Warmer
It will be partly cloudy
Wednesday, 1 but slightly
warmer with temperatures
reaching into the high 70s.
There is a 20 percent chance
of rain through Wednesday
night.
Movie review
Somebody Killed Her
Husband is the film Farrah
left the comforts of Charlie
and the Angels for. ' Critic
Anthony Seidrnan says she
would have done well to stay
on the tube. See page 4 for
details.
Serving the students and the University, community since IH93
PAID
9-
Volume 86. Issue No.
Tuesday. October 10. 1978. Chapel Hill. North Carolina
123
Please call us: 933-0245
Fights City Hall
mm
get
olol
year
By TERRI HUNT
Staff Writer
"1 found out they wanted my land last week. It
was a big surprise. 1 told my son if they get the
land, they'll have to steal it."
That's the way Mrs. J.E. Tripp, 88, feels about
her home and the 40 acres it sits on. The land is in
Carrboro just off Hillsborough Road near the
Webbwood subdivision.
Carrboro city officials, on the other hand, think
the land is the best site for a proposed swimming
pool, lighted baseball field, picnic area and
playgrounds.
The town will try to get voters to approve a $1 .5
million recreation bond Nov. 7 to supply money
for the facilities.
The proposed park site would include all of M rs.
Tripp's land, including her house and its
immediate property. Carrboro officials are
offering to give her lifetime rights to her home and
a small lot if she sells the property.
"I think the w hole thing has been blown out of
proportion," Carrboro Mayor Robert Drakeford
said. "It is only a proposed site, nothing is definite.
But it is also the best possible site. You must
remember the bond has to pass first, before we can
even think of getting the land. It's just one of those
hard decisions the town must make."
Mrs. Tripp lives in a small white house where the
main entrance of the park would be located. Now
partially deaf and suffering from a broken hip as a
Merchants to verify checks by computer
By ANNE-MARIE DOWNEY
Staff Writer
Some area merchants will be phasing in a new system
this month to help prevent financial losses from bad
checks.
By means of a telephone link with a computer in
Graham, merchants will be able to determine within 15
seconds if a check is good. The merchant will receive
coded information about the customer's checking
history when he enters the customer's driver's license
number into the computer.
Dallas Bunton, president of Computa-Check Inc.,
says his company is offering collection services as well as
the computer checks. He says his agency handles about
400 bad checks a month from the Chapel Hill-Durham
area.
"If merchants will use the system, they will cut check
losses by 60 percent," Bunto says.
The computer will contain the names of persons who
have recently or who repeatedly write bad checks. The
names will be supplied by clients of both the collection
agency and the computer check. A business may
subscribe to one or both of the services.
Bunton says if a customer's check is refused because of
information supplied by the computer, he can call
Invitations criticized
r mi jl .
Ji riisiees ito mei wiiljo. s
By DIN IT A JAMES
Staff W riter
The UNC Board of Trustees will host
25 selected students Thursday at a dinner
and discussion and then will move at 9
p.m. to the Carolina Union for an open
meeting with any interested students.
While the dinner and discussion have
been held for the past five years, the open
meeting is the first of its kind in recent
University history.
Jim Phillips, student body president,
arranged the open meeting. "I expressed
my concern to the chancellor that the
students who were invited to the dinner
and discussion did not represent a cross
section of the students," Phillips said.
"While they were very intelligent and
capable people, it seemed that once again
the administration was limiting its view to
the 2 to 5 percent of the student body that
it always sees."
The students were selected by the
raternitY
a
By MELANIE SILL
Staff W riter
Editor's note: This is the second of two articles
examining the status of fraternities and sororities at
UNC.
Greek rush has been the target of much criticism
since its inception. Although more spaces than ever
were available for new sorority members this year,
more than half of the coeds who signed up for fall
rush either dropped out voluntarily or were cut at
some point in the five-round process.
"We don't like to see people get cut," said Becky
Burbage, UNC Panhellenic Council president. "But
when there are only so many spaces, someone has to
be left out."
Burbage said criteria for selection depend upon the
individual sorority. The cutting process involves
mutual selection by rushees and sororities rather
than arbitrary elimination by the houses, Burbage
said.
"We knovy being cut can be a real blow, so we try to.
prepare girls for it," she said.
"We encourage the girls to meet the people in their
dorms, and to become involved, in their dorm
activities as much as possible, even after pledging,"
Burbage said.
Burbage said the council tried to spread the rush
activities around as much as possible this year, to
give rushees and sororities more time to become
acquainted before pledging began.
