Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Partly Cloudy High 73, Low 51 www.chronicle.duke.edu Vol. 97, No. 34
The Chronicle
Levine’s Creek Come watch Dawson’s Creek mW) the episode’s
director tonight at 8 p.m. in the Levine Science and Research Center.
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
U.S. plans helicopter attacks � The United States is also deploying special forces to the region, including to Uzbekistan, to hunt down terrorists.
� Redrawing the state district lines according to the 2000 census data has turned into a politi-
By STEVEN MYERS
New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON The Pentagon is preparing to launch risky raids into Afghanistan using low-flying Army helicopter gunships to find and attack
forces allied with Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network and the Taliban government, two senior Pentagon officials said Tuesday. The helicopters, operated by special operations forces from bases near—but not in—Afghanistan, would be able to strike pockets of forces after the American air and missile strikes have made more progress at wearing down the Taliban’s air defenses and other major military targets. At the same time, the administration is deploying a growing number of special forces to the region who would be in a position to hunt down terrorists, including troops in Uzbekistan, to the north ofAfghanistan. These forces, however, do not constitute a potential invasion force for Afghanistan, a prospect that Pentagon officials have for now ruled out. It is not clear how soon the close-in helicopter operations will begin. The
N.C. House to decide on redistricting cal battle. By MEG LAWSON The Chronicle
Following the 2000 census, the North Carolina General Assembly has begun to redraw the districts for both of its chambers, and the House Legislative Redistricting Committee is scheduled to vote on its plans today.
A local perspective SAID MOHAMMAD AZAM/AFP
AFGHANS LOOK AT DEBRIS from the Afghan Technical Consultants offices in Kabul after they were hit by American cruise missiles Oct. 7, killing four members of the group and injuring four others. chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers of the Air Force, said Tuesday that American fighters and bombers were rapidly establishing air superiority over Afghanistan after three days ofstrikes carried out from relatively high altitudes. The risks involved in such strikes were illustrated by the deaths of four UN. employees at a demi-
ning operation near Kabul, the capital. “I think essentially we have air supremacy over Afghanistan,” he said. But he acknowledged that “there will always be the anti-aircraft fire.” “There’s always the possibility of these manned portable surface-to-air missiles,” the general added. See ATTACKS on page 10 P*
Local representatives discuss how redistricting will affect the Triangle. See page 9
In the closely divided state House of Representatives, each party has a chair on the redistricting committee, and each chair presented a plan for new districts. In the less evenly divided Senate, only the majority party—the Democrats—has submitted a plan, which has already passed both readings in the Senate. Rep. Ronnie Sutton, D-Pembroke, See
REDISTRICTING on page 8 �
Unsurprising primary advances Tennyson, Bell for mayor � In a primary in which few residents voted, five incumbents and three challengers made it through the first round of City Council elections. By MATT ATWOOD The Chronicle
Mayor Nick Tennyson and former county commissioner Bill Bell advanced into the general mayoral election Tuesday night, handily winning a primary marked by low voter turnout. Meanwhile, in the two Durham City Council races, incumbents Thomas Stith, Dan Hill and Lewis Cheek and former Durham city employee Cora Cole-McFadden finished as the top vote-getters. Only 15,212 people turned out to vote, according to unofficial results released Tuesday night by the Board of Elections. The results do not include transfer and provisional ballots, which have not yet been counted. In the last municipal election two years ago, 20,400 people voted in the primary; that number increased to 28,093 in the general election. “It’s obvious with the relatively low turnout that anything could happen four weeks from today,” Hill said. Tennyson garnered 52.2 percent of
Inside
AT-LARGE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES Thomas Stith (left) and Dan Hill (middle) shake hands as candidate Lewis Cheek (right) looks on. All three will advance to the Nov. 6 general election. the votes for mayor and Bell picked up 44.4 percent, while City Council mem-
ber Brenda Burnette and activists Ralph McKinney and Stephen Hopkins won less than 2 percent each. “I think that it’s good to be above 50 percent. I hope that’s the way it fin-
Kenneth David Kaunda, former president of Zambia, spoke about the continuing AIDS crisis in his country
Tuesday afternoon. See page 5
ishes,” Tennyson said. “We’ve got to face the fact that it’s going to be a whole lot more people voting [in the Nov. 6 general election].” Bell also said he was pleased with the
results,
explaining that See ELECTION
on page
At a forum Tuesday evening religion scholars discussed the morality of the U.S. strikes on Afghanistan from both Christian and Islamic perspectives. See page 7
he 10
>
Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of David Patrick Malone, who is accused of entering President Nan Keohane’s office with a gun. See page 7