4The Daily Tar HeelMonday, September 9, 1991
2 officers fired for
leaving boy with killer
MILWAUKEE The police chief
fired two officers Friday for leaving an
"obviously incapacitated," naked boy
in the hands of Jeffrey Dahmer two
months before dismembered bodies
were found in Dahmer's apartment.
A third officer was placed underdose
work supervision for a year.
Chief Philip Arreola cited "acts of
omission" by the officers in the May 27
encounter. They included a failure to
take witnesses' names at the scene and
failure to take the 1 4-year-old boy into
protective custody.
The mutilated bodies of 1 1 males,
including the youth, Konerak
Sinthasomphone, were later found in
Dahmer's apartment. Witnesses sum
moned police on May 27 after seeing
the youth on the street, naked and bleed
ing, records show.
Dahmer has admitted killing and dis
membering 17 males since 1978.
"I have concluded the officers failed
to properly perform their duties,"
Arreola said.
Patrolmen John Balcerzak, 34, Jo
seph Gabrish, 28, and Richard Porubcan,
25, were suspended July 26 and charged
with departmental violations. Arreola
fired Balcerzak and Gabrish and effec
tively placed Porubcan for one year
with close supervision. The chief said
Porubcan was allowed to keep his job
because of his relative inexperience,
and because he was less culpable in
handling the incident.
The three officers questioned Dahmer
but decided to leave Sinthasomphone at
Dahmer's apartment after accepting his
explanation the boy was his 19-year-old
lover, records show.
U.N. chief to discuss
hostages with Iranians
UNITED NATIONS Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar will go
to Iran this week in his quest to win the
release of 1 1 Western hostages in Leba
non and hundreds of Arabs held by
Israel and its Lebanese allies.
He is scheduled to arrive Tuesday
night in Tehran for two days of talks
with Iranian President Hashemi
Rafsanjani and other officials.
The hostage situation is expected to
dominate the discussions, but the civil
war in Afghanistan and the aftermath of
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the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War also are on
the agenda.
Perez de Cuellar has declined to dis
close the specifics of his hostage dis
cussions with various parties, saying
only that he remains optimistic that
freedom can be gained for all prisoners.
Macedonia joins fight
for independence
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia
Macedonians crowded into polling sta
tions Sunday to vote on independence
for their poor region, and fighting flared
again in Croatia after a one-day lull.
The renewed fighting came a day
after the European Community opened
a peace conference in the Netherlands
attended by the leaders of Yugoslavia's
federal government, the heads of the
federation's six republics and the for
eign ministers of the 12 EC nations.
Results were not expected before
Tuesday on Macedonia's referendum.
It asks voters whether the republic
should declare independence, with an
option to rejoin a looser Yugoslav alli
ance of sovereign states. Polls before
the vote said Macedonians strongly fa
vored the proposal.
Macedonia, the poorest area of Yu
goslavia, would be the third republic to
seek to leave the fragmenting federa
tion. Slovenia and Croatia, the two
wealthiest republics, declared indepen
dence on June 25, triggering more than
two months of combat.
More than 20 die in
ambush of Inkatha
JOHANNESBURG.South Africa
Gunmen ambushed members of the
Inkatha Freedom Party marching
through a black township on Sunday,
killing more than 20 people in the worst
single attack in recent months.
Six more blacks were killed in other
incidents, and two journalists were shot
and wounded in the black township of
Soweto outside Johannesburg.
A police spokesman, Col. Frans
Malherbe, said he did not know who
committed the massacre inTokoza.The
township, 12 miles southeast of
Johannesburg, has been the site of re
peated fighting between the two lead
ing black groups, the African National
Congress and the Zulu-based Inkatha
movement.
The Associated Press
SPENCER
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Hamlet residents searching for answers
By Anna Griffin
Staff Writer
Like the rest of Hamlet, James Arnold
wants some answers.
"No one is giving us any answers. I
want to know how something like this
can happen," said Arnold, of Hamlet,
N.C., whose sister died in the Imperial
Foods Products fire last Tuesday.
"I can't believe thiscan happen to us,
to a community like ours," Arnold said.
In the aftermath of the fire, while
relatives of the 25 dead and S3 wounded
try to piece together their lives, state
and federal investigators will try to piece
together the facts in hopes of preventing
similar disasters.
A report filed Friday by the N.C.
Department of Insurance blames im
properly locked doors for most of the
deaths, but a definite cause may not be
discovered for several weeks.
The fire began around 8: 1 5 a.m. Tues
day when a hydraulic line ruptured near
a frying vat in the processing room.
This set off a blaze which then spread
quickly through the 33,000 square-foot
building, according to the Department
of Insurance.
