The Daily Tar Heel from Chapel Hill, North Carolina • Page 1

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 If I s- By CARRINGT0N WELLS Staff Writer Student power in grass roots movements, 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 possibilities for the future of a student coalition. 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 problem he and his group wanted to address.

"Last week's petition proved that there are lots of other students who are ton, 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 president, 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 meetings." The group will hold its next meeting April 10 at 4 p.m.

in the Union, and all students are welcome. concerned, who see problems with the way things are, not just in Suite but on campus and beyond," he said. "We looked for some current issue that dramatized the loss of student power. Student government seemed the obvious 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 interests, 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 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 direction 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 students) is the best response, the kind of response that students and administrators 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 emphasizing the flaws of student government. "I came here tonight with the understanding that there would be discussion about how student government could improve." But Mathews said the group's purpose 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 government is merely a symbol of dissatisfaction, and the petition served its purpose to alert people to one specific problem." Ericka Kurz, a junior from Middle- Stodeirt Congress officers for 72nd -J- 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 questions, 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 tradition 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 expressing their desire for a change in its structure 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 government 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 Author Wallace Terry delivers Writer explores J. 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" 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 manner. '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 introduce 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, releasing hazardous chemicals into wastewater discharges and keeping faulty records. Two have paid thousands of dollars in civil penalties for such incidents, according to records they sub-mined to the state. The state Hazardous Waste Management Commission deliberated more than three hours on Tuesday before choosing GSX Chemical Services Inc.

of Columbia, S.C.; Ogden Environmental Services Inc. of San Diego, and American NuKem Inc. of Mahwah, N.J., whose subsidiary, Th-ermalKEM of Rock Hill, S.C., is bidding on the project. Later this month, the panel will select one of the firms to build the incinerator 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 industry, 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 cigarettes 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 economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. From Associated Press reports A circumstance for pomp 'Commencement activities planned 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 Olympians 5 Campus and city 3 Features 5 Sports 7 Classified 8 .....9 QMS! 1L race relations in Vietoaiui War U.S. Senate contender Thomas asks for help in unseating Helms chooses session elections laws so they are made clear." In other business, the congress discussed a voting discrepancy that took place in District 2.

William Pate was sworn in as the District 2 representative, but Gene Davis (Dist. 17), who presided over the meeting until a new speaker was elected, said write-in candidate Wendell Hausdorff may have received more votes. David Smith, former elections board chairman, said the board would investigate the matter further. Congress also chose committee chairmen at the meeting. All the nominees 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 preside 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 appreciate 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 supported 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 11111 DTHJoe Muhl his speech Wednesday night Carolina Symposium 1 1 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 0 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 polluters." After greeting each person of a 25-member audience at the door of Howell 104, Thomas spoke about the accomplishments in education and the environment 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 billion cleaning up acid rain, Thomas 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 national commitment to education and said programs like Head Start, which provides assistance for disadvantaged pre-school children, were an investment 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 competition Harvey Gantt "a candidate of the fat-cat Mecklenburgers, the yuppie Mecklenburgers and the media By DEVON HYDE Staff Writer Although racial discrimination occurred in the Vietnam War, camaraderie 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' during the war because blacks made up 22 percent of the front-line casualties." 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 defamatory 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 feelings 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 country and came up with the idea of Nobody DTHMilton 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 Mecklenburg 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 has to do anything. Charles i' i.