North Carolina Newspapers

Franklin Street- by Russell Gardner Staff Writer Downtown Chapel Hill has comfortable benches. They're not the flimsy type that tip over. No, Chapel Hill's benches are firmly bolted to the Franklin Street sidewalks. Sturdy and weathered and comfortable. The benches remain because no. one has found an efficient replacement. They're ideal for just plain sitting, and folks still love to just plain sit. They also contribute in a small way to the aura of downtown Chapel Hill. So does the Painted Bird, a small shop located in Amber Alley, specializing in imported fabrics and jewelry; Jeffs Campus Confectionary, where cherry cokes are served up from the soda fountain; and the flower ladies, who sit making bouquets in NCNB Plaza. You can have M & Ms smushed into your homemade ice cream at Bob's, try out the souvlaki at Hector's or spend an afternoon just browsing through the Intimate Bookshop. Chapel Hill, Alaska The high (?) today will be about 25 with a 20 per cent chance of precipitation. The low last night was about 0. Volume No. 84, Issue No. 77 Gas cutback not forseen The severe natural gas shortage has plagued North Carolina in recent weeks has had little affect on Chapel Hill area residents, according to Hal B. Brafford, manager of the Chapel Hill branch of Public Service Co. of North Carolina. "The natural gas shortage has not affected us locally. The only customers that are threatened are industrial customers," Brafford said. Residential supplies will not be cut back except under conditions of extreme emergency, according to Brafford: He explained that extreme emergency conditions would arise only if "Transcontinental Gas and Pipeline Co. (TRANSCO) would not be able to supply Public Service Co. with its daily allotment of natural gas. Presently, the Chapel Hill branch of Public Service Co. is reeiving 60 per cent 'of its daily allotment. Brafford said area residents who use natural gas are being asked to conserve by lowering the thermostats in their homes and cutting back on their use of hot water and gas-operated appliances. A decision was made Monday by the Houston Pipe Line Co. to begin delivering 85 million cubic feet of natural gas a day to TRANSCO. ' Charlene Havnaer, S 9 8? of Carter doesn't contest Sorensen withdraws WASHINGTON (UPI) Theodore Sorensen, denouncing attacks on him as "totally false" and "absurd," Monday withdrew as Jimmy Carter's nominee to head the CIA. Opposition had been mounting to Sorensen, and it grew substantially stronger within recent days following allegations he misused classified material while serving as a key aide to President John Kennedy. Sorensen, at the opening of his confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee, read a 10-page defense of his record before making his surprise announcement. "I have never compromised my conscience, and I am unwilling to do so now in order to assure my nomination," Sorensen said after completing his prepared statement. "It is now clear that a substantial portion ason to by Karen Millers Staff Writer Junior Gary Mason opened his campaign for the office of Student Body President Monday, calling for students to unify behind common goals. "I hope to awaken and unite the student body. Once we are united, all problems will solve themselves automatically, as if by magics said the history and political science major from Rocky Mount. "I do not profess to know all the answers, but I do know that this is a great school and a great student body. Together we can right all wrongs." Mason claimed that his campaign does not contain the usual rhetoric, since he intends to carry out his promises. "The essence of , my campaign finds expression in the slogan, 'Pride In Self! Pride In Work! Pride In Community!" he said. Mason professed to be the only candidate who can honestly say he cares about the individual student. He said the apathy, disillusionment and dissatisfaction of the students with Student Government (SG) is evidence of this. Each contributes to Franklin Street's image as somewhat set apart from other North Carolina business districts. "It's such a quaint little street," says a shopper who drove in from Burlington. "I'll find things in these little stores that they just don't sell at most daces anymore. I've been shopping here for years." Despite comments from newcomers about the uniqueness of downtown Chapel Hill, there are some not-so-unique problems facing the Franklin Street area. Joe Augustine, executive director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro merchants association, says changes are in order and fast. . "When downtown Durham began to lose its livelihood several years ago, people in Raleigh said, That can't happen to us. "Well, it did happen to them and now Raleigh's spending $250 million dollars to bring their downtown back to life. I'm not saying Chapel Hill's problems are that ff rn .Ov Y Y. Y "'Y' ;YY . iY v-XvC"1 A yYVYYy Y AYV Y4Yi- Y5 Y-Ysvs-J-c- yy $ J Y s YY ,YY X 5 'a-"'iiMAllJJ' '.'YvNv "-." ...... . V - I !y, 1 Ytx Jk' v.V.Vi' ..,,nW. v.'