The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 29

Released: Durham police officer out of the hospital Page 5B There she is Miss Western Piedmont Kelly Trogdon was crowned Miss North Carolina Page 4B TILE NEWS 111 0 wwwnews-observercominci 0 Crime wave: Several are robbed in separate cases Page 4B Obituaries Page 6B SUNDAY JULY 11 1999 0 11(w 666001 did South Indians to build a temple of their own in Cary Let babies be taxed for schools Religious diversity a sign of Hindu community's growth BY YONAT SHIMRON STAFF WRITER Members of the Sri Venkateswara Temple Linga Murty left and Vivek light candles inside the building they are using as a temple before the real one is built STAFF PHOTO BY CHRISTOBAL PEREZ eirt-1111 1 ti 'r (-)9 i 1 gtott I 1 1 01'4 I i i'l iii 1 l''' 0 I i 4 'I 1 1 VS 0-''' li NN1 41 '( r'-1 a sacred architectural pattern they say will draw devotees from all over the Southeastern United States The new temple which will be devoted to Sri Venkateswara the god of wealth and well-being is testament to the growing strength of the South Indian community and its desire to break away from the I3-year-old temple in Morrisville which until now has been the center of Hindu life in the Triangle Although it is hard to document how many South Indians are here the number of families Twenty years ago when Triangle Hindus first gathered to worship they overlooked regional Indian worship styles and came together under one roof Today a far-larger Hindu community insists those regional worship styles are important enough to pray apart In yet another sign of the Triangle's blossoming religious diversity Hindu immigrants from South India have bought 4 acres in Cary and plan to build a $2 million to $3 million temple in A new idea for the schools: the baby tax I have a modest proposal I say we impose a $2000-per-baby birthing tax on Wake County's hospitals to help pay for the new schools The rationale? Hospitals produce babies Babies become schoolchildren thereby driving up school costs Let the hospitals Li I pay I say And if the hospitals wanl '''''''t ma tha ma tha hospitals want to on the SEE TEMPLE PAGE 3B COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THEM University bonds face uphill fight Lawmakers fear taxpayer rage after Wake's school bond fiasco (46: 0 --19' 4 '3 en" 4 y-- 11 -womok' 71'1 to if I fi 1- i i 1 4 4' I i oe it 7 A 77 Nt 1 I 1 0 A '1''' 771r '''t 4 411- II il 7 Ito' p-goort it '')1 ''44 4' tolt4- "0 71----144- '4 0 t- -40o rt -piloi -AI :11 i -44 'ti 4 4 4 i I 4 Ir At 't 1 41 4 141 d'' 1 r- lt' I 1 1 -k--- 1 ii---- c- Ad i a Special Olympics volunteers from left Sonia Armstrong Joe Chen Karen Nyreen and Janie Rowe cluster around a table full of souvenir T-shirts They were at a party to thank volunteers for all their hard work Story 5B STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT SHARPE BY NED GLASCOCK STAFF WRITER Legislative leaders say state university administrators aiming for top dollar to satisfy a long list of campus building needs are fighting two foes: bad timing and political miscalculation Following so closely behind the resounding defeat of Wake County's $650 million school bond issue House consideration of the largest state bond proposal in history became fraught with risk fueling last week's drive to let the public vote on a slimmed-down $12 billion package "It scared the hell out of everybody there's no doubt about it" state Rep Dan Blue a Raleigh Democrat said Saturday "I'm sure self-preservation weighs heavily in the minds of some" Rep David Miner a Cary Republican said leaders of the University of North Carolina system had underestimated the effort needed to win over the House which far more than the Senate is fragmented by leadership struggles and shifting coalitions Miner said university leaders assumed they could follow the traditional game plan of relying on the House leadership to line up support among the rank-and-file That gave members such as himself who disagreed with party leaders little support for swaying colleagues he said "I think they really poorly executed how they went about presenting the package to the General maybe not to the Senate but certainly to the House" Miner said "Whoever was in charge of this needs to take a course in Politics 101" UNC president Molly Broad defended the university system's approach Broad said she and other leaders made every effort to build bipartisan support working through the House committees and even addressing the individual Democratic and Republican Keeping UNGCH's academic continuity WA pass costs to the parents so be it I offer the birthing tax Rob facetiously in Christensen the the spirit of debate over how to finance Wake County's fast-growing public schools The prevailing philosophy in the tax debate seems to be the old saying: "Don't tax me Don't tax thee Tax the fellow behind the tree" The liberals and the conservatives have offered tax proposals both of which are cynical exercises in tax shifting away from all voters to smaller groups in the hopes that it will be more politically palatable Let's start with the Republican theory Raleigh City Councilman Paul Coble a GOP conservative running for mayor proposed the other day that the county use $430 million over the next 20 years in uncommitted funds from the county's hotel-occupancy and prepared-food tax to pay for a school construction bond issue Hotel and restaurant owners agreed to the special tax several years ago to promote tourism and drum up business The money has been used for such projects as the new arena for the Carolina Hurricanes and NC State University and the Exploris Museum If there is any guiding principle behind the idea that our schools should be paid for by hotels and restaurants I missed it Is this a tax on romance? Perhaps if there were fewer candlelight dinners