CHARLOTTEANS DON'T WANT TO HELP HORNETS WITH NEW ARENA

          In recent interviews with more than 40 residents of
     Charlotte, Ames Alexander of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER found
     people don't support the plan for a new uptown arena for the
     Hornets because "they resent being asked to help [Hornets
     Owner George] Shinn pay the rising salaries of millionaire
     NBA players" and they "find it hard to fathom that the 8
     1/2-year-old Charlotte Coliseum ... is obsolete."  Alexander
     notes, "Above all, many wonder, 'What's in it for me?'" 
     Fans "won't forget" the team's second season when Shinn said
     he might move the team if he didn't get more of the
     Coliseum's profits, which he eventually got.  Others feel
     Shinn has gotten "too involved" in basketball decisions "he
     isn't qualified to make."  Critics "now question" why he
     asks for public help, "but refuses to open the team's books
     to prove he needs it" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/23).