificing their Easter Sunday to help. Lucus said she was overwhelmed by people at her work and in the complex who had offered to help out. “This girl, Jill Shatterly, let us use her apartment while she was out of town,” she said. “She just handed us the keys, and I don’t even know her that well. She offered to take us out shopping and said we could put it on her credit card. She’s been like our saint.” Lucus said the support of the com munity made the ordeal easier. “That’s what helped us get through mentally,” she said. “Everyone around here’s just been wonderful. Even at my work, they put a bucket on the side to raise money for me.” Lucus and Roth’s apartment suffered water and smoke damage, but went largely unscathed by the fire. Even so, they, along with the other tenants in the apartment, had to be relocated to other apartments within the complex. Timberlyne Apartments Property ECU Expansion Irks Greenville Residents By Alex Kaplun Staff Writer The projected expansion of East Carolina University threatens to oust some nearby residents from their homes, prompting some to speak out against the move. And the situation could be repeated across the state, including in Chapel Hill, as the UNC system braces for a 50,000-student deluge over the next decade. ECU enrollment is expected to grow by 9,000 students by 2010. To create space for the influx, ECU is hoping to annex 100 acres of land from the sur rounding town of Greenville. But residents of one Greenville neigh borhood adjacent to the school are fight Sweating Toward a Solution After Year of Progress, Push For Change Far From Over By Alexandra Molaire Assistant University Editor One year ago, a group of students armed with protest signs, sleeping bags and pillows, planted themselves on the floor of the South Building lobby. They had sown their anti-sweatshop seeds into the administration’s con science. Hanging banners from the build ing’s windows, students passed out fliers and chanted songs about sweat shop abuse. After three long days, students proved successful in making interim Chancellor Bill McCoy require UNC licensees to disclose their factory locations. And now, as UNC’s anti-sweatshop batde continues to evolve and anew chancellor makes his way to South Building, the students show no signs of slowing down. Since last April, students have con tinued to push the envelope protesting the Fair Labor Association and press ing for membership in the Worker Rights Consortium. The sit-in tapped into the strength and power of the protesters, said trans fer student and junior Emily Waszak. “It’s shown that we don’t have to play by (the administration’s) rules,” Waszak said. “We don’t have to wait Monday, April 24, 2000 Volume 108, Issue 38 Manager Gwen Passavant cleaned the apartments so victims could move in. “Our priority is our people,” she said. “Everybody’s kept the main focus, and that’s the people.” Timberlyne resident Charles A. Evans, 42, said he also put the welfare of his neighbors before his own. “What I’m trying to do now is help the victims, even though I’m also a vic tim,” he said. “Even though I’m in a bad situation, there are people in a worse sit uation.” Evans’ first-floor apartment also suf fered heavily from smoke damage. “From the look of the naked eye, I’m unscathed, but the adjuster took one whiff and knew it was totalled,” he said. Lucus said Evans aided authorities in accounting for who was still in the build ing and even helped save the life of an elderly woman, whom firefighters res cued from a first-level apartment. “I’m the one who assisted the firemen on accounting on who was here and who wasn’t,” Evans said. “The woman in 135 -1 said ‘Go get her, I know she’s in there.’” Evans said he was able to help See FIRE, Page 6 ing ECU’s efforts to incorporate their land, arguing that the neighborhood adds aesthetic value to the campus. Robert Thompson, ECU director of planning and institutional research, said university officials were trying to locate academic buildings in that neighbor hood. Thompson said the majority of oppo sition to ECU’s expansion plans was localized in one area. “The opposition we have encoun tered has basically come from one 16- acre neighborhood,” he said. While plans for expansion were only recently unveiled, Thompson said neighborhood residents had been told for years that the university would even tually need their land. “We’ve been consistent over the years for them to appoint us to a board - we can take action.” For three days the students lived in South Building eating, sleeping and broadcasting their actions over the Internet while the Licensing Labor Code Advisory Committee drafted a proposal about disclosure requirements. On Friday, April 23, 1999, McCoy agreed to accept the committee’s pro posal. The students let out a sigh of relief. “I cried,” sophomore Alana Glaser said. “I was so tired and overwhelmed by the events of the week.” Marion Traub-Wemer, a 1999 UNC graduate, said the sit-in proved to her the power of protest. “I was ecstatic when McCoy accepted the recommen dations not only because the University was finally taking a progressive stand on the issue of sweatshops, but also because I experienced how direct and thoughtful action could be effective." McCoy agreed to make UNC licensees adhere to the Collegiate Licensing Co.’s Code of Conduct, which included stipulations on full dis closure and child labor. Despite the students’ success at the sit-in, they continued to poke the administration in the side. For the bulk of the past year, stu dents and committee members have " ,• |9B ; " m **' Jfl| DTH'MILLER PEARSALL Part of a building located at Timberlyne Apartments was gutted by a Friday morning fire that took about an hour to extinguish. in saying that that