Sunny High in mid-60s ;, Friday: Cloudy 50 percent chance of rain Health Fair 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. in the Pit Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Volume 93, Issue 24 Thursday, April 5, 199Q Chapel Hill, North Carolina NewsSportsArts 962-0245 BusinessAdvertising 962-1163 otmm. aim tonus to stodeuit Bower m If . I s- If.! dHii (r li 7 Gorbachev challenges Estonian independence TALLINN, U.S.S.R. Mikhail Gorbachev told Estonia it must back off from its declaration that it is an independent country illegally occupied by the Soviet Union, the president of this Baltic republic said Wednesday. Estonia is cautiously following the lead of its neighbor Lithuania, which declared independence on March 11. Estonian President Arnold Ruutel said Soviet President Gorbachev indicated he; might react in the same tough man ner. 'Ruutel, interviewed by Estonian radio, quoted Gorbachev as saying, "When I heard of your resolution, I was completely beside myself. You must declare the resolution null and void. It is an invalid one. "It seems to me that I have to intro duce similar measures as those taken in Lithuania," he quoted Gorbachev as saying. Potential firms selected to run N.C. incinerator RALEIGH A state panel has picked three large waste-management companies as potential operators of a regional hazardous-waste incinerator complex in North Carolina. All three companies have histories of environmental violations for offenses such as storing leaky waste drums, re leasing hazardous chemicals into was tewater discharges and keeping faulty records. Two have paid thousands of dollars in civil penalties for such inci dents, according to records they sub mined to the state. The state Hazardous Waste Man agement Commission deliberated more than three hours on Tuesday before choosing GSX Chemical Services Inc. of Columbia, S.C.; Ogden Environ mental Services Inc. of San Diego, Calif.; and American NuKem Inc. of Mahwah, N.J., whose subsidiary, Th ermalKEM Inc., of Rock Hill, S.C., is bidding on the project. Later this month, the panel will se lect one of the firms to build the incin erator complex by 1991 on a site that has not yet been chosen. U.S. cigarette sales fall; trend troubles industry RALEIGH The number of cigarette-smoking American adults dropped dramatically last year, wiping out the gains the tobacco industry made abroad as anti-smoking legislators go after domestic advertising. Per capita smoking among U.S. adults fell by 6.7 percent, the second steepest annual decline on record. For the first time since World War II, fewer than 3,000 cigarettes were sold for each adult. The trend is troubling to the indus try, which has counted recently on higher exports especially to Asia to keep sales growing, according to reports published Wednesday in The News and Observer of Raleigh. Cigarette exports grew 19 percent last year, reaching 141 billion ciga rettes worth $3.4 billion. But total cigarette production dropped by about 2.5 percent last year because so many Americans are non smokers, said Verner Grise, an econo mist for the U.S. Department of Agri culture. From Associated Press reports A circumstance for pomp 'Commencement activities planned :o'r graduates and guests 3 : First-class tickets? CAA conducting student opinion poll on ticket distribution policy 3 The thrill of victory Volunteers help some special Olym pians 5 Campus and city 3 Features 5 Sports 7 Classified 8 Comics........... .....9 QMS! By CARRINGT0N WELLS Staff Writer Student power in grass roots move ments, not just student government reform, turned out to be the focus of a forum Wednesday intended to bring about better communication among student activists and to discuss possi bilities for the future of a student coali tion. Brendan Mathews, a junior English major from Albany, N.Y., and one of the sponsors of the petition signed by more than 1,100 students in the Pit last Tuesday, opened the forum by reading a statement of his ideas about the prob lem he and his group wanted to address. "Last week's petition proved that there are lots of other students who are -J- : : : "-Sw.,. : . ; Author Wallace Terry delivers Writer explores 1L race relations in Vietoaiui War By DEVON HYDE Staff Writer Although racial discrimination occurred in the Vietnam War, cama raderie between blacks and whites was born there, said Wallace Terry, author of "Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by American Blacks," in a speech Tuesday as part of Carolina Symposium '90. Terry, who covered the war for Time magazine, spoke to a group of about 75 people in the Hanes Art Center Auditorium. Blacks carried burdens during the war that whites did not, he said. "The front line was called 'soulville' dur ing the war because blacks made up 22 percent of the front-line casual ties." Blacks only made up 1 1 percent of the solders fighting in Vietnam and were paying a "double price" because of this, he said. "Black soldiers came 10,000 miles to fight for others' freedom only to find more discrimination." Blacks did not receive medals and honors as quickly as white soldiers, Terry said. Cases of burning crosses and defama tory graffiti occurred in many camps, he said. The discrimination the soldiers experienced made them question why they were fighting the war and had a tremendous