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BUSINESS
The Daily Tar HeelThursday, September 14, 19897
Gas prices relatively Soweir in
Chapel Hill, 2 surveys show
By TOM PARKS
Business Editor
Chapel Hill is known for its high cost
of living, but not everything costs more
in Chapel Hill.
The price of gasoline is almost three
cents less in Chapel'Hill than at the
average N.C. station, according to two
surveys taken earlier this month.
The average price for a gallon of
unleaded, self-serve gasoline at 12 area
service stations surveyed last Saturday
was $1,024.
The Fast Fare store at 321 W. Rose
mary St. posted the lowest price among
the surveyed stations at 93.9 cents a
gallon. Top of the Hill, at the corner of
Franklin and Columbia streets, was the
most expensive at $1,179.
According to a survey taken by the
AAA Carolina Motor Club before Labor
Day, the statewide average for self
serve unleaded gasoline was $1,052.
The Carolina Motor Club conducts
regular surveys of gas prices in North
and South Carolina before major holi
days as a service to the club's members.
Prices in Raleigh and Durham aver
aged $1,063 and $1,067, respectively.
Quentin Anderson, the Carolina
Motor Club's public relations director,
said N.C. prices dropped by one cent
per gallon since early July although
they increased eight cents since last
September.
N.C. gasoline prices might have been
lower had the state gas tax not risen
5.25 cents a gallon in August, Ander
son said. The state's gas tax is the
second highest in the nation at 21.15
cents per gallon.
Ed Crane, manager of Walker's Gulf
Service Center at 1500 E. Franklin St.,
said prices have declined for the past
two months despite the gas tax increase.
"The last couple of times prices
changed, they've come down," he said.
Crane said he was surprised Chapel
Hill's average gas price was lower than
the state average.
"It's quite possible for Chapel Hill
prices to be a few cents less," said
Penni Gibson, a spokeswoman for the
Carolina Motor Club. Also, it is not
unusual to have two nearby cities with
different gas price averages, she said.
She said the Carolina Motor Club
surveys about 10 stations per city but
did not include Chapel Hill because the
club has no branch office in town. The
surveyed stations include convenience
stores, stations owned by larger com
panies and independently owned sta
tions. Wile average prices tend to be lower
in small towns, gas is usually sold in a
wider price range in larger cities, Gi
bson said.
Anderson said gas prices over the
past two years tended to rise at the
beginning of summer, peak in July and
then gradually lower until the begin
ning of winter.
"That seems to be the trend now,
more than jacking up prices before a
holiday," Anderson said.
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Another one bites the dust
Benetton clothing store, at 153 E. Franklin St.,
has been vacant since closing last year. Accord-
DTHSchuyler Brown
ing to a July survey 5.4 percent of downtown
retail space is not occupied.
Stocks
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2679.52
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CLOSE CHANGE HIGH LOW WK. AGO
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50 58 53 14 42 34 44 34
12 518 18 13 5!B 9 53 , 10 13.
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1989 Unemployment
5.00
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Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Month
Chapel Hill
O North Carolina
June
Carolina Students'
Credit Union Rates
MS2
30-89 Days
90-179 Days
180-269 Days
270-364 Days
365 Days
8.000 simple
7.9808.306
7.9808.306
7.9808.306
7.7858.095
Compounding is daily. Rates subject to change daily.
$100 minimum deposit. Insured up to $100,000.
Rates for longer terms and larger principals are available.
Share Secured 1 1 .00
Co-Signer 14.00
Travel 1 6.00
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat. 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. Phone: 962-CSCU
CSCU is not affiliated with UNC-CH
DTH Graphic
Helium Highs to stop outdoor releases
By TOM PARKS
Business Editor
When John Haydock, the owner of
Helium Highs, learned this summer
that helium balloons were killing sea
turtles, he did something about it.
He told his customers he would no
longer supply balloons for mass re
leases because of the damage balloons
were causing at the N.C. coast.
"If you throw a can out the window
of your car, it's pollution. If you throw
a balloon out the window, it's pollu
tion. So what justifies releasing bal
loons?" Haydock said Tuesday.
Haydock said he had considered
researching safer ways to release bal
loons. Those ways include allowing
balloons to sit in the sun for a few hours
before their release, filling balloons
with a helium and air mixture and using
balloons with a lower sulfur content,
because they decompose faster.