"It's hard with so many rushing," Burbage said.
n i
if
won't sell out
result of a fall, she has lived in the house for 54
years.
According to Chapel Hill Attorney Robert
Epting, who represents Tripp, the land is not for
sale under any circumstances. He and his client
plan to bring the issue before the Carrboro Board
of Aldermen tonight. -
"I haven't talked to anyone who says that Mrs.
Tripp is getting a good deal." Epting said. "The
noise, lights and traffic caused by the park would
run her off her land, and the town knows this. It
she doesn't sell the land, the town can condemn it,
and although this is legal it doesn't seem morallv,
right."
"We're not trying to hurt her in any way."
Drakeford said. "She can live there as long as she
wants. Besides, the closest the park will be to her
house is five or six acres. She won't1 even know it's
there."
Throughout negotiations for the land, town
officials have been dealing with Thurman Tripp,
the property owner's son.
Several months ago. Alderman John Boone first
contacted Tripp and told him of the town's plans.
In September, the Board of Aldermen selected the
Tripp property as the first proposal for the park
site. On Oct. 2. Mayor Drakeford sent the
landowner a formal letter outlining plans for the
park and intentions of purchasing the land stating
that condemnation of the land would be
considered an alternative.
See PROPERTY on page 4
Computa-Check's office. 227-5604. to find out where he
has an outstanding check, how much he owes and when
he wrote the bad check.
"We hope people in the area will understand, and il
they do have a problem they can call us and we'll be glad
to help them," Bunto said. '
Names will be erased from the computer when the
check is covered unless a person habitually issues bad
checks or the merchant has to use a collection agency to
receive payment. "We will not hesitate to erase a person's
name if they call us and show us there is a reason for the
check problem," Bunto said.
He said some students mistakenly believe businesses
will hold a bounced check until the student deposits
enough money to cover the check. Bunto said in the
;,VCJhapel Hill area bad checks are turned ove t immediately
to a collection agency. r
"Most students we deal with have little problem.
There is a small number, law students for one. w ho try to
elude the responsibility for their checks thinking they
can simply have them redeposited." he said.
One local business that is subscribing to the computer
service is Mariakakis Enterprises. Inc. which operates
Kwik-ee Take-Out on U.S. 15-501 bypass. Manager
Johnny Mariakakis said that during the last fiscal year
he lost $800-5900 in uncollected checks.
a j ii
tndeiit
Student Affairs Office under the
guidelines that both undergraduates and
graduates be represented as well as both
sexes and the different racial groups on
campus. Eight of the 20 undergraduates
selected are Morehead Scholars.
But Phillips said Chancellor N.
Ferebee Taylor was not enthusiastic
about the meeting. "The Chancellor said
that if we have a meeting of this kind we
might endanger any" meeting between
students and trustees in the future."
Phillips said. .
Taylor said he felt Phillips had
misunderstood him. "My point was not
that it was not a good idea." Taylor said.
"I set it (the dinner-discussion) up in the
same format employed so successfully in
the past successful because it was a nice,
relaxed opportunity for a group of
students to ge$ to meet trustees and vice
versa. . .
"What I suggested to Jim Phillips was
that he bring up at the Friday meeting of
the Board of Trustees the matter, ol
having a kind of session he visualized on
some later occasion. In that way. we
would have two affairs rather than cut
short this affair already set up at the
Morehead Building. I'm not happy that
the affair originally scheduled is going to
be truncated."
Tom Lambeth, chairperson of the
Board of Trustees, gave Phillips the go
ahead to set up the open meeting. .
Lambeth, however, said he was not
sure how well the meeting would go over
w ith the students. "It has always troubled
me that we've rarely had students on their
own initiative come and talk to us. I'm
not saying this derogatorily. however.
When I was a student at UNC. I doubt I
would have come either. There has been,
however, a lack of contact directly. Jim
suggested this as a way to increase the
number of students we meet. 1 have no
idea how many students will want the
opportunity." ' -J :
ruU uruws qot pFmev scorn
- -
(Nearly 800 women rushed this year.) "There's a lot
of stress involved, so you don't want to stretch it
(rush) out too far."
"The atmosphere seemed kind, of superficial." said
sophomore Tracey LeGette. who dropped out of
rush voluntarily after the third round. "There were
good intentions behind it. but it didn't give you a
chance to say anything but 'Hi. I'm Tracev LeGette
and I'm a sophomore and a French major..."
