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By TONY GUNN
Staff Writer
Hn my name is Tony Gunn. I'm a student at
the University of North Carolina, and I'm
working on a project concerning average life
spans. I'd like to look at your birth and death
certificates.
The woman behind the desk at the Wake
County Health Department smiled and asked
what dates I needed to see.
"January 1956" 1 replied, trying to be calm.
She led me into a small room adjoining her
office, which contained bound volumes of birth
and death certificates. Deaths are in red books,
births in black ones.
"I'll look at the deaths first, I told her. For
births and deaths, the records are divided into
the City of Raleigh and Wake County. She
handed me both the city and county deaths.
"Let's see if I can find you a place to work."
I followed her into an office full of secretaries.
"You can use that desk for a while, she said,
pointing to one. "The girl won't be back for 30 or
40 minutes. We'll move you some place else if
Sunny, warm
Today and tomorrow will be
sunny and warm with highs
In the mid 80s. The overnight
low will be in the mid 50s.
tity:
getting an official alias isn 't very difficult
your work takes longer.'
Thanking Jier, 1 sat down and began to leaf
through the Raleigh death certificates.
Sigh; the first part was over. I had access to the
.records. 1 smiled to myself. There I was, feeling
dishonest. You see, 1 didn't give a darn about
average life spans. What I needed was a good
excuse to go through the records. And it worked.
Several months ago, M ike Wallace on CBS' 60
Minutes filmed a woman in the process of
establishing a false identity. She started by
obtaining a copy of a dead person's birth
certificate.
From there she obtained a driver's license, a
Social Security number, a checking account,
credit cards and even a U.S. passport. "
Using her fake identity, she bought a camera
and clothes on credit, plus an airline ticket to
South America, She was never caught.
CBS returned the documents and the goods, of
course. It had proved its point: it is easy to get a
false identity, for no notice of death is put on the
birth certificate.
If she could do it, I could, too.
1 discovered that two copies of a North
Carolinian's certificate are kept. One is in'
Raleigh. The other is in the county of birth,
usually at the register of deeds office.
In at least three counties however Durham,
fvfecklenburg and Wake the records are at the
county health department.
There I quickly skimmed through the pages of
deaths. The criteria were simple: white and male
with a life of only a few days.
1 wanted someone fitting my description.
White and male were close enough. Better get
someone over 21, too some places might still
consider you a minor if not at least that age.
And 1 needed someone dead. 1 didn't want to
get a living person in trouble.
It didn't take long to find one. Peter Wayne
Simpson was born Jan. 21, 1956, and died the
next day. He was perfect.
Now don't be too quick about this, I thought.
You're here to do research, so look busy. I
flipped through more certificates, wrote down a
few figures, then left to get the corresponding
births. - " .
I walked back into the small room, reshelved
the death records, then pulled thp birth
- certificates for the same time. I wanted to assure
myself that there was no record of death on the
certificate of birth.
More flipping.
Then 1 found the certificate. No record of
death. It was just as if he were still living.
Beautiful.
"Thank you so much for all your help, I told
the woman.
"Glad to."
"Oh, while I'm here, I'd also like to pick up a
copy of my roommate's birth certificate." My
heart beat faster.
"Was he born in Wake County?"
"Yes, his name is Peter Simpson."
"On what date was he born?" she asked,
writing all the information down on a piece of
paper.
"January 23, er. . .21," I stammered, "1956." I
haven't had that much practice in being
. dishonest. My heart was going crazy.
Then I almost kicked myself. Why didn't I tell
her I needed to see some other dates besides
January 1956 for my research?
Quite a coincidence, I can almost hear her
thinking. I should have asked for some other
dates, then checked the books later when I was in
the room alone.
"Do you know what his father's name is?"
"Ah... he wrote it down for me," I said,
quickly turning the pages of my legal pad. At
least I wrote that down somewhere. There it was.
"John Andrew," I said.
"All right."
She went into the records room and pulled out
what was apparently an index. "John Peter
Simpson?" she asked.
"Yes. He's going to Europe in a couple of
months, and he needs it for his passport."
"Yes, my son is going to England in April," she
told me.
"Oh, England's beautiful," I said.
She pulled out the same book I had used just
five minutes ago and turned right to the
certificate.
Please turn to page 4.
V V v J
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Volume No. 84, Issue No. 129
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Tuesday, April 12, 1977, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Carolina Relays
The women's track team
took five first-place finishes
while the men took three at
the Carolina Relays hosted
here Saturday on Fetzer
Field. For details see page 7.
Please call us: 933-0245
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By TONY GUNN
Staff Writer
While many headed to the beach for the weekend, Photography Editor Rouse Wilson
trucked over to Union Grove for the 53rd-annual Old Time Fiddlers Convention.
More than 150,000 bluegrass fans, mostly college age, clapped and stomped to the
nonstop pickin' and fiddlin'. Hundreds of musicians, ranging from preteens to
retirees, competed on the stage for the $1 ,000 first prize, while others wandered from
cam pf ire to campfire on the 150-acre site trading songs and smoke.