.w.V. .-...-.......-..- - 1 iL Cold duck anyone? Despite frigid weather these ducks enjoy an afternoon of fashioning figure eights near Ffintridge Apartments. Record breaking cold weather has struck North of the United States Senate and the intelligence community is not yet ready to accept as director of central intelligence an outsider who believes as I believe," he said, adding that a continued fight for the post would "handicap" the administration. Sorensen said he made his final decision two minutes before the scheduled start of the Mike York by Toni Gilbert Staff Writer Promising a Daily Tar Heel "for every student, every day," Mike York announced his candidacy for editor Monday. York, a second-year law student, has worked on the news staffs of several area seek presidency "My opponents are integral parts of the present moribund government. They have all succumbed to the disease that infects most Student Government leaders, and that is institutional thinking," he said. Mason has not been directly involved in any fact of SG in the past two and one-half years, but he described himself as a "critical observer" of it. Another difference Mason sees in his campaign is his willingness to take a stronger stand on the issues. Five major premises highlight his platform: Student exemption from county and municipal taxation (including students who are residents of Orange County). Free and unlimited use of the city bus system by students. Stabilization of dorm room rent at the 1976-77 levels. Tuition exemption for all student who are North Carolina residents and a 50 per cent tuition reduction for nonresidents. Operating the Student Stores on an at cost, nonprofit basis. Mason sees these ideas as very practical goals. He plans to apply pressure to Chapel 'Quaint' business district facing not-so-unique problems serious, but we aren't without our problems. Augustine says the most pressing problems in the central business district (CBD) involve accessibility and parking. "Accessibility to downtown is crucial. From campus, it's relatively easy. You just walk downtown. But for people using cars to come in and go out, it's a real problem. "There's also the problem of what to do with these cars once they get to the CBD. We have a couple of municipal-owned off-street lots, but what we really need are parking decks. We lost about 200 parking spaces when we switched from diagonal to parallel parking several years ago. We need those spaces back, and more." Augustine says several solutions have been proposed to alleviate some of the parking and accessibility problems, including improving streets and building parking decks. Revenue producing bonds, which are self- irfOI VI I I I II Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Tuesday, January 18, 1977, Chapal Hill, North Carolina V3 YVS& YYsys vfY "Y,t S1" nwiimnnnrniinriYn i innr nirn'Trm n -"trn Tiinr n'm Tgrmn n 7i n rniT'iirrni'i'ii'i'r 'n -T --"i Carolina, resulting and dorms, fears of 4 1 - vY V v v Y name for CIA position hearing and telephoned Carter in Plains, Ga., to tell him. He said the president-elect did not try to change his mind. Sen. George S. McGovern, D-S.D., who is not a member of the committee but was allowed to speak, said he was "deeply distressed at what has happened. "I deeply resent the scurrilous attacks it to run for DTH editor newspapers, is a former copy editor for the Daily Tar Hell and is a member of the Media Board. He said he sees the central issues of his campaign as the overall credibility of the newspaper and its financial stability. "Any newspaper's No. 1 asset is its "lliy,. &'kS :' V .'YY i Gary Mason Hill city officials to gain tax exemption and Please turn to page 3 pY . v--', y;4V' liquidating and would not cost the taxpayers money, could be used to finance street improvements and build parking decks, Augustine says. "If these things aren't done soon, we're going to reduce the vitality of the entire community. That's what happened in Durham. Their two biggest problems involved accessibility and parking. They finally realized it, but too little was done too late." Both Augustine and Chapel Hill Mayor James Wallace say Chapel Hill needs more private residences adjacent to downtown. Wallace has proposed construction of more high-rise apartments and townhouses along streets adjacent to the downtown area. "Such construction would keep the tax base, Augustine says. "But there would be practical