North Carolina Newspapers

Sbr Hally (Ear Uppl Lax OWASA Enforcement Not Enough Take two-minute showers. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth. Water your lawn only on specified days. Yeah, yeah, the water restrictions are annoying. But while these Orange Water and Sewer Authority restrictions have been imposed and encouraged, they have not been enforced by the Chapel Hill Police Department. Basically, follow ing those restric tions is up to you. But mean while, the drought keeps getting worse. The water sup ply is estimated to be 127 days. If we don’t get any CAROLYN PEARCE CITY COLUMNIST rain for the next 127 days, we could be coming home from Winter Break, turning on our faucets and watching a whole lot of nothing come out. Sounds pretty extreme, huh? Well, obviously not extreme enough for Chapel Hill and OWASA officials to start enforcing water use restrictions. OWASA can impose regulations, upgrade to Stage 3 restrictions, insist that reservoirs are drying up, and chances are people still won’t take it seriously - unless it starts punishing overusers. For every person who is conscientiously taking those two minute showers, there is someone washing his car in the driveway. If he knew he would be getting a ticket in his mailbox for water overuse, he might think twice about running the hose in his yard. But chances are, he isn’t going to get one. Because the Chapel Hill police have not issued a single water overuse citation this year. According to police spokeswoman Jane Cousins, the Chapel Hill Police Department coordinates its activities with OWASA and reports any viola tions it receives directly to OWASA. But OWASA Executive Director Ed Kerwin said the Chapel Hill Police Department has the exclusive authori ty to enforce the violations. Cousins said the police will usually respond to overuse calls by going out to the sites and informing the parties of their vio lations. “Most of the violations are from people who don’t know the (water restriction) rules,” Cousins said. Wow. You’d have to be living in a pretty deep, dark hole not to realize that we are in a serious drought -and it might not be a good idea to water your lawn for hours in the middle of the day. And even this slap on the wrist probably won’t force these water wasters to suddenly follow the rules. It needs to be OWASA’s responsibili ty to monitor and deal with the overuse and encourage Chapel Hill police to readily make citations if necessary. If there is blatant misuse by a customer, they need to deal with it more thorough ly than issuing a warning to the violators. Soak up these facts - this weekend’s 3 to 4 inches of rain hardly contributed to the supply in the area’s reservoirs. University Lake is still 5 feet below full, and Cane Creek is 15 feet below full. The time to start enforcing is now because uninformed people will assume the recent rains have alleviated the drought problems. Some will relax their water use and go back to not conserving. OWASA officials will meet Thursday night to consider upgrading to Stage 3 restrictions. But if they con tinuously fail to enforce the restric tions, moving to Stage 3 does little good. The people who have been con serving will continue to conserve, and those who are wasteful will continue to be wasteful. Carolyn Pearce can be reached at cpearce@email.unc.edu. '■SH Golf Bu|uß course r Southwick’s 90 Degree Rule I If the temperature at your initial Tee Time rises above > *9O Degrees, take $5.00 OFF • 95 Degrees, take $7.00 OFF | >IOO Degrees, take SIO.OO OFF ~ I Discounts are applied against the 18 Hole Cart Fee I Special ends 9/30/02 Not valid with any other special or discount. | ■ Upcoming Events Southwick Amateur Championship XV Prize listing for each of the Eight Flights Ist Place: Taylor Made 320 Series Irons (3-PW) For more information contact: 2nd Place: Taylor Made 500 Series Driver Mark Hopkins, Director of Golf 3rd Place: Taylor Made Staff Bag Voice: 336-277-2582 4th Place: Taylor Made “Rossa" Putter Fax: 336-227-3542 sth Place: Taylor Made RAC Sand Wedge Email: info@SouthwickGolf.com 3136 Southwick Drive • Graham, NC 27253 • 336-227-2582 Group Opposes Restaurant Growth By John Frank Assistant University Editor Property rights of a popular restau rant and a campus ministry were the underlying question at the heart of a debate Tuesday night at the Chapel Hill Planning Board meeting over the possi ble expansion of Lucy’s Restaurant. Officials at the adjacent Presbyterian Campus Ministries told board members that the restaurant’s loud, festive crowd had “immediately and substantially” dis rupted members’ efforts to hold prayer services earlier this year. Lucy’s co-owner Norman Bullard said his restaurant, located on the comer of Henderson and East Rosemary streets, has the right to expand its busi ness within the limits of its property and zoning permit. ACT Discusses Public Transportation Night parking might be in future By Meredith Nicholson Assistant University Editor Members of the newly formed Advisory Committee on Transportation met Tuesday to dis cuss potential improvements to public transportation. Although discussion at Tuesday’s meeting was only preliminary, com mittee members stressed the need to craft