FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: Students get hitched FEATURES, page 2
NEW FAD: Redshirting is all the rave in the NCAA SPORTS, page 10
ON CAMPUS
Rep. David Price will speak at 7:30 p.m.
in the Di Chambers of New West. Spon
sored by the Di and Phi Societies.
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
1992 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
Volume 99, Issue 146
Monday, February 3, 1992
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
NcwVSportsArts
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WEATHER
TODAY: Sunny; high 55-60
TUESDAY: Cloudy; high 55-60
Mm
ttrtf 111?
Brinkley to deliver Commencement
Award-winning journalist
By Deborah Ann Greenwood
Staff Writer
World-renowned journalist David
Brinkley will speak to graduating se
niors at Commencement this May.
"David Brinkley embodies all of the
criteria we felt were needed to provide
the University and the class of 1992
with the Commencement speaker they
deserve," said Mike Ferguson, senior
class president.
Brinkley has won every major jour
nalism award, includingtwo prestigious
George Foster Peabody Awards and 10
Emmys.
But Ferguson said Brinkley was cho
sen because of his personal ties to the
University and his journalistic achieve
Court reconsiders
lawsuit, will hear
case against Bibbs
By Jennifer Talhelm
Staff Writer
The Student Supreme Court decided
at a pretrial hearing Saturday that it
would hear a lawsuit filed against Chief
Justice Mark Bibbs despite dropping
the same lawsuit a week ago.
The suit, filed by law student Bradly
Torgan, argues that Bibbs must resign
from the Student Supreme Court be
cause of his candidacy for student body
president.
The court originally dropped the suit
because members said it was out of their
jurisdiction. But that decision was nul
lified because one justice had not been
notified about the lawsuit, said Ele
Stokes, acting chief justice.
"It was invalidated because we de
cided it was not proper to make a move
ment without (Justice Jaye Sitton) be
ing in attendance," Stokes said. "Basi
cally, we've started over from square
one."
Stokes, Sitton and Malcolm Turner,
the three justices present Saturday, de
cided not to discuss whether the court
had jurisdiction until all members could
be present at a trial. The court will
convene at 3:30p.m. today in the Di Phi
Chambers of New West to determine
whether it has original jurisdiction in
the case. If so, the trial will commence.
Stokes said the pretrial hearing ironed
out some of the case's important de
tails. Torgan, who originally listed Stu
dent Congress along with Bibbs as a co
defendant, dropped the charges against
congress.
He said he amended his lawsuit be
cause members of the Student Congress
Rules and Judiciary Committee took
action against Bibbs by passing a reso
lution asking him to resign.
"The Rules and Judiciary Commit
tee did what I wanted them to do, so
there's no point," Torgan said. "The
case is now Torgan vs. Bibbs."
. Stokes appointed Wayne Goodwin
to act as emergency justice to fill the
vacancy left by Bibbs.
Goodwin, a third-year law student,
Town council
By Kelly Ryan
Staff Writer
Cable television viewers will have
the opportunity to tell Chapel Hill Town
Council what they think about local
cable service during tonight's public
hearing at town hall.
The hearing is important because it
gives residents the opportunity to deter
mine what the community expects from
a cable company, Town Manager Cal
Horton said.
"It gives the public the opportunity to
assess the service they have been re
ceiving and to recommend any
changes," Horton said.
Information gathered at the public
hearing will be given to an advisory
board established to evaluate Carolina
Cable, the company that has provided
Chapel Hill with cable service for the
last 15 years.
ments.
"He has shown such a personal com
mitment to integrity and excellence
throughout his career in journalism,"
Ferguson said.
"Plus, Mr. Brinkley has a personal
stake in this University through his chil
dren and his own generosity and volun
teer service."
Brinkley recently gave a $30,000 gift
to the UNC School of Journalism and
Mass Communication, which will es
tablish an award of excellence for fac
ulty members.
He is a member of the journalism
school's Board of Visitors and the N.C.
Journalism Hall of Fame.
Brinkley 's son Joel Brinkley, already
a Pulitzer-prize winner, is a UNC gradu
was chosen from a pool of emergency
justices appointed in September by Stu
dent Body President Matt Heyd. Emer
gency justices are chosen on a seniority
basis to substitute when a regular jus
tice cannot act.
