Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Nov. 22, 2005, edition 1 / Page 6
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6 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2005 Options pit space, development Part of comprehensive plan update BY TED STRONG CITY CO-EDITOR For Orange County the math is simple: Fewer houses means more water. The crowd at the Orange County Board of Commissioners’ quarterly public hearing with the county’s planning board mostly was glad to see the county staff's four pro posals that would limit severely the number of housing units that could be built in rural sections of the county. Commissioner Stephen Halkiotis was unable to attend the session, the first of three public hearings on this aspect of the county’s update of its comprehensive plan. The next hearing is set for Feb. 27. The proposals are designed to set more stringent limits on hous ing density to better strike a bal ance between growth and the prob lems it brings. Craig Benedict, the county’s plan PLANT FROM PAGE 3 “We need to move forward promptly,” said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facili ties planning and construction. “The cost of delay would be a quar ter million dollars per month.” The public hearing last night was continued from a public dis cussion Nov. 9 to iron out issues citizens harbor toward the facility, located on the south side of West Cameron Avenue. In response to the concerns of citizens, Town Manager Cal Horton reported that UNC will comply with the noise ordinance and provide acoustic analysis but that the campus couldn’t commit to limiting future growth, which Horton deemed reasonable. With the agreement in place, some say it’s time to move past the issue. “The University and town unfortunately look like adversarial positions,” said Dennis Markatos- Soriano, a Chapel Hill resident and UNC alumnus. “I hope we can move forward on sustainable energy issues like this.” New cooperative town-gown PRATT-WILSON FROM PAGE 3 “She’s really gung-ho about her efforts, but I haven’t seen any improvements from my perspec tive,” Mask said. The problem, Mask said, will be difficult to change. “The kids love (drinking). It’s something they can all identify with,” he said. “There aren’t too many places to go where you don’t have access to it.” Committee member and parent Michael Eisen, a state coordinator for preventing underage drinking with the Department of Human The Simple Way Home © Wyndham capital mortgage Do you like to run marathons? Do you like to climb mountains? Do you live by the motto Work Hard Play Hard? 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Email resume and cover letter to: wantonich@wyndhamcapital.com ning director, said excessive growth can create problems in a number of areas, including pollution, water supply and efficient provision of public services. Benedict also said the proposals would reflect traditional distinc tions between rural and urban dis tricts in the county. “What we are trying to do with these new sce narios is not do anything radically different from what people have done in the past,” he said. The plans would require between two and five acres per dwelling unit. Much of the county now only requires 0.92 acres per unit. That ratio could be met with larger lots, or with smaller lots and dedicated open space, an option Benedict said has become increas ingly popular in the county. “The emphasis is on the bot tom-line density ... that can be achieved in many ways,” said County Manager John Link. relations seem promising. “Sometimes there appear ten sions,” said Edith Wiggins, a coun cil member. “But intense situations like these make a much better product.” Among the other highlights at the meeting: ■ The council forwarded to town staff a request from resident Brenda Brown to hold a Rosa Parks commemoration Dec. 1. Brown proposed organizing a bus proces sion from the Interstate 40 exit on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Town Hall, followed by a walk to the town operations center. ■ Council members authorized Horton to initiate next July the process of developing a neighbor hood conservation district for the Mason Farm neighborhood. ■ A motion to authorize Horton to conduct a pilot wireless project in the Craig-Gomains housing area that will connect selected students living in town-owned housing units to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools network services for one year was included in the approved consent agenda. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu. Health Services, said he believes the committee still has been suc cessful in revitalizing the issue. “They made the issue some thing in the foreground,” Eisen said.