workable options. Todd Peterson, chief operating officer of UNC Hospitals, said members need to strive to make recommendations that are practical and will be effective. “I don’t think we can dabble in public transit.” Committee members debated solutions to problems like over crowded buses and bus schedules that do riot run early or late enough for some riders. Tommy Griffin, president of the Employee Forum, said buses to park-and-ride lots do not run late enough for some employees who arrive during business hours but work late into the night. “It’s hard to use park-and-ride if you don’t have a way to get back to your car at 10, 11, 12 o’clock at night,” he said. Griffin said employees also have problems with bus schedules during the summer because the buses run on a shortened schedule. Other members said students and employees have a hard time riding buses during peak hours of the morning when buses often run late or are full, leaving would-be riders at the bus stop as they drive by at full capacity. Peterson said employees are reluctant to take this chance because they know that they could Greek Affairs Stresses Fire Code Compliance in Frats Efforts are under way to fix the problems By Jeff Silver Assistant University Editor Two UNC fraternities were cited for a number of fire code violations that greatly exceeded that of other hous es during the spring 2002 semester. Though officials See the full spring fraternity and sorority report published by the Office of Greek Affairs. call the numbers troubling, they say efforts are under way to fix the problems. The debate came after Lucy’s sub mitted an application asking the plan ning board to approve the addition of a second bar to an upstairs balcony area. Church officials say the upstairs bar would be at eye level with the second floor multipurpose room that UNC stu dents commonly use as a place of quiet study and personal reflection. Chapel Hill planning staff recom mended the application’s approval, but after the hour and 15 minute debate uncovered a variety of unresolved issues, the board members voted unanimously to table the issue until its Oct. 1 meeting. Under Lucy’s plan, the restaurant will eliminate two upstairs residences, con verting the area and balcony into addi tional seating and bar space. Lucy’s used the balcony space until last fall when church officials filed an jgii jp DTH PHOTOS/JOSHUA GREER Advisory Committee on Transportation member Tammy McHale (right) poses a question at the meeting Tuesday. lose their job for repeated tardi ness. “Unless it’s really reliable, you eliminate a large segment of the target audience.” Student Body President Jen Daum said many students are reluctant to ride the buses because' they often fill up at the first stop - many times a large apartment complex or park-and-ride lot - leaving the students relying on these buses standing on the side of the road watching the overcrowd ed bus drive away. Committee members also dis cussed the possibility of revisiting discussions about night parking permit systems. University Police Chief Derek Poarch said ACT has a responsi bility to discuss all options, includ- Sigma Alpha Epsilon was cited for 49 fire code violations, and Zeta Psi was cited for 27, according to a report from UNC’s Office of Greek Affairs. The average for all houses was 5.7 violations. Jay Anhorn, Greek affairs director, said he is troubled by last semester’s vio lations. “I’m definitely concerned about the groups that have large numbers.” Anhorn said the problems were cited by the Chapel Hill Fire Department on a scheduled first visit in the spring. If any violations are noted during routine vis- College Smokers Help yourself and others Researchers at Duke University Medical Center would like college smokers age 18-24 to share their opinions about smoking and quitting. If you complete this study you will be paid S3O. We can schedule at your convenience. For further information, and to see if you qualify, please call 919-956-5644 U DUKE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER News inquiry with the town concerning the legal use of the space. Bullard said the use of the upstairs space centers on Thursday night, when the restaurant hosts the John Bunting Radio Show. The crowd drawn by the show, in addition to the steady stream of students who patronize Franklin Street area bars Thursday nights, conflicts with pro grams hosted the same night by the Presbyterian Campus Ministries. The church group holds a dinner for about 40 to 80 members from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. that is followed by various prayer ing such a system. But Poarch said committee mem bers will not be creating a detailed night parking permit system. Poarch said members will con tinue to discuss the issue philo sophically. They are not planning to institute anything short term, but it would be irresponsible to plan for the next five years without dis cussing the option, he said. Colin Christian, a graduate stu dent representative to ACT, said many graduate students think their contributions as both students and instructors are being undervalued by attempts to institute a night parking permit system, he