"I guess it's good for out-of-staters or someone
who doesn't know a soul here." LeGette said. "But I'd
advise someone to get to know people around the
dorm and campus before rushing." - -
Betsy Hardy, a transfer student from out-of-state,
said she decided to rush because she wanted to find "a
group of people I could relate with. It (rush) was
great because I met so many people during rush. ,
"A lot of people went through rush with one
sorority in mind and really got hurt when they didn't
get a bid from that house," Hardy said. "You have to
go through it with an open mind."
Freshman Frances Knott, who rushed this fall but
did not receive a bid, said she would have rushed even
if she had known in advance that she wouldn't
pledge.
"It was the greatest experience, especially for a
freshman," Knott said."l got a better understanding
of sororities, and that will help if I ever rush again."
Fraternity rush, which begins later in the year than
sorority rush and is handled by the individual houses
rather than on a set format, changed freshman
- I .
r ,
4'
4
Mrs. J.E. Tripp sits at home
DTHBilly
...says she won't sell property
Judging from the addresses on the checks, Mariakakis
said 60-75 percent of the bad checks he receives are from
students. ' : .
Hugh's Food and Party Store located on East
Franklin will soon begin the computer service. "1 think
to be able to check on a person before accepting his
check will probably help some." owner Hugh Westray
said. ' '
Westray said that only about half of his bad checks
come from students. " .
Both Mariakakis Enterprises and Hugh's Food and
Party Store were members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Merchants Association's collection agency.
However, on Sept. 1 3. the Merchants Association lost
the I ice nse .; hi t, tv- col tect io n ..departjT&n t bejca use.o IV
violations in check recovery procedures. A a- result.5
.Mariakakis said he was in a bind. ! v
Irving Folger. president ol the Merchants
Association, said. "We have phased out the check
recovery activity. So we are glad to, know there is such a
service available to merchants in this area."
Stores and other businesses participating in the
computer service Will display decals in their windows
and on their cash registers informing customers of their
practice
In
if ' "
V
V
Jim Phillips
William, Rhodes' opinions about the Greek system
this fall.' :
" A' couple of guys from a fraternity came over and
asked me to a party." Rhodes said. "1 didn't get the
question routine, it was a very relaxed, unpressured
atmosphere.".
Sophomore Debra King, who is not a sorority
member, said her complaint against the system is that
it involves freshmen before they have a chance to
adjust to campus life.
"The worst thing is the way they advertise." King
said. "Freshmen hear them saying. 'Join a sorority
. and make 30 fast friends.' " . '
"What "bothers me is that they try to make
everyone think as a unit." said sophomore Jim
Wheeler, who also is not affiliated with the Greek
system. "Each individual frat or sorority makes
almost robots out of people." . . ; - .
Junior Chris Mackie. another non-Greek, said
pressure exerted by parents or peers to pledge a
Greek .society "too often extends into other areas
you're expected to date only those in fraternities or
sororities. - -
"I've had friends pledge, then walk right by me on
campus without saying anything." Mackie said.
But Interfraternity Council President Tom Terrell
said the characterization of fraternities as groups of
people who dress and act alike is far from the truth.
"The problem is that people outside the system
don't see the great diversity that exists within each
fraternity," Terrell said.What they do see is people
O ' T
Memoir HceM
IL -
establishments should be able to apply
for mixed-drink-sales licenses next
month, a state ABC board official said
Monday.
"ABC officials wilt come to Orange
County on Nov.- 1 to pass out
applications, and go over rules and
regulations with applicants." said
William Hester, the board's executive
director.
The state ABC board will hold a final
public hearing on a set of proposed
regulations Oct. 16. If board members
approve the regulations as Hester
predicts, the rules will become effective
Nov. 1.
"If an applicant is an established
restaurant, there should be no problems
in investigating the petition for a license,
he said. The first liquor-by-the-drink
licenses could be issued byThanksgiving.
Hester said.
"As of June 1. there were about 40
establishments in Orange County that
were eligible for liquor licenses," Hester
said. "About half were restaurants, and
the others were private clubs."
The board will issue licenses en masse
to successful applicants so no
establishment can gain a competitive
advantage because of early licensing.
Hester said.
An informal poll of 13 such businesses
in, Chapel Hill and Carrboro showed at
least II restaurants and social
establishments plan lo apply for mixed-drink--sales
licenses.
Jacques Conderet. owner of Che.