“ Sometimes these things get caught up behind other issues, especially in election season, so it’s important that (Pratt-Wilson) keeps this in front of everyone’s consciousness.” The group’s strategies have gath ered attention, attracting people from outside the local community. “We came down to see the way they’re doing things,” said Jerry Mudge, a parent activist from Charlotte, who drove in for the Designated open space even could be leased out for farm use, Benedict said. “What we’re trying to strike here with the amendments to the land use plan ... is some sort of balance to be sustainable for the future,” he said. It was the sustainability specifi cally of the county’s water supply that concerned many residents at the hearing. “I think water’s going to be our most important problem from here on out,” said county resident Richard Roberts. “It’s going to get scarcer and scarcer and harder to find.” Benedict said that a U.S. Geological Survey recommenda tion of two acres per dwelling unit for a rechargeable water resource might be too conservative, as the data it was based on did not include the county’s two relatively severe droughts since 1996. “It is not an unlimited supply,” he said of the county’s water reserves, which include the Eno River. _ i Wniiii” iiri -itr--- J L- j , ■ 1 1 "ME jP I "Af DTH/LOGAN PRICE The University's cogeneration facility, which provides electricity and steam to campus, borders the Cameron-McCauley Historic District. Nov. 3 committee meeting. Mudge, who lost two sons in a drunk driving accident, said a similar program recently started in Mecklenburg County is hop ing to build off the committee’s model. Still, Mask said the group needs to look at other ways to combat the problem. “You have to get some kids involved in the process, not attack them,” he said. “If you attack kids, they are just going to rebel, wheth er they like it or not. Eisen admits the committee’s efforts are unlikely to cause drastic change overnight, but he said he is encouraged by recent develop ments. “Change is slow,” he said. “You’ve Certificates (fete&VXtUHUI Available 967-3377 • 105 A Rams Plaza iSK Look forward to r SctifMlMHfM* f 12 Days of Tanning! $ Dec. 12-23 SIA Gift M ft T II I p * | 41 &ec. 9tA. pice. PatuUtta. uxtA. 11l Lard! "if ‘ReptcaAmeMte! “Do&i J ft "May use toward jw ,-~- N & any purchase of A %k >35 or more. $ ' yk.j, Expins: 12/31/05 Recycle Phonebooks with Newspapers Recycle Phonebooks with newspaper at the curb and at apartment complexes. Q Recycle Phonebooks with newspapers at 24-hour Drop-off Sites and at Convenience Centers located throughout the county. Questions? Orange Community Recycling , (919)968-2788 recycling@co.orange.nc.us www.co.orange.nc.us/recycling This ad was paid for by News Melinda Ruley, another county resident, also urged a move to lower density. And she said that while develop ment already has had an impact on the county, commissioners have done a good job of mitigating its impact. “You all have done such a fine job of protecting us so far from the horror show that exists in Durham and Wake counties,” Ruley said. Benedict said approximately 2,000 lots have been approved as parts of new major subdivisions since 1987, and more than half those lots are still undeveloped. But life-long county resident Robert Nichols suggested another way to preserve water supplies: Build more reservoirs and contain more of the water that flows out of Orange County. “There’s plenty of water here,” he said. He added, “All we gotta do is store the water.” Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu. got to be in this for the long run.” Pratt-Wilson likewise acknowl edged the unique, long-term chal lenges Chapel Hill, as a college town, presents to the committee, but she stressed that the group’s efforts primarily are focused on changing attitudes about underage substance abuse at the middle- and high-school levels. Mask contends that youth cul ture must change before any last ing impacts become apparent. “My biggest complaint about the school system and the community is that we’re very good at identify ing the problem, but we’re not very good at solving it.” Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu. MARATHON FROM PAGE 3 ferent organizations have regis tered teams, Walker said. “What’s great about it is we’re able to unify groups of people that may not have a chance to interact with ... any other group on cam pus,” Attwater said. The marathon is dually goaled, because it aims to unite the cam pus through diversity while help ing the patients at the children’s FLU FROM PAGE 3 enza scare. UNC Hospitals as well as other hospitals around the state would be responsible for administering care to infected patients as well as ensuring that the virus wouldn’t spread. Crane also said the state’s seven portable hospitals, one of which was sent to aid Hurricane Katrina victims earlier in the year, would be important in helping any areas severely