®be Uatlg (Ear UM BOLO' Pleads Guilty In Campus Attacks Jesus Alvarez Ramos faces probation for two August assaults on UNC females, despite his denials of guilt. By Jamila Vernon Staff Writer MARCH 9 - After eight months in jail, the man accused of attacking two women on UNC’s campus in August pleaded guilty despite his continued denial of having committed the crimes. Jesus Alvarez Ramos entered a guilty plea Tuesday based on an agreement that stipulated he would be released immediately due to time already served. Under the agreement, Alvarez Ramos pleaded guilty to two counts each of attempted second-degree kid napping and assault on a female, said Kayley Taber, assistant district attorney for Orange County. “He was given the option of getting out of jail yesterday or waiting for a trial,” said Amos Tyndall, assistant pub lic defender for Alvarez Ramos. “Who knows when this case would have gone to trial. He would risk being convicted.” Instead of having to serve the sen tenced 16 months to 20 months in prison, Orange County Superior Judge Wade Barber suspended it to five years of supervised probation, Tyndall said. Alvarez Ramos still denies having attacked the two women. “It wasn’t him,” Tyndall said. The first attack took place Aug. 15 hef . • vS, rjr- / C \ M DTH FILE PHOTO Student fans liven up the Smith Center during a Tar Heel basketball win over Maryland. The seating arrangement, prompted by a snowstorm, allowed more students to sit in lower-level seats. Students Seek Improved Seating By Jason Arthurs and Brooke Roseman Staff Writers FEB. 2 - The excitement generated by the seating arrangement at Thursday’s men’s basketball victory has prompted some students to question the allocation of lower-level tickets in the Smith Center. However, due to the way the center was funded, officials feel it will be diffi cult to get more students in those seats. Carolina Athletic . Association President Tee Pruitt said that despite bar riers he hoped to get students out of the rafters and closer to the floor for future games. “What we need to do is put stu dents on three sides of the court,” he said. “Right now, we’re trying to talk to all the parties involved; we’re trying to get sup port of the Carolina basketball family." After receiving almost 300 e-mail messages from students and UNC alum ni since Thursday’s victory against Maryland, Pruitt said he decided to try to rally support and ideas. But Director of Athletics Dick ?, Suffering from Empty j; Pocket Syndrome? Participate in our life-saving & financially jj’jj a ( rewarding plasma donation program. IMMEDIATE COMPENSATION! \ Donors Earn up to S2OO per Month! f ★ New donors earn $25 for first visit, \ $35 for the second visit within 7 days. J Regular donors receive $25 per donation. Call or stop by: parking validated Sera-Tecßiologicals|||, Under New Management 109 j! E Franklin St, Chapel Hill • 942-0251 M-Th 10-6, Fri 10-4 when a UNC sophomore and two of her friends were walking near Cameron Avenue. The three split up as the victim began walking home. The victim testified that the assailant threw her on the ground between Caldwell Hall and Grimes Residence Hall and attempted to sexually assault her. Two days later on Aug. 17, a woman was assaulted between the Carolina Coffee Shop and the Hanes Art Center. The man threatened her with a knife and attempted to jump on top of her. Both victims recalled details of the assaults during separate probable cause hearings in September. Alvarez Ramos has already served eight months in the Orange County Jail while awaiting trial. “(The probation is) supervised but not as intensive, and (Alvarez Ramos) gets credit for the six months already served,” Tyndall said. While Alvarez Ramos is technically free, he is being detained for 48 hours while the Immigration and Naturalization Service decides whether to deport him, Taber said. “The INS has placed a detainer on him -- they have to determine residency status,” she said. The case drew attention to Alvarez Ramos as an illegal immigrant, Tyndall said. But his deportation is not con nected his guilty plea, Tyndall said. Tyndall said that if the INS did not pick up Alvarez Ramos within the 48 hours, he would become a free man around 4 p.m. today. Baddour said that because UNC made a contract promising tickets to people who paid for the Smith Center, it would be impossible to add students to the lower level. “As far as I’m concerned that was a commitment that the University made, and I think it’s impor tant that we maintain our word.” Baddour said that of the 6,000 tickets offered for students, 2,000 were in the lower level. He also said the proportions of students on the floor was similar to other schools in the ACC. Baddour said he was very pleased with the environment at last Thursday’s game, but he expected the same enthu siasm from fans when UNC hosts Duke this week. “I think this Thursday night won’t be a lot