North Carolina Newspapers

WASTE WATCH: Former chairman frustrated by public FEATURES, page 2 CAMELS SMOKED: Baseball team beats Campbell SPORTS, page 5 ON CAMPUS Orientation interest session for those interested in being junior-transfer OCs, noon in 104 Phillips Annex. NC CO 073192 NC COLLECTION WILSON LIBRARY CE 3930 UNC CAMPU CHAPEL HILL U- S. POSTAGE i PAID A PERMIT No. 250 ' CHAPEL HILL NC 27514 Serving the students and the University community since 1893 1992 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Volume 99, Issue 160 Friday, February 21, 1992 Chapel Hill, North Carolina NewsSponsAiW 962-0245 Bus IneW Advertising 962-1163 WEATHER TODAY: Sunny; high near 70 SATURDAY: Cloudy; high upper 50s kl7 ft Intruders, rumors of rape scare By Jennifer Mueller Staff Writer If you see a sorority member on cam pus during the next few weeks, don't be surprised if she isn't wearing her letters or if she's walking among a large group. Recent incidents at UNC sorority houses, along with unverified reports of gang rapists, have some members tak ing extra safety precautions. At least one sorority has looked into hiring private security agents after mem Mini UFOs invade UNC itpfan flnttcrhalk takp arluantpop nf thp T jr psS If jS f uv ill t " uiy " -! to exhibit his Frisbee-lossing skill during a game of Double Disc Court on the were one person short for playing the "ultimate" Frisbee game. Kenan lab fire spurs investigation of chemicals By Marida Move prevent similar incidents. The chemistry department has not bythePhysicalPlanttorepairthebuilc By Marida Moye Staff Writer University health and safety officials will recommend tougher regulations for chemical experiments in response to last month's laboratory fire, but chem istry department faculty members say this solution is not entirely acceptable. Officials have not pinned down the cause of the fire, which resulted in about $30,000 damage to a sixth-floor Kenan Laboratories room. Cindy Schauer, as sistant professor of chemistry, said she believed it started when methanol es caped from a cooling system. Donald Willhoit, UNC health and safety director, said after investigations had been completed he would recom mend that lab students use safer materi als when conducting experiments to Electrical short ignites small fire at Rathskeller By Kelly Ryan Staff Writer ; A fire in The Rathskeller's storage room early Thursday morning caused minimal damage to the renowned Franklin Street eatery. The fire started when an electrical wire short-circuited, according to a Chapel Hill Fire Department state ment. Rat manager Charles Smith said the fire spread when the electrical wire melted and ignited the wood ceiling. "There was no negligence," Smith said. "(The wire) runs along the ceil ing and caught fire to the wood." When Chapel Hill police responded to the restaurant's smoke alarm, they discovered smoke coming from the storage room. Chapel Hill firefighters responded to a 5: 1 3 a.m. call with four trucks and tS firefighters, according to the state ment. Firefighters broke in the back door of Sutton's Drug Store, 1 59E. Franklin St., to check for flames. Sutton's is located above the Rat's storage room. To travel is to bers stumbled upon an intruder in oneof the house bedrooms last weekend. But Ralph Pendergraph, interim Chapel Hill police chief, said rumors and storiescirculating among sororities were completely non-factual. "There's a lot of real scared people out there without a real reason." Rumors have been running amok across campus after reported break-ins and attempted break-ins at three soror ity houses in the past week. Most of these rumors involve gang initiation rites some even say the arnlina hlnp tUpc anrl warm tpmnpralnroc Our recommendation will be that they (chemistry department) use a non flammable coolant material in experi menting," Willhoit said. But Schauer, who was in the building during the fire, said it would not be feasible to use non-flammable coolants to conduct experiments all the time, especially when dealing with chemi cals at low temperatures. "That's a nice suggestion to make, but that needs to be followed by an actual material available," she said. "There's no real safe alternative. "I took the initiative and did some investigations on that myself. Every thing that is appropriate for that mass that can operate at low temperatures is to some degree flammable and we were using the standard thing to use." Since firefighters extinguished the fire in a few minutes, most of the damage was cleaned up by early after noon, Smith said. "We've already cleaned up and just have to do some painting," he said. He estimated the total damage costs to be low. "We're only talking about $400 or $500 damage, tops," Smith said. "We're covered by fire insurance. It all depends on our deductible." Smith also was responsible for re pairing damage done to Sutton's. Firefighters used fans to remove smoke from the drug store. Sutton's manager John Woodard said the. store did not have much smoke damage. The only other damage was the back door firefighters had broken down, he said. Woodard said The Rat had com pleted repairs to the door by lunch time. "We have a