VOLUME ill, ISSUE 119
Plaintiffs get Ist look at APS files
CRAMER INSPECTS PERSONNEL, FINANCIAL, MEMBER REPORTS
BY SARAH RABIL
AND DAN SCHWIND
STAFF WRITERS
Almost 12 months after his last
visit, Elliot Cramer returned to the
Orange County Animal Shelter on
Monday to meet with officials of the
Animal Protection Society of
Orange County.
The meeting was the result of a
Nov. 21 Orange County Superior
Court ruling that required that APS
grant Cramer and fellow plaintiff
Judith Reitman access to APS’ files.
Cramer and Reitman requested
access to the files in their joint law
suit against the society.
“We had a very satisfactory meet
ing with them,’’ Cramer said. “I think
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OTH PHOTOS/KRISTIN GOODE
Emily Pimentel, 2, takes a candle from Beatriz Bravo during the World AIDS Day candlelight vigil held Monday night at the Civic Center
Plaza in Durham. The candle lighting came after a march along Main Street, a prayer and testimonials from those living with HIV.
AIDS EVENT ELICITS
CALLS FOR URGENCY
BY KATHRYN ROEBUCK
STAFF WRITER
DURHAM State officials, students
and Durham community members
marched Monday evening from the
Durham Arts Council to the Civic Center
Plaza in remembrance of AIDS victims.
They celebrated the evening with
speakers, musical performances and a
candlelight vigil.
Eight local organizations marched to
the civic center for the World AIDS Day
program titled “Break The Silence,”
including two Girl Scout troops and
other organizations from the Durham
School of the Arts and N.C. Central
University.
Vivianne Valdes-Hurtado of the
Northern Outreach Clinic in Durham
opened the program by urging commu
nity members to re-establish their sense
of urgency about HIV and AIDS.
"The era of urgency of HIV and AIDS
is gone,” she said. “News of the disease is
disappearing from mainstream commu
nication. This complacency is killing the
cause.”
Valdes-Hurtado said recent statistics
prove that this false sense of security is
crippling the progress of AIDS activists
and causing an increase in AIDS and HIV
cases in the United States.
“The South has more cases of HIV
than anywhere else in the United States,”
she said.
INSIDE
SAFE CROSSING
Anew task force will examine a dangerous
intersection near Chapel Hill High School PAGE 2
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Othr Satht ®ar Jtel
we had a congenial and useful dis
cussion.”
In particular, Cramer said, the
pair was seeking access to account
ing records, financial reports, per
sonnel files and membership lists
from the last several years.
Cramer said he is very satisfied
with his newly granted privilege,
though the court order prevents him
from revealing the contents of the
personnel and financial records.
“We certainly found information
that supports the concerns we have
raised over the last year,” he said.
Monday marked the first time
Cramer was allowed in the shelter
since APS officials accused him of
trespassing on their property.
WORLD AIDS DAY 2003
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“African Americans are now 11 times
more likely than their Caucasian counter
parts to acquire the disease."
Valdes-Hurtado said community mem
bers can become more involved in AIDS
outreach by learning more, helping those
with the disease and being politically
active.
“Next year, let’s reflect on what we did
this year to make a difference,” she said.
“Let everyone know that HIV is a priori
ty, and if you’re doing all that you can,
don’t stop.”
N.C. Sen. Wib Gulley, D-Durham, who
presented the proclamation for World
AIDS Day in the absence of Durham
Mayor William Bell, said political leaders
want to help continue education on AIDS
SEE AIDS DAY, PAGE 5
www.dailytarheel.com
“The last time I walked through
these doors was January,” Cramer
said. “But I feel no animosity toward
APS.... I still am willing to renew my
membership and do what I can.”
The suit began earlier this year
when Cramer and Reitman tried to
run for positions on the APS board
of directors but were denied when
board members changed the group’s
bylaws so only board members
could vote in elections.
APS countered, saying that it
made the change legally according
to its bylaws.
Cramer and Reitman said APS
officials violated these bylaws again
when it denied their requests to
renew their APS memberships.
Program offers
dual approach to
AIDS treatment
BY CAROLINE KORNEGAY
STAFF WRITER
As the campus community takes part in events for
World AIDS Week, employees at UNC-Chapel Hill’s
School of Medicine will start training seminars for a
project meant to advance treatment for HIV patients
and prevent new infections.
Last month, UNC-CH’s Center for Infectious
Diseases at the School of Medicine received $l.B mil
lion in federal grant money for a project that will offer
counseling along with medical treatment for HIV
patients in North Carolina.
The study is funded by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the Health Resources
and Services Administration.
“Having a behavioral approach in a clinical setting
gives us a dual approach (for treatment),” said Dr.