different from last Thursday night,” he said. Moyer Smith, president of the Educational Foundation, the primary fund raiser for UNC athletics, said the number of seats available in the lower level was limited because of the method by which the $35-million Smith Center was funded in the early 1980s. A donation of $5,000 reserved the Year in Review UNC Hospitals Worker Dies in Halloween Fire By Phil Perry Staff Writer NOV. 2 - As thousands of people partied on Franklin Street on Tuesday night, a deadly fire raged at Brookstone Apartments complex, taking the life of one man and sending two more to the hospital. Chapel Hill firefighters responded to the blaze at about 11:07 p.m. at the com plex off Homestead Road. Fire and emergency service personnel had the fire under control in a little more than an hour. Chapel Hill police spokeswomanjane Cousins confirmed a man’s body was found Wednesday. The victim, Roger Vanden Dorpel, 51, was an X-ray techni cian at UNC Hospitals. Chapel Hill Fire Department Capt. Doug Kelly said the man’s body was found in one of the second-floor apart ments. He also said officials are still inves tigating the cause of the man’s death. Two residents from the building were taken to UNC Hospitals to be treated for bums. The blaze caused fire, smoke and water damage to at least eight apartments, while several others suffered smoke and water damage. No estimate for the extent of the damage is available yet The Chapel Hill Fire Marshal Caprice Mellon is teaming up with the N.C. Bureau of Investigation in trying to determine the cause of the fire. The investigation could last several days or even longer, according to a news release. Kelly said that after investigations Wednesday, the origin of the fire was right to two upper-level seats, SIO,OOO retained four seats (mosdy upper level), $25,000 retained four lower-level seats, $50,000 retained eight lower-level seats, and SIOO,OOO retained up to 12 seats. In addition to the initial costs, donors must maintain an annual donation level and pay for actual tickets, which cost up to S3OO apiece. Smith said that because of a lack of major gifts, many of the seats in the lower deck were secured by $50,000 donations. The right to buy tickets can also be passed down a generation, as long as the new holder continues to donate at the necessary level. “If we were doing it today, we’d do it differently. What peo ple have to realize is that we had to pay for the entire thing ourselves. If the building was going to be built, we had to raise the money,” Smith said. UNC STUDENTS! start executive dPjEnk TRAINING NOW Don't wait until you Finish college to start a management training program. If you have at least 3 semesters remaining, (Undergraduate or Graduate) consider Air Force ROTC. We have scholarships & incentives for qualifying students. We can give you a head start on a fast-paced career. Contact: AFROTC Detachment 590, UNC-CH (919) 962-2074 www.unc.edu/ depts/afirotc —— AiiUOßSiLfoi, „ " " "- 11 ™ gd"C""'r Leadership Excellence Starts Here still unknown. He also said the time the blaze started was unknown. “The fire was through the roof when we got there, so there’s no telling how long it had been burning before we got the call,” he said. Kelly also said there were no sprin klers in the building, but it was built long before they were required by law. Sarah Chaffins, a senior business major and a resident at Brookstone, does not five in the building that was destroyed, but she said she saw the other apartments bum “(My roommate and I) ran outside, looked over the roof and saw smoke,” Chaffins said. “I ran around the side of the building and the whole roof was on fire.” Chaffins said that when the firefight ers arrived, they doused her building with water to prevent the fire from spreading. She said that just in case, she and her roommate gathered their valuables and put them in plastic bags. She said she feared if the fire depart ment had come five minutes later, her building would have burned, too. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced, really,” Chaffins said. “It was just terrifying.” Interim Police Chief Gregg Jarvies said the Chapel Hill police were on the scene to offer assistance to the fire department. “We just provide any assis tance we can,” Jarvies said. “In a fire sit uation, we support if they ask us to.” That support comes in multiple forms. Police provide scene security, cri sis counseling and media assistance, Jarvies said. Residents Recall Floyd's Fury The effects of Hurricane Floyd are still being felt in eastern North Carolina, which was left devastated. By Lucas Fenske Assistant State & National Editor GREENVILLE, SEPT. 15 - Time has masked the damage Hurricane Lloyd inffictSß on "East Carolina University a year ago this weekend* The parking lot where an ECU stu dent, 18-year-old Aaron Childe of Leland, drowned while swimming in floodwaters is now dry. Campus