area will be needed for expansion,” Thompson said. But Hap Maxwell, a 17-year resident of the neighborhood, said ECU should look elsewhere for land. “Everybody is in agreement that they don’t want this neighborhood to be destroyed by ECU expansion,” Maxwell said. He said the community was one of the nicer areas of Greenville and con tributed to the general atmosphere of the campus and the city. “This neighborhood is a real asset to the community,” Maxwell said. He also said many subdivision resi dents either had connections to ECU or had lived in their houses for years. “(University expansion) didn’t fit into the residents’ long-range plans when DTH FILE PHOTO One year ago in South Building, activists and University officials cheer at interim Chancellor Bill McCoy's acceptance of activists' demands. poured their energy into answering one question - which labor monitoring group should UNC belong to, the FLA or the WRC? In what some deem a controversial move, UNC joined the FLA in May 1999 without approval from all com mittee members. “That was really dis appointing because McCoy had pledged to the students that he wasn’t going to do that according to demands agreed to at the sit-in,” Glaser said. After the FLA altered its structure to allow universities the option of adding on more restrictions, the committee reconsidered FLA membership. Some committee members advocat ed FLA membership while others opposed it. So to satisfy the dissidents, the group also started a pilot project. they bought the house a long time ago,” Maxwell said. He also said part of the battle over university expansion centered on the somewhat strained relationship between the university and the surrounding town. “(Expansion) is about the bigger issue of planning with the university and the city,” Maxwell said. He said he was not opposed to uni versity expansion but did have a prob lem with the way the university had his torically dealt with Greenville and its residents. “Throughout the years we’ve had problems with ECU about community issues,” Maxwell said. See ECU, Page 6 The committee, along with Boston College, Duke University, Georgetown University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed a pro gram to bring licensees into compliance. “The pilot is an attempt to discover the best way to implement the code in factories,” said, advisory committee Co-chairman Rut Tufts. “We’ll say (to our 585 licensees) it’s doable, now you all do it” During the fall, the committee grap pled with determining a deadline for full disclosure. The chancellor originally chose a March 31 target date, but after prod ding from SEJ members, the date was set in stone. McCoy ultimately agreed See LABOR, Page 6 News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina © 2000 DTH Publishing Cotp. All rights reserved. UNC Junior Copes With Fire's Fiavoc Sharon Roth watched her building burn as local firefighters rescued her two birds, two cats and five fish. By Jacob McConnico City Editor As students stress over exams, final papers and summer plans, one UNC junior says she is thankful to still be alive. Sharon Roth, 19, was sleeping Friday morning when a fire began winding its way through her apartment building at Timberlyne Apartments, located at 200 Westminster Drive. Roth, who is originally from Charlotte, said everything she owned was in the apartment when the blaze broke out. “Everything was here,” she said. “Everything smells like smoke. The furniture will probably be lost. Hopefully, I can salvage the clothes.” With exams rapidly approaching and major term papers coming due, Roth said the blaze could not have come at a worse time. “I have about three papers due next week that are not going to be done,” she said. “I still have to talk to professors, but I haven’t had time to yet” The fire began sometime after 6 a.m. Friday and Roth said she was startled by the sound of someone screaming for help. She said she thought it was chil dren playing until her roommate checked and informed her of the blaze. “I opened the door, and there were flames and debris was falling,” she said. Despite significant damage to most of the apartment’s contents, Roth’s room mate, Ruth Lucus, 20, said firefighters saved their two cats, two birds and five fish, which they had to leave behind, “It was the most frustrating thing to leave all my animals,” Lucus said. “I had to watch the building bum with all my animals in it.” Roth said that following the fire, her veterinarian had seen her cat “Dinkie” for free and the pet store at Timberlyne Shopping Center had given them free bird seed. In addition to receiving help from the community, Roth said the local Red Cross had already contacted the dean of students at UNC- and that she would personally talk to University officials today. She added that she and her room mate were fortunate because the fire department had been so responsive. “It’s hard to feel too devastated,” she said. “I feel incredibly lucky. (Firefighters) said 10 more minutes and the whole thing would have gone down.” Theresa Chen contributed to this article. The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu. i 11\| 11 li® Monday A Closer Look Gubernatorial candidate Leo Daughtry plans to focus his platform on on education for the N.C. primary election on May 2. See Page 3. m NATION Take Over, Reach Out Do you want to take the helm of The (Weekly) DTH this summer? How about serving as a liaison between the paper and the community? If you said yes to either, then contact Editor-select Matt Dees at mbdees@email.unc.edu for more information on the summer editor and ombudsman positions. Today’s Weather Rain; High 64, Low 50. 41 Tuesday: More rain; J High 56. Low 42.
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