Torgan, who originally accused the
Supreme Court of acting
unprofessionally, said Saturday that he
was pleased with the actions of the court
since the first pretrial meeting.
"Everything is correct as far as I
know," he said. "I think Mark would
say so, too. Acting Chief Justice Stokes
has been really good."
But Bibbs did not agree. "I think this
whole thing is a big waste of time," he
said.
Bibbs said the court did not have
jurisdiction to hear this case.
"He has no standing," he said. "He's
asking the court to do something they
clearly don't have the power to do."
Thecourt can handle only those cases
involving legislative and executive
branch actions, not judicial natters..
Bibbs said.
Torgan countered Bibbs' claim in a
nine-page legal brief for the trial. He
said that Bibbs' action could be treated
as a violation of the Student Govern
ment Code, which in turn would be an
action for which the court could take
action.
Bibbs said he didn't think the court
had ever dropped a case and then brought
it up again. "I'm just as confused as
anyone else is," he said. "As far as I was
concerned last Monday the case was
over."
Stokes said the court could discuss
jurisdiction of a case at any time. But
failure to notify a justice about last
week's meeting provided a sufficient
reason to open the case again, she said.
"Because Jaye was not at the meeting,
her insights may have influenced the
court."
Torgan has the burden of proof to
con vincecourt members that they should
hear the case, Stokes said.
Torgan said he would prove both that
the court had jurisdiction and that he
had the standing to sue.
to hear public
The committee includes twelve resi
dents and council member Roosevelt
Wilkerson.
Wilkerson said he was the only coun
cil member who expressed an interest
in the committee because it entailed a
three-year commitment.
Committee members will go beyond
concerns expressed at the public hear
ing and look at problems of quality,
cost and variety, he said. "We're look
ing at an overall evaluation."
Marcia Decker, a committee mem
ber who has lived in Chapel Hill for 1 9
years, said she joined the committee
because she was interested in cable
television production and was a cable
customer.
Decker holds a master's degree in
radio, television and motion pictures.
Her biggest complaints as a con
sumer are the cable company's unre
sponsive answering service and the fre-
only live for today, but I'm one day behind.
chosen for his
ate and works as an editor at the New
York Times. His daughter Alexis
Brinkley is a Spanish major in thisyear's
graduating class.
Heather Summey, aseniorclass mar
shal, said although the subject of
Brinkley's speech was unknown the
broadcast journalist had promised to
make it entertaining for the graduating
seniors.
"I know that he really loves Caro
lina," Summey said. "He's told us that
he is going to make it a really fun
speech."
Brinkley began his writing career in
highschool with the Wilmington Morn
ing Star and after service in the army, he
worked for the United Press.
His first television broadcast was in
Let's go THIS way
Valerie Blackwelder, a sophomore speech communication and history major from
Concord, walks with her dog Muggsee on Franklin Street Friday afternoon. Muggsee
Ehringhaus
By Chandra McLean
Staff Writer
Housing department officials have
designated the second floor of
Ehringhaus Residence Hall a "Living
Well" program, but some residents say
they are unhappy about the change.
The program, spearheaded by
Ehringhaus Area Director Kris
Brockmann, will take effect next year.
It will promote better health and well
being for students and will be free from
alcohol and other substances.
"The problem is that no one knows
what wellness means it's not ill
opinion about
"The two areas that I would like to address are how
(cable companies) handle customer calls and com
plaints and how well they monitor their channels on
a regular basis."
Marcia Decker
Cable Television Advisory member
quent problems with signal clarity on
cable-only stations, she said.
"The two areas that I would like to
address are how they handle customer
calls and complaints and how well they
monitor their channels on a regular ba
sis," Decker said.
Two-year Chapel Hill resident Brian
Cheuvront said he was interested in the
personal ties
1 943 for NBC News as White House
correspondent, where he reported on
every president since Franklin
Roosevelt.
He also has anchored such shows as
"The Huntley-Brinkley Report" and
"This Week with David Brinkley" on
ABC, along with numerous prime-time
specials.