at the Angus Barn and fewer people shacking up at hotels there would be fewer babies made? Then there is the proposal by the Democratic majority on the Wake Board of Commissioners to impose a 1 percent real estate transfer fee When questions were raised over whether they had the authority to levy such a tax without legislative approval the commissioners put the idea on hold Wake County is already one of the most expensive housing markets in the South with the average new house costing about $187000 The land transfer tax would add $1870 to that cost If you care about housing affordability this is a move in the wrong direction The tax would likely push more residential construction into Johnston and Franklin counties thereby encouraging suburban sprawl and adding further to traffic congestion and commutes The larger issue of so-called development impact fees has been gaining in popularity But such taxes have a let's-sneak-out-of-the-restaurant-and-stick-good-old-Charlie-with-the-tab mentality Does a couple moving to Raleigh with one child have more impact on the Wake school system than a couple who moved here in 1988 and who now have three children in the public schools? Or what about the impact of someone who moved to Wake County in1947 and now has 14 grandchildren in the schools? The obvious answer is that everybody should pay for the public schools just as everyone pays for the police reads water and sewer systems and other vital public services We should stop trying to tax the fellow behind the tree Amid management and financial turmoil Provost Dick Richardson remains a pillar of the university i ft 1 e' '1 1--4' By ALAN SCHER ZAG1ER STAFF WRITER remain as provost rather than climb into the UNC-CH chancellor's chair "He would make a great interim chancellor" said Vin Steponaitis an anthropology professor and director of archaeological research laboratories "But right now what we need is continuity In an atmosphere of great change and turmoil it adds an element of continuity And that is very reassuring" As chief academic officer the provost exercises significant control over faculty hiring curriculum development and other day-to-day operations tied to the university's teaching chores CHAPEL HILL An almost audible sigh of relief could be heard Saturday around UNCChapel Hill following the appointment of William McCoy as acting chancellor but the reaction had little to do with McCoy Instead professors and other campus-watchers reacted with near glee that Dick Richardson one of their own an academic a virtual pillar of the university would Many are glad that William McCoy left is acting UNC-CH chancellor and Dick Richardson right remains provost SEE BONDS PAGE 7B SEE CHANCELLOR PAGE 7B Durham's 'coach' heads for Duke MO editor Will Sutton elected president of NAM (I 1 era! dozen friends and county department heads to an hourlong roast Thursday in the commissioners' chambers According to his co-workers Palmer could devour a good carrot cake in minutes and whispered plenty ofjokes during years of lengthy Board of Commissioners meetings The party wasn't much of a roast though Instead friends spoke movingly of how Palmer had listened to them guided them protected them in the fishbowl of public scrutiny Some wiped away tears and Palmer blinked at the ceiling when David Powell recalled their friendship over the past decade "Shortly after I was hired he took me under his wing and I'll never forget that Michael" said Powell the county's economic development director "Michael you're the LI been done the last 25 years but there is so much work that needs to be done in terms of diversifying newsrooms particularly in terms of editing and visual groups management --) and then the bottom line content" i Founded in 1975 NAI3J 044 4) has emerged as a high profile organization with growing influence in the journalism industry it has 3100 members 74 professional chapters and 51 student chapters As president Sutton's primary responsibilities include leading the association serving as its spokesman and supervising its national office staff through the executive 7) i BY MARY CARMICHAEL STAFF WRITER DURHAM Michael Palmer is a family man Raised by a single father he's a proud papa to three sons of his own He boasts relentlessly about their achievements wrestling victories high school class offices budding TAR HEEL business-OF THE esiiut the pa WEEK almond-eyed older Palmer blushes at the notion that he is a success Yet for the past 12 years Palmer has been something of a mentor to the people of Durham County As the county's Director of Internal Audits he checked up on the people's money Later as deputy county manager he oversaw a flock of Palmer will be Duke University's director of the Office of Community Affairs )r FROM STAFF REPORTS Will Sutton deputy managing editor of The News Observer has been elected president of the National Association of Black Journalists the world's largest media organization for people of color Results of the election announced early Saturday showed Sutton with 559 percent of the vote Balloting took place in Seattle at Unity '99 a gathering of minority suttor media organizations mat "I'm quite excited and exhilarated about the opportunity to be able to lead the largest journalism group of journalists of color" said Sutton whose two-year term begins today "There is a lot of work that has Sutton man( edi deputy aging itor leputy 3ing )r STAFF PHOTO BY SHER STONEMAN county government employees in 30 departments In a few weeks he'll try to unite two often-feuding families: the city of Durham and Duke University Palmer 45 left county government Friday to take the role of Duke's director of the Office of Community Affairs Palmer's departure brought sev Rob Christensen can be reached at 829-45r or robcnandocom SEE ZUTTON PAGE 3B SEE TAR H'IL PAGE 2B 41.