advantages. People wouldn't need transportation. They could walk downtown to shop and eat in restaurants. Augustine said high-rise residences could YSfY ,t:-Y Y"Y Y5 k ; A-y Y. ; yyIyjy -j.ss- YS1 ?xvY:ss YW in cracked heating pipes in classrooms a natural gas shortage, and frozen coeds. is a disgrace to decency and justice. I had hoped he would be confirmed, but the ghost of Joe McCarthy still stalks the land," McGovern said. Sorensen said he would not change his mind about the withdrawal. As to a successor, he said, "They could do worse and probably will." credibility. The Tar Heel over the past few years as perceived among students has widely fluctuated because of its precarious financial stability," Yprk said. York said he plans to put pressure on the UNC administration, faculty and staff to purchase subscriptions to the Daily Tar Heel. He said that while he realized this has been done before with some degree of success, he would try to exert more pressure. In addition to the revenue from subscriptions, he said he would work toward financing the paper with a set percentage of student fees The Daily Tar Heel is presently funded by allocations from the Campus Governing Council and the Student Activities Fund Office. He said that increased revenue from these sources as well as a beefed-up ad staff with more students working on it would allow for the possibility of consistently publishing a 12-page newspaper. In addition to financial stability, York also seeks to increase the paper's credibility by broadening its news and editorial content. York said he plans to broaden the scope of news coverage by using stringers and correspondents throughout the campus. He also plans to run more formalized announcements of the Daily Tar Heel's open, editorial policy by which students and professors, as well as any staff member, can submit news and sports stories, features and editorials. "I want to get away from the idea that the editor, the paper, has to generate (editorial and news) ideas every day in itself. There's a lot of stories the. Tar Heel misses. I hope to have contacts and contributors from all around the University," he explained. He said he would also like to install a consumer-advice column in the newspaper, Y. YYYA YYS 1 be built along such streets as Kenan, McCauley and Columbia, where older one story dwellings now stand. "Given the tax base' these small dwellings have to support, they, can't easily be maintained indefinitely. But if high-rise dwellings were built along these streets, you'd increase the number of people located in a square footage area, Augustine said. Besides problems associated with accessibility and parking, downtown Chapel Hill also faces problems because of its unique image. "Everybody wants to be on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Our problem isn't a shortage of tenants quite the contrary. We turn down many requests to locate here. i There just isn't enough space available. The real problem, frankly, is the exorbitant price of downtown buildings. Real estate becomes so expensive that it prevents the type of businesses we desire for the area from locating here," Augustine said. A A 1)1 COlR IJI memorable night to North Campus by Mary Gardner Staff Writer Students all through North Campus residence halls were beset with chattering teeth and chilled limbs Monday night while waiting for dormitory heating systems to be fixed. Physical Plant officials predicted that heat would be on by early this morning, although it could take a few hours longer. At about 6 a.m. Monday, the hot water line in the basement of Saunders Hall broke, said Assisstant Director for Operations, Russell Perry. The break in the line was discovered at 7: 1 5 a.m., and Power Plant employees worked on the problem all day Monday. There are two types of heating systems on campus hot water and steam and only dorms using the hot water systems were affected. Old East, Old West, Carr, Upper Quad, Lower Quad, Spencer, the Triad and Alexander were without heat all day Monday, Perry said. In order to fix the heating system, three sections of pipe had to be welded together, 50,000 gallons of water had to be heated, and the radiator in each dorm' room had to be bled to get rid of the air in the pipes, Perry said. Maintenance employees entered each room without heat on campus to bleed the radiators after 9 last night. "We'll keep working until 2 a.m. if we have, to, Benjamin Wray of the Power Plant said. Carr residence hall was que of the dorms without heat. The heat had been off since about noon, according to" resident assistant Gary Johnson. "It's getting colder and colder here. We've all decided to huddle around the stove all night if we have to." Physical Plant officials