FAYETTEVILLE The UNC system should insist that the
Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW)
specify what the University should do to comply with the 1964
Civil Rights Act, UNC President William C. Friday said on
Friday.
Addressing the UNC Board of Governors at Fayetteville
State U niversity , Friday said that H E W should clearly state its
understanding of the meaning of Title VI of the act and also
specify the deficiencies in the state's current plan to'eliminate
racial duality in higher education.
"In short. North Carolina should not place itself any longer
in the position of attempting to formulate and implement
specific commitments in response to vague, confused and
unexplained directives from HEW," Friday said.
On April 1, District Court Judge John H. Pratt directed
HEW to invalidate the desegregation plans of North Carolina
and five other states. The plans had been approved by H E W in
1974.
But Pratt ruled that the plans were in violation of Title VI:
no U.S. citizen shall be excluded on the basis of race, color or
national origin from participating in any program that
receives federal financial assistance.
Pratt also ordered that H E W require these states to prepare
and file desegregation plans this summer which conform to
guidelines prepared by the department.
The federal agency has 90 days to draft the guidelines and
submit them for approval to Pratt.
Friday said that Pratt, HEW and the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund, who are the plaintiffs in the
case, have failed to come to grips with a central issue:
"What does Title VI of the Civil Rights Act require that the
state do ultimately with respect to its predominantly black
public institutions of higher education?
"Must the state truly accomplish the goal of eliminating the
vestiges of racial duality? Or, alternatively, must the state
preserve those predominantly black .institutions- as
predominantly black institutions for the indefinite future and
enhance them?"
"We have tried to maintain and improve all of our
constituent institutions historically black and historically
white recognizing that time is required to change the racial
identifiability of institutions since there is, in higher
education, no authority for student assignment."
HEW general counsel Peter Libassi called Friday last week
to arrange a conference. Friday, however, suggested that the
meeting be requested in writing and include specifications of
what it would concern.
Friday has said that at this point in the proceedings, all
correspondence must be formal.
"We tried hard," Friday told the board. "We were the state
that was cited as doing the job it was supposed to. This is the
consequence."
Marijuana decriminalization under Carter?
By DAVID WATTERS
' Staff Writer
A nationally known advocate of changes in drug laws says
there is a good chance marijuana will be decriminalized by
the Carter administration.
Erich Goode, a member of the national advisory board of
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws (NORML), warns, however, that students are naive to
think they will not be arrested for jiossession of marijuana.
Goode is a visiting professor ot sociology at UNC. During
1971-72 he was a consultant to the National Commission on
Marijuana and Drug Abuse.
Before the 1976 election, Carter was among eight of 10
Democratic presidential candidates who told NORML they
favored decriminalizing marijuana. "Since becoming
president, Carter has publicly come out in favor of
decriminalization, and the mood in Washington is very
favorable to a change,' Goode said.
Seven states have decriminalized marijuana, and similar
bills have been introduced in other state legislatures, but
Goode said federal decriminalization would speed up state
reforms.
Only 5,000 people are busted per year under the federal
law, so the numerical importance of a national change is low,
but it would be significant because a lot of states would
follow," Goode said. "State legislatures would use it as a
justification for changing their own laws."
Goode said that even without a federal change, he expects
marijuana to be legalized within 20 years in all but a few
states. But Goode said that until marijuana is decriminalized
in North Carolina, UNC students must take precautions
against arrest.
"Students feel that marijuana is already decriminalized,
but that's just not true. There are still over 400,000 arrests per
year on marijuana charges, and just a few weeks ago some
guy got" busted by the Chapel Hill Police Department for
having a few roaches (marijuana cigarette butts) in his
ashtray."
Goode said a liberal public attitude toward marijuana has
decriminalized the drug in the sense that police recognize the
futility of arrests, and in 1975 the number of Americans
arrested on marijuana charges dropped for the first time in
more than a decade.
But he added that until the drug is decriminalized, "The
law gives the police discretion to bust people who are
unpopular. It can be used as a convenient excuse to control
the population, like political radicals were pressured during
'the '60s."
There is a contradiction in decriminalizing marijuana,
Goode said, because while a change in the law would reduce
the charge for possession of a small amount of the drug
(usually less than an ounce), buying or selling marijuana, or
possessing more than the specified amount, still would be
illegal. But Goode said he believes this is a necessary
compromise between . legislators who-want to legalize
marijuana and those who do 'not.
Please turn to page 5.
Soviet fishing vessels
seized by Coast Guard
BOSTON (U PI) Gleaming white
Coast Guard cutters brought in a seized
Soviet trawler Monday and shepherded
the huge mother ship of a Russian fishing
fleet toward port for violating the U.S.
200-mile fishing limit.