Tiring Line' debates campus
By West Lockhart
Staff Writer
Are institutions of higher learning
restricting the scope of vigorous and
robust debate? Have homosexuality,
affirmative action for minorities and
women's rights become part of a "cult
of forbidden questions?" Where does a
university draw the line for inflamma
tory language and racial epithets?
These were just several of the issues
debated Friday night on the PBS talk
show. Firing Line, in a match pitting
two teams of intellectuals who argued
whether freedom of thought is in danger
on American college campuses.
William Buckley Jr., conservative
commentator and host of Firing Line,
was joined by three other scholars: Glenn
Loury, Dinesh D'Souza, and John
Silber, to argue that freedom of thought
is, in fact, threatened.
"I believe exchanges of a certain
character are always healthy. If they are
abusive, they cease to be healthy. This
is the position I and my colleagues hold
to," Buckley said.
Loury, a professor of political
economy at Boston University, argued
Helmet
Dr. Raymond Sturner, who petitioned
the council to adopt the ordinance, said
the only additional resources required
by enforcement would be the cost of
printing the warning tickets.
"It's not like the police are going to
be running down anyone without a hel
met on," said Sturner, who is director of
the Duke Child Development Unit.
After talking to officials in Colom
bia, Md., where a law requiring bicycle
riders to wear helmets has been in effect
since January, Sturner said he did not
think Chapel Hill would have to hire
any more police officers to enforce the
ordinance.
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None of the emergency doors in the
building met state inspection standards,
said Mark Schulz, executive director of
the N.C. Department of Labor's Occu
pational Safety and Health Administra
tion. Two of the fire exits were locked,
and several other ex its were either bolted
shut or blocked.
Survivors claimed management
locked several of the emergency exits to
keep employees from stealing chick
ens, he said.
"It is absolutely unbelievable that a
company can get away with the lack of
safety precautions they had," said Tim
Bradley, deputy commissioner of the
Department of Insurance's fire and res
cue services division. "Imperial Foods
basically violated every code in the
book."
The Imperial plant had not been in
spected by state or local fire officials
during its 1 1 years of operation.
Blame for this should fall on the state
General Assembly and on the governor's
office for not providing the money to
hire more inspectors, Schulz said.
Currently the state employs 1 6 safety
inspectors.
"State and local governments need to
that the severe consequences for both
professors and students engaging in
potentially offensive discourse has nar
rowed the scope of debate on campuses.
According to Loury, a "cult of sensi
tivity has evolved in such a way that
particular substantive issues of vital
importance to be discussed cannot be
discussed, because certain insular mi
norities are exercising power ... to cur
tail the discussion, so their feelings will
not be hurt."
Because of this cult, issues like racial
academic performance, homosexuality,
affirmative action and women's rights
cannot be discussed, Loury said.
Stanley Fish, Duke University pro
fessor of English and law, refused to
accept this position.
"There is always a sense of what can
and can't be (safely) said," Fish said.
'The game has changed, and what they
used to be able to say with impunity,
they can't say, and what they never
expected to hear anybody say is being
greeted with cheers and applause."
Joining Fish were Leon Botstein,
Catharine Stimpson and Ronald
Walters.
"The issue is not freedom of thought,"
"Since January, officers in Colombia
have only issued 20 warning citations,"
he said. "Because there was a law, people
wear their helmets."
In a letter to the council, Chapel Hill
resident Charles Billings said he thought
the ordinance would restrict his ability
to make decisions concerning his per
sonal safety.
Sturner said he thought public inter
ests would be protected by the ordi
nance and considered it no more of a
violation than laws requiring motor
cycle riders to wear helmets.
"We could say to adults who don't
want to wear these helmets, 'Let them
go ahead and kill themselves,' but kids
need guidance," he said. "Everyone
should wear helmets, because adults are
Grievance
in an intimidating way. Many felt that
they had to sign it, and it was not given
to everyone in the organization."
Doug Whitfield, P& A employee and
grievance signer, said: "I don't think
that the affidavit was fair play by the
management. That isn't the way to run
an organization.
"We've had to put up with all sorts of
things since we've been here. This is
just something else. Everything is done
undercover and in secret. Now things
are coming out.
"There is definitely a division in the
employees here," Whitfield said. "The
look at this as an example of what not to
do," said Joseph Kinney, executive di
rector of the National Safe Workplace
Institute in Chicago. "We have so much
to do in terms of worker safety. This is
just such a tragedy, and (it) was so
preventable. The company should be
punished, but we also need to look at
what the government could have done
to prevent this from ever happening."
Federal officials and representatives
from the Georgia OSHA began inspect
ing Imperial's plant in Cumming, Ga.
last week, hoping to prevent the same
type of disaster from reoccurring.
Autopsies showed that all those who
died in the Hamlet fire suffered from
carbon-monoxide poisoning caused by
smoke inhalation.
"What we know right now is that a
majority of the deaths occurred because
victims could not get out. Many of the
doors were locked or bolted. The work
ers just couldn't get out in several cases,"
he said.
