Thursday, July 27, 1978 The Tar Hel 3
THE TAR HEEL
tate and Local News
Volume 85, No. 9
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
July 27, 1478
I investigates Orange votin
By DAVID MCKINNON
News Editor
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun
an investigation into the possibility of massive
violations of voting rights in recent months in eight
North Carolina counties, including Orange
County.
Herbert L. Monahan Jr., special agent in charge
of the FBI's Charlotte office, confirmed reports
Tuesday that his office had been ordered to conduct
the investigation after the Justice Department
received a complaint concerning registration
procedures in the eight counties. The complaint
charged that the procedures discriminated against
voters between the ages of 18 and 21, Monahan
said. Such discrimination is a violation of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 26th
Amendment, which guarantees the vote to 18-year-olds.
The investigation, which began on Friday, is
expected to take about three weeks.
Monahan refused to reveal who had filed the
complaint, or to describe the possible areas into
which the investigation might lead.
The other counties being investigated include
Wake, Pitt, Durham, Guilford, Jackson, Watauga
and Mecklenburg.
Superior Court Judge James H. Pou Bailey last
March upheld a suit brought by Orange Committee
members which charged that between 6,000 and
Carrboro route
still in doubt
By BERNARD COOK
Staff Writer
After a recent series of offers and
counter-offers between Chapel Hill and
Carrboro, the deadlock over the costs of
the "C" bus route remains unbroken.
The Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen
took no further action on the problem
Monday night in their last regular
meeting until September.
Last week. Chapel Hill offered
Carrboro a compromise price tag of
$31,000 to provide a bus link between the
towns. This represented a sharp
reduction of Chapel Hill's original
proposal of $53,000. However, Carrboro
paid $20,500 for the same service last year
and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen
voted to turn down the compromise offer.
Chapel Hill Town Manager Kurt )enne
said, "The (Chapel Hill) Board of
Aldermen has shown no inclination to
change the budget limits. I don't see how
the limits could have been changed since
the budget was balanced."
"The last offer was eminently
reasonable," Jenne said. "Carrboro should
take advantage of it. There's nothing
further we can do. We worked very hard
to offer the best terms we could."
Negotiations have also broken down
over the question of what kind of formula
should be adopted to determine each
unit's contribution. And the towns have
been unable to agree on the amount the
university should contribute.
Alderman Doug Sharer, Carrboro
transportation committee chairperson,
said, "Carrboro wants to increase service
but must be treated the same as Chapel
Hill in terms of assistance."
"UNC would not agree to a formula,"
Sharer said. "They said that we should
renegotiate with Chapel Hill."
Jenne said, "It's a bit late now to
determine a formula. All the parties were
not comfortable enough with the formula
to strike an agreement this year."
In Chapel Hill's latest offer, UNC would
contribute $31,000 to Carrboro and
$229,000 to Chapel Hill for bus service.
Based on last year's ridership figures.
10,000 students were illegally registered to vote in
Orange County.
The Orange Committee is an organization of
conservative Orange County Democrats who have
generally opposed student, and especially
undergraduate, registration in Orange County.
Committee member Stewart Barbour said at the
time of the suit that his vote had been "diluted and
watered down by (registration of) transient
students."
In his decision, Judge Bailey ordered the Orange
County Board of Elections to remove from the
registration rolls the names of all university
students who listed home addresses other than
Orange County. Bailey also ordered that a list of 15
questions concerning residence be asked of all
students attempting to register in the future.
But the North Carolina Court of Appeals later in
March stayed Judge Bailey's order until the issue
has been decided through the appeals process.
County attorneys Lonnie Coleman and Geoffrey
Gledhill have appealed the order from Judge Bailey
to the N.C. Court of Appeals, saying the 1972 case
Bailey cited was based on an 1843 Massachusetts
Supreme Court decision that has since been struck
down as unconstitutional.
Orange Committee members and other county
residents submitted massive voter challenges to the
board of elections in February and March. But
many of the voters challenged turned out to be
long-time residents of the county, former
residents, non-students or deceased.
Included in the original challenges were UNC
Athletic Director Bill Cobey, Vice Chancellor John
Temple, Gen. Art Hurow, a member of the Orange
Water and Sewer Authority i former Dean of
Women" Kitty Carmichael and Sara Taylor,
daughter of Chancellor N. Ferebee Taylor.
Billy Carmichael, the Chapel Hill native for
whom Carmichael Auditorium was named, wa
also challenged, as was Hillsborough attorney A. W.