But it may not be possible to ensure
that released balloons do not reach the
coast. Once a balloon reaches the jet
stream, it can be blown to the coast in
only a day or two by high winds. And
although the balloons may not reach
the coast, Haydock said they would
still be a form of pollution.
Released balloons that do reach the
coast might be swallowed by sea turtles,
porpoises and even whales.
The Carolina Athletic Association
(CAA) had planned to release balloons
twice this year during the football sea
son, but both were cancelled after
Haydock asked them to stop releasing
helium balloons, said Lisa Frye, CAA
president.
"We won't be releasing balloons
because of the danger to sea animals,"
she said. The CAA had planned a re
lease of 10,000 balloons for the Blue
Blitz celebration and a smaller release
for the Homecoming celebration, Frye
said.
"If balloons get over to the coast, the
sea turtles think they're jellyfish, and
they eat them," said Lisa Albright,
Helium Highs' retail manager. Albright
said the company contacted the CAA
and told them about the danger to the
endangered species.
This summer, Haydock got in touch
with Frank Schwartz, a UNC professor
with the Marine Science Institute in
Morehead City, after reading about the
harm balloons were causing to sea
animals.
Schwartz, in a telephone interview
Tuesday, said balloons and other plas
tics have been found in the stomachs of
dead porpoises and sea turtles.
Schwartz began performing autop
sies on turtles to find out if the animals
were being killed by shrimp trawlers,
and he often finds Styrofoam, plastics
and balloons in the turtles' stomaches.
Whales also could be eating the trash,
but fewer autopsies are performed on
whales because of their size, Schwartz
said. "It's kind of a big job to hack up a
whale."
Schwartz complimented Helium
Highs on its concern for the environ
ment. "Most businesses would say 'So
what?' and go about making a buck,"
he said.
Haydock has been telling other
schools and businesses to about the
possible danger of balloons since he
learned about it.
New trolleys -making impact downtown
By CRAIG ALLEN
Staff Writer
Despite their short existence and
limited operating hours, Chapel Hill's
trolley buses have drawn rave reviews
from some of the town's business
owners. t
The two teal trolley buses have been
in operation for only nine days, and
during lunch hours only, but business
owners say they have noticed a slight
difference in lunchtime foot traffic.
Jack Tomkovick, owner of the Gold
Connection at 128 E. Franklin St., said
the trolleys were a step in the right
direction for the downtown business
district.
"The trolley is having a positive effect
already," saidTomkovick, who has been
in business for five years. 'Today, I had
a lady who boarded the trolley at the
hospital on her lunch hour come in to
visit the store. I can only be positive
about the trolleys."
Chapel Hill and the Downtown
Commission bought the trolleys for
Store to open
on Franklin St.
From staff reports
Chapel Hill Sportswear opened ear
lier this month at 133 E. Franklin St. in
the space vacated by Mind Windows
this spring. "
Kathy Sapp, the store's majority
owner, said the shop will sell casual
clothing and athletic wear as well.
Sapp managed Carolina Pride for
five years before leaving to start her
own business. She and John Hudson,
her assistant manager at Carolina Pride
and a partner in Chapel Hill Sports
wear, left Carolina Pride on good terms,
Sapp said.
"I don't care what company you work
for," she said. "No matter how good
they are to you, there is a big difference
between it being yours and just being
an employee."
Business heavyweights speak
Texas billionaire and businessman
H. Ross Perot and the publisher of
Time magazine are scheduled to speak
at UNC in the near future. Perot will
speak Nov. 15 at the Smith Center as
part of the Kenan Conference on Inter
national Competition. Louis "Chip"
Weil will speak to business and jour
nalism classes Tuesday as part of the
UNC School of Business Executive in
Residence program, according to Mike
Collins, director of the school's public
relations department.
Weil will speak to several classes,
but because of a last-minute scheduling
change, it is not known which classes
he will address, Collins said.
$300,000. The town paid $270,000
using state and federal transportation
grants, and the Downtown Commis
sion paid $30,000.
