Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 2, 2004, edition 1 / Page 2
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2 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 County leaders discuss lack of housing options BY SARAH HANCOX STAFF WRITER With the issue of affordable housing more pressing than ever, the Orange County Human Relations Commission kicked off Human Relations Month with a forum on affordable housing Sunday. The panel addressed many chal lenges and potential solutions to the issue. Orange County Commissioner Margaret Brown stated the matter simply when she said, “It’s expen sive to live in this county.” An affordable house is defined as a dwelling that does not cost more than 30 percent of the monthly income of the persons and families living there. The average sales price for new and existing homes in Orange County in 2003 was $264,229. In order to afford a rental property, one must have an income of at least $15.37 per hour almost $4 high er than the rental housing wage for the rest of the state. Chris Estes, executive director of the North Carolina Low Income Housing Coalition, said higher prices came as the town became a more desirable location. “I came to Chapel Hill in 1983 as a freshman at UNC,” he said. “When (Interstate) 40 was com pleted, Chapel Hill became more accessible to surrounding areas, and everyone started moving here.” But Chapel Hill’s popularity has made it harder for developers to create affordable housing and still profit. Bonnie Gates, a realtor with Orange Realty and a contractor, said developers profit more from building homes in the $170,000 range than the $120,000 range. DTH to host SBP forum STAFF REPORT The Daily Tar Heel will host a forum for student body president candidates at 8 p.m. Tuesday in 209 Manning Hall. The DTH editorial board will endorse a candidate for student body president, but the board will do so primarily based on inter views with the candidates. The, hoard will not endorse at The Kaplan-Brauer Lecture on the Contribution of Judaism “Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor and the Unfinished Business of World War II” A discussion of the political and ethical issues raised by the legal and diplomatic efforts to acquire over $8 billion in Holocaust-related compensation from Swiss, German, Austrian and French companies. Introduction by Eli N. Evans (’SB) Stuart Eizenstat ('64) “Developers need incentives to build affordable housing.” But Brown was quick to point out the work that has been done to 1988, a toTof 1,205 U afFordable housing units either have been built or created out of existing housing. Estes said good design was key to creating attractive, affordable places to live. “A shortcoming of many fed eral programs is they create con centrations of poverty, are poorly designed, are isolated from services, jobs, shopping areas and schools.” Robert Dowling, executive direc tor of Orange Community Housing and Land Trust, said he is particu larly concerned about people forced to commute from outside the coun ty because of the high cost of living. “When people can’t afford to live in this county it is creating clogged roads with people commuting and polluted air,” he said. “This is no longer a problem just for ‘poor’ people. It’s a problem for ‘normal’ people too.” Dowling says part of the problem of affordable housing is that it even tually becomes unaffordable as homes change hands. The land trust, created in 1999, was designed to sell homes while keeping them affordable by retaining the title to the home. Buyers are required to live in the house, and if they decide to sell it, it must be at a price set by a formula in the contract The policy is designed so that the property will remain affordable for 99 years. The Chapel Hill Town Council approved a policy that requires developers to put 15 percent of their new homes in the land trust. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu. the forum, which is being con ducted by the news side of the paper. The forum will be open to the public, and audience members will be given an opportunity to ques tion candidates. Audience questions will be lim ited, so feel free to e-mail questions beforehand to Elyse Ashbum at eashbum@email.unc.gffo- Former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Ambassador to the European Union Expert on Holocaust Restitution Author of Imperfect Justice 1 UNC ARTS ft SCIENCES THE UNIVERSITY of NORTH CAROLINA at CHAPEL HILL News Vendors shower Inn with bridal fare BY KRISTEN WILLIAMS ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR Hundreds of future brides, in laws and families swarmed the Carolina Inn on Sunday for their Bridal Fair 2004. Sponsored by the Inn, The Chapel Hill Herald and TVaditions of Chapel Hill, the event present ed a wide array of vendors for fam ilies and husbands- and wives-to be to peruse as they chomped on hors d’oeuvres and wedding cake, washed down with champagne served by the wandering Inn staff. Each of the rooms featured var ious vendors from Chapel Hill and surrounding areas, including Hillsborough. Court Square Shops, located in historic down town Hillsborough, provided a jewelry display and has had a spot at the fair for the past few years. Manning the table was Rebecca Manuel who has been in her busi ness for years and enjoys supply ing brides and other customers with the store’s array of “invita tions, accessories, antiques, home decor and gorgeous jewelry.” “I’ve been doing this for 21 years, and I just love it it keeps me on a high,” Manuel said. “I never get tired (of it), it’s a part of me.” While each business vied for cus tomers from the crowd, Holly Bretschneider from Salutations in Meadowmont Village said that her store was “distinct,” and cited the “friendly personnel” as a reason. Salutations offered a wide vari ety of invitations on its table, which was decorated with polka dots, bows and floral arrangements. Prominently placed on display were different bridal kits, including the Crafty Girls Keepsake Kit, which was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Bretschneider said. Nestled among the vendors were various tables arranged in wedding regalia, each boasting a