good working relation ship (with The Rat,)" he said. "We're all like one big family downtown. We look out for each other." discover that notorious Crips and Bloods of Los An geles gang-war fame in which want-to-be members must rape a sorority woman and take her letters. But Pendergraph said he had heard the story about the gangs at only one sorority house and had found nothing to substantiate it. Panhellenic adviser Judi Barter said she spoke with Chapel Hill police Capt. Gregg Jarvies Thursday about the ru mors. Jarvies told her that he had con tacted the State Bureau of Investigation but had found no supporting evidence. Intramural Fiplrls Thnrrlav aftprnnnn Hnttirhalk and hi? fpllnw flvinc (ikc fanatirc made any sweeping policy changes to conduct experiments but has taken more precautions, such as use of non-flammable materials as coolants when pos sible to ensure that such an incident never occurs again, Schauer said. "People don't get afraid and don't do chemistry because of that (the fire)," she said. "However, the experience is positive in the sense that it makes us more aware. "We're going to do everything we can to protect against this freak accident resulting again. But it's not clear, given different circumstances, the sameevents wouldn't happen." Judy Lewis, insurance manager for the University property office, said dam age in the lab would cost about $30,000. "The estimates that I have been given Profile of the DTH Rimo Compiled by Steve Politl DTH GraphicJohn Caserta IfI&tth6V7 Worked at The Albany (Ga.) Wants to divershV the staff, not Wants to improve reporting by Will write a weekty editor's Will put national and world Vision f '' i Herald for 1 12 years, only racially, but by academic focusing on fundamentals. column to keep in touch with briefs back on the front page. (y-' r4'" " served as DTH University background. Will hold regular writing and students. Wants a sharper, Plans to add a weekly column f f j""M editor for 3 months, special editing workshops and will more balanced editorial page, of news from other state 'H pfas 0M assignments editor last encourage greater peer emphasizing factual accuracy universities. Wants to boost fe , , semester and summer DTH review. Plans to offer a cash and solid reasoning. Columns state coverage. I Vj; 1 " associate editor. Won incentive from his salary for will represent opposing and LAJl Associated Press award for the best newswriting. diverse viewpoints. p ,' deadline news coverage. t : jr" 2 Served as DTH city editor for Will establish an opendcor policy Implementing a policy of Will open the editorial board Wants to publish a Saturday I " 1 12 years. Wrote sports to improve the office abnosphere aggressive reporting will to all interested students. edition on home football ! J I and news for the HeraldSun, and to make minority staff improve coverage. Writers will Will encourage well- weekends to increase revenue. Durham Morning Herald, members feel more comfortable, be encouraged to make researched, accurate, Plans to invite student groups ' -J, Chapel Hill Newspaper and contacts on campus to responsible and provocative to appoint liaisons to the DTH. I'f"! Chapel Hill Herald. discover news topics and will editorials. Conservative and ? I 1 Freelanced for The New York be responsible for one story a liberal viewpoints will be PctfiT V . j Times. week under a new beat policy, represented. Wallsten 1 DTH editor candidate goals unrealistic, former editors say By Marty Mlnchin Staff Writer The innovations and changes pro posed by Daily Tar Heel editor run-off candidates would make an ideal DTH, but several of their platform planks are not entirely realistic, several former DTH editors said. Voters will choose between Matthew everyone is wrong about other Corean Hamlin, Panhellenic Coun cil president, said, "In terms of security, we're not doing anything radically dif ferent." But one of her sorority sisters said, "We have been told to be very, very careful this weekend." An officer at another sorority said, "They've been telling girls to be really careful not to prop the doors, walk in pairs, stuff like that." A UNC sorority chapter president added, "We always encourage the sis ters here to take care of themselves and DTHTodd Barr by the Physical Plant to repair the build ing and bring it up to building code standards is $ 1 9,700," she said. "There is also an additional $10,000 for con tent, which goes into replacing equip ment damaged by the smoke of the fire." Schauer said the escaped methanol had contributed to the fire. "The freak incident happened per haps when a vessel containing a cooling solution (methanol) came into contact with a hot lamp and ignited," she said. Schauer said the fire started after she left the experiment unattended to go to the restroom. She said it was not unusual to leave an experiment unattended. "It was com pletely standard procedure. We don't sit there and watch our reactions react that's just not how we do things." Candidates Eisley and Peter Wallsten in a run-off election Tuesday. The former staffers agreed that both candidates stressed many goals in their platforms that would make for a perfect DTH. But based on