impact on them, Terry said. After many black soldiers returned home, they found disapproval not only from the country about the war, but also within their own communities. "The black man was sent to kill a yellow man at the profit of a white man," Terry said of the general feel ings within black communities. The segregation of troops ended in 1948 under President Harry Truman, and Terry was interested in how this would work in Vietnam. At the time, he was covering the civil rights movement for Time. Terry decided to write an article combining the two most controversial events in the coun try and came up with the idea of Nobody concerned, who see problems with the way things are, not just in Suite C, but on campus and beyond," he said. "We looked for some current issue that dramatized the loss of student power. Student government seemed the obvi ous choice." Student government reform was not the sole purpose of the coalition that wrote the petition, Mathews said. Concerned students need to be unified, he said. "We all have different inter ests, but if we are to get what we want then we need to work together." The group first met two weeks ago, Mathews said, and got started by a few students making phone calls to get some people together to discuss concerns. "Now we want to get input from other 11111 DTHJoe Muhl his speech Wednesday night Carolina Symposium E T 1 1 C S investigating the integrated troops in Vietnam, he said. Terry originally had no intention of going all the way to Vietnam, but Time sent him to cover the story, he said. He found that in many cases the integrated system was successful among the soldiers and reported back to the United States with his findings. He told the story of a black soldier risking his life to save an injured white soldier. The black man said he saved the man's life because, "I did not hear the color of his skin, I heard the color of the flag." Terry returned to Vietnam and began to see another side of the war. The average soldier's age was 19, and he saw these young men being killed. "What is the impact on such a young population? To what end are we killing our kids? What are we doing to the next generation?" Although Terry saw evidence of some black alliances in Vietnam, he said tension arose from the lack of an African-American lifestyle in Viet nam. "This tension led to fights, the fights led to riots and the riots led to killings. Everyone had to learn to respect one. another's culture." Terry came back home and wanted to tell the story of black soldiers. "Bloods" dealt with the "two greatest issues of the century," but no one wanted to talk about them immedi ately after the war, he said. The book was published 17 years later, and received a Pulitzer Prize nomination "A part of Martin Luther King's dream may have come true on the front lines of the war, but no one knew because nobody talked about it after the war was over," "Terry said. 'Time has passed, and we can speak of Vietnam without ripping at each other's throats.." V 0 has to do anything. Charles people. We're still in the talking stage, trying to get some solid things going." Brien Lewis, former SBP, said he misunderstood the purpose of the group that started the petition. "I thought the petition was going in a different direc tion than it apparently was. I saw the petition as being the direct result of people wanting to do something about problems with campus elections. "In a sense, this (reaction from stu dents) is the best response, the kind of response that students and administra tors need to see. The worst would be no response, if people were willing to just let things die." Elizabeth Kolb, a freshman from Raleigh, said she was led to believe the petition and the group that wrote it were Stodeirt Congress officers for 72nd By JENNIFER DUNLAP Staff Writer The 72nd Student Congress, which met for the first time Wednesday night, elected Matt Heyd (Dist. 1 1) as speaker amid some confusion. The initial speaker election resulted in a tie vote of 1 3-1 3 between Heyd and Donnie Esposito (Dist. 15). Heyd and Esposito then answered several ques tions, and a second vote was taken after John Williams (Dist. 5) arrived at the meeting. Heyd emerged the winner by a vote of 17-10. Heyd said his contact with former congress speakers helped give him insight about the position. "I feel I know more about the history and tradi tion of Student Congress than anyone else." Congress needs to make a greater effort to reach out to students, Heyd said. The petition students presented to student government members express ing their desire for a change in its struc ture reflected that need, he said. "It struck me to the core. If we are simply legislators we are nothing at all. We must help every last student." Heyd said that as speaker he would try to improve communication between the student body and studeiit govern ment by means of a newsletter and forums. 