unique and beautiful wedding look. Couples and brides stopped to gaze, some even taking pictures, to gamer ideas or company names. s!l|p Sa% ®ar P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 Elyse Ashbum, Editor, 962-4086 Advertising & Business, 962-1163 News, Features, Sports, 962-0245 One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased at The Daily Tar Heel lor $.25 each. O 2004 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved r 1 mHHF „ L . jgj, • \MJk A (*M ± * m lilßi Half? W ,}* m "iSSK 1M 4 --Jag* * I I'lH igjigl *• '’ tB ,ji DTH/KATHY SHUPING Hayley Wood, Rebecca Ross and Alyson Bobbitt (left to right), employees of Traditions of Chapel Hill, model bridal gowns at the Carolina Inn’s Bridal Fair 2004 on Sunday. Hundreds of people attended the event. Shelly Rhodes and her mother, Lucy, were just two of the patrons who paused to look at the tables. “We came just to see what was going on and get any ne\* ideas,” said Shelly Rhodes, a 1996 UNC graduate in business. While the fair offered ideas for Shelly Rhodes and her mother, her fiance chose not to come to the fair because “today’s Super Bowl Sunday.” “He’s coming for the wedding, and that’s it,” Lucy Rhodes said. Unlike Shelly Rhodes’ fiance, Kimberly Judge’s groom Norman Sandridge accompanied his fiancee to the fair, citing his attendance as a “token of devotion.” “He’s very good about it, it’s the third one we’ve been to,” Judge said. “We came to find out things to get invitations, transportation, music,” Sandridge said. “And free food.” Costs put prepaid tuition in peril BY AMY THOMSON STAFF WRITER Prepaid tuition plans, offered by about 20 states and complement ed by ag1996 federal law, were her alded as a convenient way for fam ilies to make college more afford able. >’ u But as tuition at state universi ties has skyrocketed, some state governments are finding the pro grams increasingly difficult to fond. Others have shut them down entirely. Although they vary, most pre paid programs allow parents essentially to buy stock in a state university, purchasing a percentage of tuition or tuition for a certain number of years until the student is ready to attend college. As tuition rates for the university change, so does the value of the tuition certificate. Joan Marshall, executive direc tor of College Savings Plan of Maryland, said the state’s prepaid tuition planners foresaw that tuition would continue to increase and set aside reserves accordingly. But Maryland’s reserves ran out two years ago. Marshall said that while this is L - MBU. -- M TICKETS.DUKE.EDU $lB FOR ALL STUDENTS (W/ID) DUKE BOX OFFICE $23 GENERAL PUBLIC 919.684.4444 While many of the vendors were inside various ballrooms and halls, the hallways connecting the crowd from one display to another also boasted wedding options. Pat Jingozian from Twigs & Sprigs placed a re-creation of the wedding from the reality show “The Bachelorette” in the hallway out side the Inn’s Hill Ballroom. Twigs & Sprigs has held the same location for the past 3 years and this year decided to re-create the pink wedding aisle setup used in the television wedding ofTrista Rehn and Ryan Sutter. “The wedding brought in 13 mil lion viewers, and I thought people would like to see it recreated, and pink is in,” Jingozian said. “I like to re-create something whimsical and magical, so we didn’t use a booth.” Wedding mania took over the Inn, with more than 50 vendors cause for concern, Maryland can continue covering plans until the year 2020 at current rates. There is no discussion of ending the plan, which she calls a boon for about 1,000 students in college now. Colorado, a state that discontin ued its prepaid plan, did so because the program went so far into the red that it couldn’t accept new participants. Other states that have had to discontinue enrollment in their plans, Marshall said, have had to do so because of extenuating cir cumstances. Texas’ Guaranteed TViition Plan was discontinued after the state legislature gave the power to set state tuition rates to individual col leges. Marshall said the real problem is soaring tuition prices, not the planning of the prepaid tuition programs. Many states might have to stop the plans because of the rates, although students and families who already have locked into the plans will be covered. Some states chose to rely on other college savings programs written into the same legislation (2Hje latly ®ar MM showcasing their stores’ talents. Many of the guests are holding their weddings at the Inn, with help from Amy Hammond, the social catering manager and wed ding specialist for the Inn. “The fair is a great opportunity for area brides to visit with area vendors and see the Inn dressed to the nines,” Hammond said. While many choose to marry in their hometowns or exotic destina tions, some UNC alumni might choose to hold their special day where they spent their college years or even met their future spouse. “The University and the Inn go hand in hand,” Hammond said. “With a wedding at the Inn, you can share your college years with your family.” Contact the Features Editor atfeatures@unc.edu. that allows tax free savings for col lege and gives more flexibility if a student opts not to attend college or goes to an out-of-state school. North Carolina decided against offering prepaid tuition plans. “It does lock a family into only certain institutions,” said Shera Hube, vice president of marketing, savings and student services for the N.C. College Foundation. Instead, she said North Carolina offers a variety of investment and tax-free savings plans. Varying in aggressiveness and risks, Hube said, the plans give families a choice and may be used at any institution in the nation. While none of the plans guaran tee that a family will have enough money to cover tuition, Hube said, the state tries to accommodate lower income families when tuition increases. “North Carolina is doing a very good job 0f... increasing financial assistance as tuition is going up,” Hube said. “Certainly tuition increases are a concern for all fam ilies.” Contact the State E 2 National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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