Summey added that Brinkley had
been the marshals' first choice.
"We are very excited, but mostly we
are just glad that we got it done so
early," Summey said. "In fact, we had it
all wrapped up by the end of Septem
ber." The senior class kept the speaker's
name secret because it had been cus
tomary to wait until spring.
- , . , . ""Tr -rt ri- . -jr - - - -
it L ':M; . . 4' 1
floor converted for wellness program
ness," Brockmann said. "Wellness fo
cuses on six areas: emotional, social,
physical, spiritual, intellectual and oc
cupational." Wellness is a priority for college
students because most are probably
unhealthy from life in a stressful envi
ronment, she said.
Residents will have to leave second
floor rooms if they choose not to partici
pate in the program, Brockmann said.
Many students said the program was
sprung upon them by the Department of
University Housing at the last minute.
Freshman Elliot Andrews,
Ehringhaus second-floor vice president,
cable television service at meeting tonight
committee because he wanted to pro
vide the community with a service.
His experiences researching cable
television and subscribing to cable will
give him the necessary insight to look at
cable problems objectively, he said.
"I don't have any bones to pick with
Carolina Cable," Cheuvront said. "I
think I can understand the problems
to University
"It's traditional to time the release of
the name with the class gift push,"
Summey said. "It's because the seniors
are more geared towards graduation in
the spring."
Tim Taylor, a senior class marshal,
sai class officials decided to choose
Brinkley instead of a political figure
because they didn't want the Com
mencement address to be politically
charged.
"This being an election year we felt
that a political figure might have some
slant to his or her speech, and we wanted
to avoid that," Taylor said.
"Brinkley is just as big, or even more
well-known and respected, in all
circles."
was one of at least six dogs that took owners for strolls down Chapel Hill's main street
at that time, and this pair enjoyed the pleasant January weather before heading home.
said the program was a good idea for
offering a greater variety of on-campus
housing. But the program's implemen
tation is wrong, he said.
"We're not able to give any L.put,
and logical steps need to be made when
change comes about," Andrews said. "I
will not participate in the program."
Brandon Hill, a second-floor
Ehringhaus resident, said he did not
think the program would be worthwhile
since it would be placed in an estab
lished residence hall.
"We weren't even consulted about
it," Hill said. "The first notice we got
was yesterday."
from both sides."
Fifteen years ago, the town's cable
franchise was granted to Village Cable,
which transferred its ownersh ip to Caro
lina Cable. Carolina Cable may be sold
to American Television and Communi
cation Corp., according to the town
manager's office.
Harry Peterson of Carolina Cable
refused to comment about whether the
company would be sold.
Student Television station manager
Beth Bache said the possible selling of
Carolina Cable would only affect the
student station if the new owners didn't
provide a public access channel.
"The only way it would affect us is if
they got rid of their public access chan
nel," Bache said. "As far as I know, the
FCC (Federal Communications Com
mission)doesn't require they have one."
Apartment manager Julia Brooks said
she never had experienced trouble with
The Outfield
address
.r -mm' f
David Brinkley
DTHAndrew Cline
Sheiry Ghobrial, a second-floor
Ehringhaus resident assistant, said that
change always hurt but that it didn't
necessarily have to be negative.
"If you think about the program real
istically, you will realize how benefi
cial it is for the floor, the residence hall,
the whole campus and ultimately the
future students of Carolina," Ghobrial
said.
Anne Presnell, assistant director of
housing for special programs, said she
thought the students' reception of the
program was perfectly understandable.
See FLOORS, page 4
Carolina Cable and had not heard com
plaints from her tenants.
"I've never had any problems with
them," Brooks said. "They've always
been prompt to come (when customers
needed service)."
But Laura Condie, who manages a
different apartment complex, said she
found the customer service slow.
Condie is always put on hold when
she calls, and her calls often are forgot
ten, she said. "They're not quick to get
out here when people put in orders."
TheCableTelevision Advisory Com
mittee was appointed Jan. 27 with the
goal of keeping Horton abreast of resi
dents' praises and complaints concern
ing cable service and future cable inter
ests. The process is in accord with a 1984
Cable Communications Policy Act
which gives towns the power to review
cable operator performance.