'To improve the budget process, I plan to give information to groups requesting funds throughout the year so everyone understands what's going U.S. Senate contender Thomas asks for help in unseating Helms By WENDY BOUNDS Staff Writer Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful R.P "Bo" Thomas Wednesday night urged UNC students to support his campaign for Sen. Jesse Helms' seat, asserting Helms had "sold out to corporate pol luters." After greeting each person of a 25 member audience at the door of Howell 104, Thomas spoke about the accom plishments in education and the envi ronment that he achieved during his nine years as a N.C. senator. "We're gonna nominate a Democrat on May 8, and that Democrat is gonna be Bo Thomas." Thomas scolded Helms for voting against the clean air bill that passed the U.S. Senate Tuesday with a 89-1 1 vote. "(His) vote last night shows how much he is out of step," Thomas said. Praising the bill's provision to spend ,$4 billion cleaning up acid rain, Tho mas said acid rain was turning the Blue Ridge Mountains into the gray ridge and possibly into the dead ridge. "Jesse has sold his soul ... Jesse has taken the polluters' money and used the power of our seat in the Senate in their behalf," Thomas said. Thomas stressed the need for a na tional commitment to education and said programs like Head Start, which provides assistance for disadvantaged pre-school children, were an invest ment in future taxpayers. Greater emphasis on education is a possible remedy to the problem of prison overcrowding, Thomas said. "Give an individual self-esteem and self-confidence ... and reduce drug use, reduce stealing" and other felonies and misdemeanors. A Mecklenburg County resident asked Thomas about a quote printed in The (Raleigh) News and Observer Sunday calling his democratic compe tition Harvey Gantt "a candidate of the fat-cat Mecklenburgers, the yuppie Mecklenburgers and the media Mecklenburgers." emphasizing the flaws of student gov ernment. "I came here tonight with the understanding that there would be dis cussion about how student government could improve." But Mathews said the group's pur pose was to build unity among activists and to empower students, not to be an adversary of student government. "I think it's self-centered of you to think that student government is our only focus." Emily Lawson, a freshman from Washington, D.C., said, "Student gov ernment is merely a symbol of dissatis faction, and the petition served its pur pose to alert people to one specific problem." Ericka Kurz, a junior from Middle- J. m Matt Heyd on before the budget hearings in Febru ary. Esposito was elected speaker pro tempore with 15 votes. Mike Brown (Dist. 12), David Henderson (Dist. 17) and Daryl Grissom (Dist. 1 3) were also nominated for the position. Esposito said he would work closely with Heyd if elected. "I feel confident that I can fill in if Mr. Heyd needs to vacate his chair. "My first priority is to restore the credibility of student government. I would also like to see changes in the in aiMW'i''iiiMwwiitiTiiiii-niwi" DTHMilton L Artis Bo Thomas speaks Wednesday night in Hamilton Hall Harvey Gantt is a "darling of the press," Thomas said. "Is it important to you to have a Democratic nominee from Meck lenburg or is it important to you that we beat Sen. Helms?" The perception now is that no one can beat Helms, he said. "The big Democratic weakness is we have been losing a certain element of the party." Thomas established the first Domes McCabe ton, Wis., said she wanted to form an organization that would be the base for many different activist groups. "This grass roots organization could have aaa complementary relationship to student government. But student government cannot tackle a lot of issues which such a group could." Bill Hildebolt, student body presi dent, said he thought the meeting had an overall positive result. "Although we didn't get very far today, a lot of people left there knowing where a lot of other people were coming from. A lot of promise was shown for future meet ings." The group will hold its next meeting April 10 at 4 p.m. in the Union, and all students are welcome. chooses session elections laws so they are made clear." In other business, the congress dis cussed a voting discrepancy that took place in District 2. William Pate was sworn in as the District 2 representa tive, but Gene Davis (Dist. 17), who presided over the meeting until a new speaker was elected, said write-in can didate Wendell Hausdorff may have received more votes. David Smith, former elections board chairman, said the board would inves tigate the matter further. Congress also chose committee chairmen at the meeting. All the nomi nees were unopposed in their election. Jiirgen Buchenau (Dist. 2) was elected to head the Ethics Committee and Finance Committee, Mark Shelburne (Dist. 8) was elected to pre side over the Rules and Judiciary Committee and Rob Tyndall (Dist. 1 1) was elected chairman of the Student Affairs Committee. Buchenau said he would not be overwhelmed by the amount of work his two committee positions would entail. The Ethics Committee only meets when problems arise that it must deal with. Shelburne said that he would appre ciate students suggestions and that his main goal as chairman would be to correct the problems with the elections See CONGRESS, page 3 tic Violence Prevention Centers in North Carolina, sponsored the Ridge Law to protect mountain tops from high-rise development, co-chaired the Senate Finance Committee and sup ported the proposed Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The president of Young Democrats at UNC, Mike Dickey, said Thomas did a good job answering the questions he See THOMAS, page 9 i' - i