said. The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu. its, the department returns within a cou ple of weeks. “They have to clarify and fix all the problems,” Anhorn said. Officials from the Chapel Hill Fire Department and Zeta Psi fraternity could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Charlie Farris, president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said most of his chapter’s 49 violations are from holes in the walls of the house, each of which counts as a violation. But he said the sheer amount of violations requires the fraternity to take actions. “Forty-nine violations is ridiculous,” he said. Anhorn said his department is taking steps to improve fire code compliance at services. But senior Lauren Rothwell said the noise from the restaurant is disruptive more than just Thursday nights. “We cannot hear one another and cannot “We are not trying to be a bad neighbor. Our attempt is to protect our program. ” Rev. Robert Dunham Presbyterian Campus Ministries their displeasure with the restaurant’s expansion plans. See EXPANSION, Page 4 ' *1 jgr ' '^HHH DPS Director Derek Poarch speaks during the ACT meeting Tuesday. UNC’s fraternities and sororities. This year, each house’s president must attend mandatory fire training with the group’s fire marshal, who was required to attend in the past. Fire code violations have been a topic of much discussion since a fire at the Phi Gamma Delta house killed five students in 1996. Following the fire, the Chapel Hill Town Council ordered that all Greek houses install fire sprinklers by November of last year. Council member Dorothy Verkerk said she is disappointed that the frater nities still record high numbers of viola tions. “It’s disheartening that, despite Hh.., lißHiHlßu.i Rosh Hashanah September 6th, 7th & Bth Yom Kippur September 15th & 16th Services and meals are free to all students with RSVP Email meals@nchillel.org today! check out www.nchillel.org for details or call 942-4057 This is where the party's at! Spanky's Party Wednesday, September 4th. 7-9prn Be There. Contact michelle@nchillel.org for details Wednesday, September 4, 2002 Apollo to Search for New Talent Campus will host auditions Thursday By Elliott Dube Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor concentrate on God and our wor ship,” said Rothwell, a mem ber of the Presbyterian Campus Ministries. Nearly 50 peo ple joined Rothwell at the planning board meeting to show A number of courageous performers will begin a process Thursday that might lead them to follow in the foot steps of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and other icons. Harlem’s Apollo Theater has extend ed its reach well beyond New York City. In fact, the legendary venue’s influence will grab hold of the UNC campus Thursday, when the Apollo will hold auditions for its famed Amateur Night program from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The event, which will take place in Carmichael Auditorium on Oct. 25, is part of UNC’s Performing Arts Series. The de facto waiting room for those auditioning will be the Great Hall, while the actual critiques will take place in the Union Auditorium and will be closed to the general public. Those interested in trying out for a spot in the show should contact the 7 think it will give the surrounding community an opportunity to see who’s out there. ” Shandelyn Porter Box Office Manager dents to people from other parts of North Carolina - and there are no age limits. The auditions and Amateur Night came about after the Apollo formed a relationship with UNC through International Creative Management. “There’s such a wonderful mix of col leges and talent in North Carolina that we could think of no better place than bringing it to Chapel Hill,” said David Rodriguez, executive director of Apollo Theater Foundation. He estimates that the Apollo will have auditioned upward 0f20,000 people dur ing the year at a variety of locations. On July 4,300 people auditioned on the Smithsonian Mall in Washington, D.C. The Apollo has searched for talent in places as diverse as Compton church es and the Mall of America in Minneapolis. A recent group of Amateur Night winners hailed from Japan. In this exhaustive process, Amateur Night officials welcome more than just singers and musicians. “It is just as gratifying to find a won derful juggler or poet as it is a female vocalist,” Rodriguez said. See APOLLO, Page 4 our vigilance, people aren’t taking this seriously,” she said. Alcohol violations also were listed in the Greek report. Both Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Zeta Psi were two of the three fraternities cited for alcohol viola tions in the spring semester; Kappa Alpha was the other fraternity cited. When asked if there is any possible connection between the alcohol cita tions and the fire code violations, Anhorn said, “You can draw your own conclusions about that.” The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu. 3 Carolina Union Box Office, which is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on week days, at 962-1449. Walk-ups will be admitted until 6 p.m. Thursday, although their auditions might take place well after that time. Anyone can try out from students and Chapel Hill resi