The 275-foot trawler Taras
Shevchenko, taken on the high seas at 1
a.m. Sunday, was the first foreign vessel
seized under the Fishery Conservation
and Management Act of 1976. Some of
its 93 crewmen waved to newsmen as a
single tugboat nudged the ship to a berth
at the Coast Guard station.
"Tons and tons and tons" of fish in the
massive holds of the mother ship Antanas
Snechkus were to be seized by the federal
government, said Capt. Robert Russell,
commander of the Boston Coast Guard
District. The 503-foot transport
refrigerator vessel, seaborne
headquarters of the Soviet fleet off New
England, was boarded Sunday morning
by guardsmen and National Marine
Fisheries Service agents about J 60 miles
southeast of Nantucket Island.
.Coast Guard officials said it was
possible the mother ship, as well as its
cargo, may be seized after arrival in
Boston late Monday or early Tuesday.
Williamson gets
board's approval
as college dean
History professor Samuel R. Williamson
Jr. will be the next dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences, Chancellor N. Ferebee
Taylor announced Sunday.
Williamson's nomination received final
approval from the UNC Board of Governors
Friday. The Daily Tar Heel reported the
choice of Williamson March 16.
Williamson is on leave from his posts as
professor of history and director of the
Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense to be
an overseas fellow at Churchill College of
Cambridge University in England. He will
assume his duties as arts and sciences dean
Aug. 1.
He succeeds James R. Gaskin, who is
resigning as arts and sciences dean to resume
teaching English full time. Gaskin praised
the appointment of Williamson, calling it a
good selection.
"It's a complex, burdensome,
responsibility-laden job," Gaskin said. "He's
got a lot of good experience."
Chancellor Taylor said of the
Samuel R. Williamson
appointment, The position to which Dr.
Williamson has been appointed is one of
central importance in the University at
Chapel Hill, and I am confident that he will
fill it with distinction."
In a press release, Williamson listed some
of his goals as arts and sciences dean:
"The faculty of arts and sciences must
begin to participate more actively in its own
affairs.
Please turn to page 5.
Law sc
By DAVID STACKS
Staff Writer
The UNC School of Law will appeal to the
N.C. Supreme Court a lower-court decision
ordering the law-school faculty to open its
meetings to the public, N.C. Deputy Atty.
Gen; Andrew Vanore said Monday.
Vanore, who represents the law school
said he will ask the high court to ignore
precedents by the Tennessee Supreme Court
in 1976 and a Washington state court in
1975. The law schools of those two states'
universities were ordered to open their
faculty meetings to the public by the courts.
"We're going to ask the Supreme Court to
say the other states' courts were wrong,"
Vanore said.
"Just because another state's court says a
law is right that doesn't mean the North
Carolina Supreme Court has to say a similar
law is right in North Carolina."
The UNC Student Bar Association (SBA)
filed the original suit in April 1976,
challenging Law School Dean Robert Byjxl's
right to close faculty meetings. They claim
the meetings are covered by a N.C. statute
prohibiting governmental bodies from
meeting in private.
h ool to
According to the statute, the law will
"allow the public to view the decision
making process at all stages."
The focus of the case is whether the
General Assembly, in passing the open
meetings law, meant for it to apply to
University agencies.
"A university traditionally is not a
governing body, so we don't think the statute
applies to us," Byrd said.
Byrd said that if the lower-court decision
is upheld, the law faculty would be forced to
discuss such matters as a professor's
performance and a student's admission in
the presence of those under consideration.
"When the faculty meets to discuss
students who have petitioned the law school
for admission, such a discussion need not be
aired in front of those students," Byrd said.
"Likewise, the faculty should not have to
discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a
professor in front of that particular
professor."
The SBA contends that because the law
school faculty sets policies and procedures
that govern the law school, the faculty
constitutes a governing body.
Superior Court Judge Edwin Preston
agreed with the SBA on June 4, 1976, when
he ruled that the law school must open its
meetings. Preston cited the faculty's
authority to establish curriculum, scholastic
standards, admissions requirements and
law-school size.
Byrd, Vanore and SBA President Ray
Owens said they were unsure of the effect a
Supreme Court decision upholding the
lower-court rulings would have on other
University schools and departments.
Transcript company to cease service
The president of Triangle Transcribers
Inc. said Friday that his company will
discontinue transcribing lectures after the
spring semester.
Crawford Gilligan, president of Triangle
Transcribers, cited lack of student interests
and "continued and unceasing pressure from
the faculty" as reasons for discontinuing the
service.
"We are making money on our printing
operations but losing on transcripts,"
Gilligan said. "The biggest problem is that
students are sharing the transcripts with four
or five friends."
Triangle Transcribers began the
transcription service in the fall semester of
1975 and since then has had difficulty getting
enough users and courses to make the service
feasible. '
"Contrary to our expectations, we were
unable to increase our number of courses,"
Gilligan said. "We expected to get 50 but
were only able to get 14 due to a lack of
student interest and faculty fears."
G illigan said the remaining transcripts will
be sold for $6 for an entire semester's
transcripts.
CHUCK ALSTON