past experiences, they said the ideas probably would not turn out exactly as the candidates planned. Jean Lutes, 1988-89 DTH editor in sorority each other, just like any other women on this campus would do." Gerry Rogers, former Panhellenic vice president in charge of rush at Duke University, said she had heard no such rumors. "That's sort of bizarre." Crime rates, particularly those in volving sexual offenses, have increased on the UNC campus this year. The num ber of reported campus sexual assaults has risen more than 50 percent this year from recent years. These numbers in clude a woman who claimed to be raped on the steps of Lenoir Dining Hall and Athletes to learn rape awareness as part of seminars Officials say recent charge not related By Michael Workman StaffWrlter Each University student-athlete will attend a rape awareness seminar start ing Monday, just nine days after the arrest of a men's soccer player on rape charges. But the seminar is not a response to the arrest, said Rick Brewer, associate athletic director for sports information. Planning fortheprogram began in spring 1991, Brewer said. Athletic Director John Swofford said, "We thought it was appropriate in terms of the social context in which we all live today." The seminar will complete a four part series of seminars for student-athletes, Brewer said. Swofford said, "It fit in very appro priately with the other issues in the series." The seminars address behavioral is sues including "everything from eating disorders to drugs and alcohol," he said. Although the seminars are only for student-athletes, sexual assault is a prob lem for all of society, Swofford said. "I think people are generally bright enough to understand that (sexual assault) is a problem for everyone." UNC swimmer Kevin Antshel said he did not think athletes were more likely than average people to commit sexual assaults. "I don't think you can single out a certain group," Antshel said. "I don't think athletes are more prone." Antshel said he thought the percent age of UNC athletes arrested for rape compared favorably with the percent age of average people arrested on the same charge. "I think (the percentage of athletes arrested) is a very small per centage." But Jean Templeton, a Chapel Hill psychologist, said she thought athletes were more prone to commit sexual of chief, said she supported Wallsten's idea for more aggressive reporting and a more aggressive beat system but said she could see problems with imple menting the system. "Peter has great campaign promises all are ideal but will be difficult to implement," Lutes said. "Reporters probably won't have enough time to write two days a week and also spend countries. Aldous Huxley women two women who claimed to have been raped by student athletes. The incidents at sorority houses might be only an extension of the increased campus crime rate. Pendergraph said the police were taking the rumor "as seriously as any rumor of this nature." Sororities frequently are victimized by pranks and minor crimes, Pendergraph added. But the president of one sorority said she was unable to remember another incident of an intruder in her house during her time in Chapel Hill. fenses. "Our culture glorifies athletes," Templeton said. "The culture creates elaborate hero-worshipping ceremonies for athletes. The culture gives the mes sage of privilege and entitlement to athletes." Polly Guthrie, Orange County Rape Crisis Center community education and outreach coordinator, disagreed. "I don't think athletes are more likely to commit sexual offenses," she said. Many peoplefalsely believe that high profile athletes have a hard time con trolling their aggressions, Guthrie said. "People are willing to believe that an athlete who is exercising aggression on the field will carry that aggression over to his personal life." The average person participates in aggressive sports, too, she said. "A lot more of us are athletes than those who are on scholarship at the University," Guthrie said. "Everyone deals with issues of power and aggres sion in their lives." Templeton said each athlete was not necessarily more likely tocommit sexual violence than the average person. "How an individual incorporates that trend into his own life depends on that individual," she said. The danger in reporting arrests of athletes and famous people is that oth ers will believe that sexual assault is a crime which happens only to those who associate with these high-profile groups, Templeton said. Reporting crimes of only sports and entertainment stars "diminishes the vic timization of thousands of others," she said. "People tend to think that people who commit sexual assaults are special cases." Antshel said the attention athletes received for arrests was unfair, but he admitted that an athlete should have known the burdens of being a UNC athlete when he joined the team. time with their beats." Cameron Tew, 1990-91 DTH city desk editor, said he thought Wallsten's aggressive reporting policy would ben efit the paper greatly and would work if reporters were serious about their jobs. "That's a very noble thing to strive for in reporting,"Tew said. "If you want See DTH, page 4