Conderet in University Square West, said
he hopes his business will be granted a
liquor-by-the-drink license so he can
realize a greater profit from his French
restaurant. " -'
"1 think people, come here for the
food." Conderet said. "But the liquor w ill
Newman
Labor, businesses askeel
to decelerate rising costs
From staff and wire reports
There was more discouraging news
from the anti-inflation front last week, as
the government released figures showing
a 0.9 percent increase in wholesale prices
during the month of September -the
third largest monthly increase in this
inflation-wracked year.
Prices of meats and other foods
jumped 1.7 percent during the month to
spur the increase in overall wholesale
prices. Beef and veal prices, in particular,
soared 5.4 percent during the month.
Prices also rose for poultry, pork, sugar,
dairy products, fish and processed fruits
and vegetables. Prices of goods other ,
than foods climbed 0.6 percent, about
average for the year.
Administration officials did. not
disguise their disappointment at the
increase in food prices, and talk issued
from Washington over the weekend that
sterner anti-inflation measures might
soon supplant the Carter"
administration's generally ineffective
voluntary anti-inflation program.
Congressmen and economists have
said that jawboning of business and labor
by the President's Council on Wage and
'i
from four or five fraternities or sororities who have
similar dress and tastes. These people are easily
identifiable as 'fraternity men' or 'sorority girls.'
"If people were to go into a fraternity or sorority
house, they'd see that most members don't fit the
stereotype." Terrell said. "They'd really be pleasantly
surprised. I think."
Junior Rick Groves says he pledged his freshman
year because he met what he termed "a more
diversified crowd" during fraternity rush.
"The social functions were different and more
interesting." Groves said. "The thing I like about my
fraternity is that it's constantly changing new
people come in each year, and that adds diversity."
Sophomore Jane Broadwater, who pledged last
fall, said she doesn't believe in the sorority
stereotype.
Terrell said general fraternity membership is rising
slowly nationwide, indicating the growing popularity
of Greek life. '
"The late '60s and early '70s were periods when
students were questioning tradition." Terrell said.
"Fraternities are very traditional, they have close
links to what has become cliched as the
'establishment.' "
"Now students are more accepting of societal
norms. The historical pendulum is swinging back to a
time of acceptance." "
By PAM . KELLEY . ; complement it."-.' V'.. V ."
staff Writer j Several , local businesses have made
Orange County restaurants and social 'renovations and additions inanticipation
of a greater number of customers due to
legalized mixed-drink sales.
Roy Piscitello, owner of Bread men's
on Rosemary Street, said his restaurant
has extensive underground remodeling.
Before an addition to the building was
completed. Breadmen's could seat 43
customers. Now, Piscitello said his
business can seat more than 120
customers.
"I don't know if it (the sale of mixed
drinks) will make money, because it has
cost a lot to jenovate," Piscitello said.
Several other restaurant and social
establishment owners said they also plan
or are working on construction projects
to accomodate larger crowds brought in
by mixed-drink sales.
Dick Tabor, owner of Aurora
Restaurant on West Franklin Street, said
he believes many drinkers from
surrounding areas will flock to Orange
County when the first liquor-by-the-drink
licenses are issued next month.
"If other counties don't get liquor by
the drink, then they'll be coming to
; Chapel Hill." he said.
Local-option liquor by the drink
legislation was approved by the N.C
General Assembly, during the mini
session in June. The new law allows
municipalities and counties with ABC
systems to vote on mixed-drink sales in
restaurants and private clubs.
Five cities and counties approved
liquor by, the drink in referend urns last
month. Voters in Orange County,
Mecklenburg - County; Southern Pines
and Louisburg said yes to the sale of
mixed drinks. : . -
Voters in Dare County and Black
Mountain rejected the measure.
r - Several local ba&ds of elections across
the state have scheduled liquor-by-the-drink
votes for early next year. -
Price Stability has failed to keep down
wages and prices, and sources say the
government plans to threaten sanctions
against firms and unions that exceed the
administration's wage and price
guidelines.
The current voluntary program asks
labor and business to "decelerate" wage
and price increases to figures below the
See related stories pn page 3
average rises recorded during the two
previous years. But . the new program
considered by the government could go
so far as to withhold contracts from firms
that fail to meet the guidelines. ,
Presidential spokesperson J ody Powell
said the September increase in food prices
was disappointing. "But outside the food
area. 1 think it's correct to say there's not
an indication of a further acceleration of
-inflation," he said.
Powell acknowledged, however, the
figures show that the underlying inflation
rate is now in the 1 percent to 7.5 percent
range.'compared with 6 percent last year.
Overall consumer prices are expected to
rise at least 8 percent this year.
" 1
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