affected. “All the hospitals would be very important, but UNC would prob ably play a larger role than some of the other hospitals along with the others that are research hospitals,” Crane said. But to a certain extent, UNC Hospitals already might be a step ahead of the game when it comes to assuming that role. “The SARS scare last year served as a template for us on how to han- DEPRESSION FROM PAGE 3 college students who report having been diagnosed with depression has risen significantly. “In the past, there weren’t treat ments for people with these men tal health issues, so they never got to the university level,” says junior Melanie Pace, vice presi dent of Students for Mental Health Awareness. Increased awareness has helped to destigmatize depression, Pace says. “I believe there is less stigma attached to getting treatment than there was in the past,” says Dr. Allen Hamrick, associate director of CAPS at UNC, in an e-mail. He says he believes that is why CAPS has seen a dramatic increase in students seeking its help. Approximately 65 percent of the students at CAPS seek counseling for depression. The service’s growth is not an isolated incident. Counseling ser vices at universities across the nation are witnessing similar increases, Anderson says. The rise brings many new implications for universities as they try to attend to students’ needs. “Whenever possible they are trying to add staff members, add more counseling hours,” he says. “But there are difficulties finding staff to handle all these students.” Faruqi, who was treated at CAPS, cites the program’s limita tions. “CAPS is really short term,” she says. Students are offered six to eight free sessions, Hamrick says, with the goal to switch students who need it to long-term counseling. But some students are look ing for more long-term help from Wlutt cUrf hnovj about m&? l hnov.i it ytune< pf me- jjgL - lor ! Hl\ testing 611 Ymm \n is iid\ * START TNE WEEKEND! A FEW BAYS EARLY! ★TUESDAY* PINT NIGHT ★ *ALL REGULAR PINTS $2.50 ICiROLiIL* ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ dfefHKvß 460 WEST FRANKLIN STREET DOWNTOWN CHAPEL HILL*942-1800 9 WWW.CAROLINABREWERY.COM Qlljp (Tor Mwl hospital. “The theme of the marathon is team work, and our mission state ment as an organization speaks to unite all campus groups under the common goal of supporting the , children’s hospital,” Walker said. “We just hope everyone has a r good time and we can provide as much support as possible to the children’s hospital.” Contact the University Editor atuxksk@unc.edu. ’ die something of a highly infec- , tious nature,” said Lynn Wooten, spokesman for UNC Health Care. “What we went through a cou- ( pie of years ago provided us with a response mechanism that would apply here to a great extent.” In the event of a pandemic, UNC Hospitals would undergo an in-house quarantine in order to protect healthy patients as well as doctors, Wooten said. Wooten also said UNC Hospitals would be ready to address the state’s needs. “We are a level-one trauma response center, so we’re a big place, unlike some smaller com- , munity hospitals that might not have that type of space to work with,” he said. “We have experts on hand who understand these things and who would work closely with their counterparts on the state level.” Contact the State O National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. CAPS. “That was kind of a problem because I got used to seeing a per son,” she says. The ACHA study indicates that more students are opting to treat their depression with medication than therapy. “Therapy is slower,” Hamrick says. College students often find themselves having to weigh between struggling in class or tak ing medication. But Faruqi says the results of the medication prescribed by CAPS were mixed. After her counseling sessions ended, she was concerned about taking medication without being monitored regularly. “If no one is meeting with the student, (medication) can be risky,” Anderson says. But the biggest problem, Anderson says, is students who never seek help. Depression may actually be underreported, he says, stemming from a lack of under standing about the illness. “There is still a lot of fear and ignorance,” Pace says. “Major depression ... is a physi cal, emotional, cognitive response beyond a person’s control,” she says. “There is much more involved here than a person’s will to deal with things.” Faruqi says she has trouble explaining to her friends that her depression is beyond her control. “The main stigma is that it’s a sign of weakness or that we just need to ‘snap out of it,’” Faruqi says. “It’s definitely not something that I want to be ashamed of. It is a part of me, and I want to be able to discuss it.” Contact the Features Editor atfeatures@unc.edu.
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