Byrd Quinlivan. professor of medicine.
The program is slated to begin this spring and is
waiting for a name.
Outpatients at the UNC-CH center’s clinic will
have their doctors or nurse practitioners help them
decide when and how it would be best to disclose to
SEE AIDS WEEK, PAGE 5
I *
Cramer said the board’s actions
were an effort to prevent the two
from running for high positions in
the group.
Both originally decided to run for
the posts to launch reforms within
the group, which they said was not
managing the shelter properly.
Cramer and Reitman then filed
the lawsuit challenging the legality
of the change in the bylaws and
demanding access to the files they
got access to Monday.
The decision came after several
months of delays and changes in
hearing dates.
The release of the records is one
SEE APS, PAGE 5
SPORTS
TOUGH COMPETITION
With several injured players, the Tar Heels face an
uncertain fate against Illinois on Tuesday PAGE 4
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2003
DTH/BETH FLOYD
Elliot Cramer speaks with Ron Merritt, attorney for the Orange
County Animal Shelter, after a court order allowed Cramer to
view documents in the facility for the first time since January.
New lawsuit
looms over
redistricting
GOP to contest newly approved maps
BY KAVITA PILLAI
STAFF WRITER
Despite reaching an agreement
last week, state legislators are
gearing up for another long legal
battle over the N.C. General
Assembly’s redistricting maps.
Several Republicans are expect
ed to file suit to finalize a debate
about district lines that has lasted
more than two years.
“I am saddened to report that
(the) adoption of the unconstitu
tional redistricting map is certain
to lead to further litigation,” said
N.C. Republican Party Chairman
Ferrell Blount said in a statement
last week.
Some Republicans have
expressed concern about the legal
ity of the maps, claiming that they
violate the Voting Rights Act of
1965.
The act aims to protect minori
ty voters by ensuring that they
have fair and equal representation
in state districts.
The state Democratic Party,
however, does not think the new
maps are unconstitutional, said
Marc Siegel, the party’s communi
cations director.
“These maps were drawn under
the federal and state guidelines to
N.C. sees growth
in holiday travel
BY STEPHANIE JORDAN
STAFF WRITER
This year’s Thanksgiving week
end saw increased travel but fewer
fatal accidents in North Carolina,
transportation officials said.
There was a 3 percent to 4 per
cent increase in travelers this year
in the state, said Tom Crosby, vice
president of communications for
AAA Carolinas.
Frank Pierce, a line sergeant
with the N.C. Highway Patrol, said
there were 16 fatalities statewide
during the holiday reporting peri
od, which was in effect between 6
p.m. Wednesday and midnight
Sunday. That’s one less fatality this
year than during the 2002
Thanksgiving weekend, he added.
“There was a decrease in fatali
ties, so we consider (our efforts) a
success," he said.
Pierce said the 16 deadly acci
dents included cars passing illegal
ly, overturning and hitting
embankments, ditches or trees.
Another case involved a tree
falling on a car, killing two people.
Pierce said that some of the acci
dents involved failure to use a seat
TODAY Sunny, H 52, L 27
WEDNESDAY Partly cloudy, H 45, L 26
THURSDAY Partly cloudy, H 48, L 34
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N.C. Sen.
Hugh Webster
expressed
concern over
the use of
taxpayer
money to fund
litigation.
make them constitutional," he said.
State Attorney General Roy
Cooper already has filed two
motions on behalf of House Co
speakers Jim Black, D-
Mecklenburg, and Richard
Morgan, R-Moore, as well as
Senate President Pro Tern Marc
Basnight, D-Dare.
The motions are pre-emptive
actions before any lawsuits are filed,
said Lisa Kimbrough, Morgan’s
communications director.
“We filed in court today a com
plaint for declaratory' judgement
in Wake County," Kimbrough said.
“We w’ant the court to enter a judg
ment that the lines we just passed
are constitutional.”
The motions were filed against
Rep. Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston;
Sen. Patrick Ballantine, R-New
Hanover; former Reps. Art Pope
SEE LAWSUITS, PAGE 5
“(Fatalities)
occurred
everywhere from
interstates to
private paths”
FRANK PIERCE, N.C. HIGHWAY PATROL
belt and alcohol use and that only
a few' of them involved more than
one vehicle.
“There was no pattern with
fatalities,” he said. “They occurred
everywhere from interstates to pri
vate paths.”
Traffic was heaviest Wednesday
and Sunday, Pierce said, since
those were the days on which
most people arrived at or depart
ed from their holiday destina
tions.
The Highway Patrol prepared
for the influx of holiday travelers
by having every available trooper
on the road to take emergency calls
SEE THANKSGIVING, PAGE 5
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