sidewalks covered with leaves after the storm were cleared long ago. Chunks of road and sidewalk tom from the ground by the rampaging flood waters have been repaired. But the hurricane still lingers in the memory of many students who were forced to carry their soggy belongings from mud-covered apartments. Greenville, located on the Tar River, was one of several N.C. cities hit hard by the flood. ECU classes were can celed for nine days, the longest in recent memory. The school suffered more than $4 million in physical damages. ECU sophomore Michael Rowcliff of Chapel Hill said he remained on cam pus dining Floyd until he was forced to evacuate. “No one wanted to go to sleep (that night),” Rowcliff said. “Everyone wanted to see what would happen." He said his residence hall lost power about 3 a.m. when the hurricane’s eye was overhead, setting off the fire alarm. “We were standing outside in the rain and wind,” Rowcliff said. “Tree branches were flying around. It was total chaos.” He said Floyd itself was not a major problem for students, but the subse quent floods were devastating and turned his residence hall, located at the top of a hill, into an island. “There was no way on or off except by boat,” Rowcliff said. “The commuter parking lot was a lake. All you could see was a sign that said ‘Caution: Lot Prone to Flood’ sticking out of the water.” fit m mBM wh FILE PHOTO Chapel Hill firefighters work to clean out one of three units at Brookstone Apartments that was gutted by a fire Halloween night. He said the effects of Floyd -and the smell of mildew in some classrooms - lingered for the rest of fall semester. Rowcliff said possessions and apart ments damaged by the flooding, com bined with the loss of vacation days, made it hard for most students to devote the necessary attention to their studies. “No one was motivated,” he said. “More students were on academic pro bation than could fit in the auditorium.” Despite the academic, emotional and physical effects oftheltorm on campus, the damage wrought by Floyd is more visible in the city of Greenville. Faded police caution tape fitters the ground around Darryl’s, a restau rant and once-pop ular student hang out that is now locked. A cobweb covered bench, with its seats folded “We were standing outside in the rain and wind. Tree branches were flying around. It was total chaos. ” Michael Rowcliff East Carolina University Sophomore up, states, “Welcome to Pirate Country.” Tar River Estates, an apartment com plex located next to the river of the same name, still has about a dozen buildings with gutted interiors bearing signs warning “condemned” or “build ing unfit for human habitation.” Fish chase minnows around the com plex’s abandoned swimming pool, where weeds and algae have started to grow. Insulation, heart-shaped key chains commemorating a blood drive and pieces of an artificial Christmas tree fitter the floor of the nearby clubhouse. ECU senior Jacob Parrish of 7:00, 9:45 SAT-SUN 1:30, 4:15 MgLj iMM M 9 " best picture material' 7:00, 9:30, SAT-SUN 2:00. 4:30 “Ridi funny, enormously humane... L/f/ L// Yrbq is a world class talantl One of the Jr Jr J * years bast! A senna, generous, comic vision of eur tangled urban lim." *s* edwmo nee - omm shm. Newsweek . "6LORIOUS*" -la nuts 7:30 SAT-SUN 2:30 BILLY ELLIOT BEST IN SHOW 7:10, SAT-SUN 2:10 9:15, SAT-SUN 4:15 with an Extraordinary Cast!' T\ . 7:00, 9:30, SAT-SUN 2:00, 4:30 YOU CAN COUNT ON ME 7:10,9:20 SAT-SUN 2 10, 4:20 Monday, January 8, 2001 Louisburg said he lived in Tar River Estates during the flooding. Parrish said he went home during Floyd after receiving a warning from the police and could not return to the apart ments until several days later. “Even the beer truck couldn’t get into Greenville.” When Parrish was finally able to return to the apartment weeks later, he said fungus was growing on the walls and the floor was covered with mud. Parrish said he and his roommate, Bradley Cash of Louisburg, received about $5,000 in rent aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Parrish said other university officials were equal ly attentive to stu dent needs - per haps overly so. “This one lady kept asking me ‘Are you OK?’” he said. “Yes. ‘Are you in denial?’ No.” Despite offers of support, Parrish said professors expected too much of students harmed by the flood, causing his grades to drop. He said many students were depressed by the flood and its impact on them and their families, but an ECU foot ball game, played while the campus was still closed, boosted their morale. He said the blowout victory against the fittingly named Miami Hurricanes lifted stu dents’ spirits. A crowd of students, him self included, rushed the football field and tore down the goal posts. “That win helped more than anything.” I EASTERN J k Imm FEDERAL J k| V THEATERS M Ofa* PLAZA THEATRES ■Mi Elliott Rd. 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