were not available for comment about why the heat line broke. N one of the S outh Campus residence halls was affected by the break in the line, but Ehringhaus suffered some lack of heat Monday afternoon, Assistant Resident Director Charlie Bell said."A radiator burst in one of the suites on the ground floor, according to Bell, and the others had to be turned off in order to let the radiator drain out. "Y 1 V Y i Y - Mike York similar to the "Elephants and Butterflies" column, which ran several years ago and offered human sexuality counseling. "I'm not talking about changing the complexion of the paper," he added. "It just needs connections throughout the University." Discussing a relatively new concept, York said he wants to hire an independent ombudsman for the paper who would be responsible for handling student complaints, story ideas and corrections. Although he said he realizes that the Daily Tar Heel is primarily a campus-oriented newspaper, York said he would run important national news stories on the front page but would allocate most national news to a news briefs column to include more national and international news without taking away valuable space for campus orented stories. ,ffT' Y-JY- 'm v V'; ; s ' ; - v lllilillliilil "A square footage of space on Franklin Street sells for more than it does on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Beach. That's due to the desirability of the district and our relatively restricted commercial zone. All of a sudden we have the people who need, want, and are willing to make sacrifices to locate on Franklin Street." Who can afford to locate on Franklin Street? "Usually, they're the people out to make a fast buck. Entertainment places, beer bars, and fast-food establishments who are able to generate more traffic and pay their rents, which average $6.50 to $10 per square foot per month. There's nothing particularly Wrong with bars and restaurants, but they're transient. If their business isn't extremely good, they have to shut down. We need more stable, distinctive-type stores that will contribute to the downtown area ' and enhance our image." Please turn to page 3 rf Prestidigitation Duke Med School has a therapy center that specializes in reattaching severed fingers. See story on page 2. Please call us: 933-0245 SS QIV es N.C. shivers as record cold arrives by Mark Lazenby Staff Writer Record-shattering cold weather swept across North Carolina Monday, as the most severe winter on record continued to grip the state. The frigid blast yesterday sent Chapel H ill temperatures to one below zero, and, with nc relief in sight, officials at the state weather bureau in Raleigh were predicting the coldest January in North Carolina history. On the heels of record-setting November cold and similar weather in December, North Carolinians began to feel the effects of prolonged cold. Electrical power reductions, natural gas shortages and heating failures in UNC dormitories have all occurred recently. "This is certainly the most severe weather we've had in North Carolina since records have been kept," said UNC meterologist Peter J. Robinson. Robinson said that this winter is unique but not necessarily because of low temperatures. "The type of weather we've been having over the past few months is not unusual in itself. The length of time these temperatures have persisted is unusual." He said the cold weather is likely to persist throughout the winter, since it seems to have firmly established itself. But Robinson added that long-range speculation about weather behavior is shaky at best. "We can only speculate on what will go on after a week," Robinson said. "After that our confidence in predicting long-range weather rapidly decreases." Robinson sees two major teasons that the state is suffering from its current cold spell. In a normal winter cold air from the northwest is usually countered by warmer air coming out of the southwest from the Pacific Ocean and from warm air rising out of the Gulf of Mexico. However, this year the southwestern and Gulf air masses have not occurred in large amounts and the cold northwestern air is dominating. The air flow from the northwest has been rapid and this ensures that the cold air has been brought to North Carolina," Robinson said. The second reason for the extreme temperatures is the occurrence of unusually clear conditions this winter. "We've had very clear conditions which allow very cold conditions at night. The clearer the night, the colder." The connection between the two encouraged colder conditions, he added. No snow had occurred because a clash of warm and cold air is necessary to create storm conditions, and these warm airs simply are not here. It's too cold to snow," Robinson said.