Turner, a partner in the law firm headed by Orange
Committee chairperson Lucius Cheshire.
Barbara Strickland, executive secretary of the
elections board, reported in April that 1,590 of the
challenges were for persons no longer registered in
the county. University officials estimated that only
4,000 students of all kinds were registered to vote.
And amid allegations at the time of forgery in the
challenge process from at least one elections board
member. Orange Committee member Stewart
Barbour announced that erroneous challenges
would be withdrawn and that only challenges
against full-time undergraduates would be
maintained.
Later in April the Justice Department began
prelim inary investigations into possible violation of
voting rights in the challenges and suit filed by
Orange Committee members and other county
voters.
V ' v . 'P;
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Ex-dean to be judge
"C" bus may not run in fall
Sharer has estimated that Chapel Hill
would get a subsidy 2.3 times greater than
Carrboro's. He pointed out that Carrboro
received only 13.3 percent of UNC
contributions although 24 percent of
riders with UNC passes lived in Carrboro.
Sharer said Carrboro would receive an
extra $41,480 from UNC if the town was
subsidized at the same rate as Chapel Hill.
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted
4-2 last week to offer a counter-proposal
to UNC such that if UNC increases its
contribution to $72,480 then Carrboro
will pay $31,000.
With this proposal Carrboro added
some service changes it would like to be
considered. These changes included an
extended "L" route to the Villages
Apartments and an extension on the
Shared-Ride Taxi Service to Carrboro.
Throughout the summer Carrboro has
been seeking alternative possibilities for
providing bus service. They contacted the
Asheboro Bus Co., which offered to
provide two lines at a cost lower than
Chapel Hill's proposed price.
But in order to run private buses on the
streets of Chapel Hill, Carrboro needed a
franchise from Chapel Hill. This franchise
was denied by the Aldermen two weeks
ago.
In turn, Carrboro decided to break off
negotiations with Chapel Hill until both
the towns and UNC agreed to negotiate
on equal terms and a formula was decided
on by all three.
In reaction to Chapel Hill's refusal of
the franchise, Sharer said. "Chapel Hill
has established itself as a monopoly in
transportation in this community. The
Chapel Hill Aldermen have eliminated the
possibility of pursuing an alternative.
This has been a disappointment to me."
By KAREN GUNTER
Staff Writer
J. Dickson Phillips, former dean of
the Law School of the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was
nominated last Thursday to become
the next 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
judge. His appointment was made
amid controversy over the way a
Justice Department selection
committee chose five candidates as
possible nominees for the post.
Sen. Robert B. Morgan, D-N.C,
made the announcement. Morgan
had endorsed Phillips for the post in
early June.
A spokesman for Sen. Jesse A.
Helms, R-N.C, confirmed reports
Monday that Helms would not
oppose the nomination but would
continue to protest the selection
process. Helms called on President
Carter Thursday to reconsider the
appointment so that some "very fine
judges who were passed over" may be
considered for the position. He cited
James Exum and Sam Ervin Jr., as
potential nominees who were not
tapped.
Gov. Jim Hunt praised the
appointment and said Phillips had
been his professor in law school. "He
is a rare man in that he has a vision for
his country and his state. But at the
same time he is a hard-nosed realist,"
Hunt said.
The nomination ended a year of
speculation over who would be
appointed to fill the judgeship vacated
last year by the death of Judge J.
Braxton Craven Jr.
The other four candidates
considered for the position were U.S.
District Judge James B. McMillan of
Charlotte, Duke University
Chancellor Kenneth Pye, civil-rights
lawyer Julius B. Chambers of
Charlotte and William Van Alstyne, a
former Duke University law
professor.
The controversy over Phillip's
selection stems from Carter's avowed
desire to take the process away from
politics. In making nominations in the
past, presidents sought advice from
Sp3 pr: .lA '
X P
J. Dickson Phillips
the elected officials of the state, such
as senators, the attorney general and
the governor. In this case, the Justice
Department was asked to draw up a
committee to suggest names.
Both Morgan and Helms have
expressed displeasure with the
.selection process. Morgan said at the"
time of the nomination that the panel
"had failed to make a very thorough,
exhaustive search."
Phillips, 56, is a Laurinburg native.
He was dean of the UNC Law School
from 1964 until 1974, and in recent
years has taught civil procedure, trial
advocacy and appellate review.