The Department of Insurance report
will go to the Department of Labor and
to Richmond County District Attorney
Carroll Lowder. Lowder is uncertain
whether legal action will be taken against
said Botstein in his opening argument,
"The issue is fear."
Botstein, president of Bard College
in New York, argued that freedom of
thought is not in danger and those who
believe it is are suffering from "false
nostalgia."
"People don't like change, least of all
faculty," Botstein said. "Faculty have
never been known for their courage to
speak out. There has never been a high
degree of freedom of thought as critics
now accuse us of not having. There is
more freedom of thought now, (but) we
don't believe discourse and discussion
will change someone's mind."
When pressed by D'Souza to explain
what tie thought constituted acceptable
speech and ideas, Botstein said, "All
should be tolerated. I say, say all those
terrible things, because if we can't cor
rect those terrible things at 1 8 or 1 9, the
whole ball game is lost."
D'Souza capitalized on the recent
public interest in political correctness.
"There is a comic element to this de
bate. Maybe it is the case that pets
should be called animal companions.
Maybe it is the case that short people
should be called the vertically chal-
role models."
Council member Art Werner com
pared the proposed ordinance to gun
restriction laws and laws that require
automobile passengers to wear seat belts.
"All laws violate somebody's right
to do something stupid," he said.
Werner said he thought the ordinance
should apply to all age groups.
"College students are more subject
to get into accidents because they ride a
lot faster and more recklessly," he said.
Adopting the ordinance to include all
age groups also would help change pub
lic perception of helmet-wearing,
Stumer said.
"We need to get society to accept the
notion of wearing helmets," he said.
problems started in 1984. In '88 and
'90, they were brought to attention
the underhanded, unfair promotions
just about anything you can think of.
The management and their favorites all
get the raises."
Baldwin said all of the employees in
the department should have been given
an affidavit.
None of the employees who filed the
grievance received an affidavit.
"Noone said that they wanted Charles
Foskey fired," Baldwin said. "If the
ship is sailing one way, and you go the
opposite direction, something is wrong.
Imperial Foods, noting, "It is still way
too early to make a definitive statement
about that. All the facts aren't in yet."
Officials at Imperial's Atlanta head
quarters refused to talk about the fire,
but promised to release a full statement
once federal and state investigations
were complete.
Federal investigators will tour the
fire site early this week and will give
their report to the House Education and
Labor Committee Thursday, Sept. 12.
U.S. Sen. William Ford, D-Mich.,
chairman of the Education and Labor
Committee, is deeply involved in the
worker safety movement. Ford, along
with U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D
Mass., introduced the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration Re
form Act in August. The bill would give
employees some power in monitoring
workplace safety.
While the committee will address the
Hamlet fire and hopefully provide an
swers to victims' families, the disaster
will also provide some momentum to
the Reform Act when the members of
Congress return from their August re
cess this week, said Mark Russell, press
secretary for Sen. Ford.
freedom
lenged," D'Souza said.
Throughout the debate D'Souza
harped on the issue of campus censor
ship codes and whether these codes are
ethical. "More than 50 percent of Ameri
can colleges now have censorship codes
on the book that prosecute and punish
speech and ideas that are thought to be
offensive," D'Souza said.
D'Souzaclaims that anti-harassment
codes are not being enforced in a man
ner consistent with their proposed use.
The codes are not effectively punishing
the incidents of hate speech and racial
epithets and are causing a proliferation
of groups who claim victim status and
create an intolerable atmosphere for
discourse, he said.
Buckley reiterated D'Souza's belief
when he said there "has been a gradual
institutionalization of this code of con
duct, the effect of which is to prevent
people from ventilating their views."
Stimpson, dean of the graduate school
at Rutgers University and a staunch
supporter of multiculturalism, refused
to back away from her belief in the
importance of freedom of speech. "In
quiry can't go on without healthy and
robust debate."
from page 1
"Right now many people think wearing
a helmet is namby-pamby. We need to
hark to some greater authority to invoke
this behavior on our children."
Council member Julie Andresen said
she expects a strong reaction from stu
dents at the public hearing.
The decision before the council is
whether to initiate only a public educa
tion campaign or to enact an ordinance
to go along with the education cam
paign, she said.
"Bike safety goes beyond wearing
helmets, and we need to raise people's
consciousness of this," Andresen said.
"The council has to figure out if this is
going to do some good and if it's prac
tical. We'll just have to listen to the
people."
from page 1
though."
Schafer said, "Our total intent was
that both sides be heard in the hearing,
not just the grievants' side."
The second grievance also states that
the grievants do not want "personal
gain" from the grievance but want to
improve the organization.
They stated that they based their
grievance on a report compiled by the
dean of the medical school, which found
that about 75 percent of P&A employ
ees have negative views of the management.