The Downtown Commission, UNC
and N.C. Memorial Hospital will pay
the trolley's annual operating costs of
about $30,000, according to the Down
town Commission's August newslet
ter. The Trolleys run from 11 a.m. to
2:30 p.m. weekdays. Riders are charged
a dime.
Scott McClellan, an assistant to the
Chapel Hill transportation director, said
the trolleys have been heavily used
since they were christened last week.
McClellan has recently inspected the
trolleys and checked to see which stops
riders are using most often, he said.
"People have definitely been riding
the trolleys," McClellan said, "The
hospital and the Health Sciences stops
seem to be well-used as well as the
West Franklin street stop, according to
the driver I talked to.
"That makes sense, because those
stops are the longest distance from
downtown."
Jackie Perry, manager of The Hub
Ltd. at 103 E. Franklin St., said the
trolleys are bring more people down
town even though his business has
decreased since the trolleys began run
ning. "I can't really say that (the trolleys)
have improved my business," Perry
said. "But every time it goes by here,
it's jammed."
Perry said his business always sees a
slight slump this time of year, when it is
hard to sell his stock of winter clothing.
The trolleys were purchased from
Chance Coach in Wichita, Kan. and
arrived in Chapel Hill July 29. They
seat 24 passengers with standing room
for an additional 16.
Despite their early success, the trol
leys are not the final solution for the
parking problem, Tomkovick said.
The next step in alleviating down
town parking woes would be to build a
parking deck, he said.
A special town council committee
on parking has proposed building a
350-space parking deck on town-owned
land now used as a parking lot behind
the downtown post office.
The plans for Rosemary Square in
cluded a downtown parking, but the
Rosemary Group scrapped the $25
million project in April, calling the
development "financially unfeasible."
Tomkovick addressed the town
council in April and said the lack of
parking along Franklin and Rosemary
streets was killing downtown mer
chants. Tomkovick said the planned Craige
parking deck will help ease parking
problems. UNC is scheduled to begin
construction of that deck soon.
UNC needs to carry their share of
relieving the parking problem, espe
cially since the failure of the Rosemary
Square project and because students
use a large amount of parking spaces
downtown, Tomkovick said.
Career Corner
Resume Drop Sept. 1 9
Open Sign Up Oct. 4
Date Company Job Major
109 Andersen Consulting Management BUBS, ECONBA, APMSBS
Software Des. CHEMBS. COMPBSMS,
CompChem COMPPHD
109 Collins &Alkmen Mgt. Info. Sys. ANYBABS
1010 Great American Ins. Co. Insurance BUBS
1010 Hewitt Associates Acctg.,Fin. BUBS, COMPBS, MATHBABS
Info. Proc. Mgt.
Mgt. Counseling
1010 Jefferson Pilot Insurance, Sale BUBS.LIBABA
1010-1011 McNeil, division of Gen. Mgt.. ANYBABS
Johnson & Johnson Marketing
1010-1012 Peace Corps Accounting, AFRI, AFAM, BIOL, CHEM
Gen. Mgt., etc. ENVR, MARS
1011 Ell Lilly & Company Tech. Sis. Mkt. BUBS
1011 United Carolina Bank Acct.,Bank., BUBS, LIBABA
Fin., Gen. Mgt.
1012-1013 Burlington Industries Acctg..Fin. BU?BS, ECONBA
Mgt. Info. Sys. INDRBA, CHEMBABS
1012 Federal Home Loan Bank Banking BUBS
1012 Isotechnologies Sales BUBS, LIBABA, APCSBS,
BIOSBSMS. CHEMBS
1012 . Westvaco Mktg., Sales, ANYBABS
Chemistry
1013 NCR Corp. Programming, ACPSBS, COMPBS,
Sci. Research COMPMS, COMPPHD
Software Des.
1013 NCR - Business Forms Div. Mktg., Sales ANYBSBA
109 Morgan Stanley & Co.
1010 Castner Knott
1010 Honeywell Sales BUBS, LIBABA
1010 International Paper Co.
1010 James R. Worrell Agency Insurance, Sales ANYBABS
1011-1012 First Brands Corp. Gen. Mgt., Mktg. BUBS
Sales
1011 Procter Gamble Chemistry CHEMPHD
1011 Stuart James Sales ANYBABS
1012 Ames Deptartment Stores Retailing ANYBABS