NEWS LITE : UNC'S BELLS TAKING TOLL ON STUDENTS' SLEEP HABITS.

Thanks to a Bell Tower upgrade, students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill always know what time it is - even when they're trying to sleep.

``I manage to get to sleep after awhile, but I have to put in earplugs,'' said Joanna Jordan, one of two dormitory residents who wrote a letter to the editor of the student newspaper complaining about the noise. ``It's bearable, but I don't see why there's any reason for it.''

Jordan says it's so loud she keeps her window closed, and even then it's hard to fall asleep.

The Westminster Chimes play every 15 minutes throughout the day and night, and the tower also plays a randomly selected song from a computer database of 68 selections four times a day - at 8 a.m., noon, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Jeff Fuchs, a school band director, controls the Bell Tower music system. The volume cannot be controlled, he said, adding that the bells were renovated last year and may have become louder because two bells were added. ``It wasn't intentional,'' Fuchs said.

Russia's mom day unnoticed

It came as a surprise to most people, but Sunday was Mother's Day in Russia.

The new holiday was created earlier this year by President Boris Yeltsin. But it was preceded by absolutely no fanfare or commercial hoopla, and many people only learned about it Sunday when government officials were quoted on radio and television hailing the holiday.

Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko, the highest-ranking woman in the Russian government, used the holiday to call for improved government support for women.

Russia already has a holiday honoring women. Every March 8, sons, husbands and lovers buy flowers for the significant women in their lives to mark International Women's Day.

Then, many women grumble, the men go back to taking women for granted for another year.

Actor takes work rather seriously

Dylan McDermott turned to TV hoping that audiences would finally starting looking beyond his handsome face.

``One of the reasons I took `The Practice' was because I was sick of the movies I was getting,'' McDermott says in the December issue of US magazine. ``I was happy it wasn't about the guy's looks but about what his struggle is.''

McDermott debuted in the 1987 film ``Hamburger Hill,'' appeared in ``Steel Magnolias'' in 1989, and had a decent role opposite Clint Eastwood in the 1993 film ``In the Line of Fire.'' Then came a string of forgettable parts in box-office flops like ``'Til There Was You,'' ``Destiny Turns on the Radio'' and ``Where Sleeping Dogs Lie.''

``The Practice,'' in which McDermott plays a fiery attorney leading a firm of right-minded lawyers fighting for justice, won an Emmy for best drama.

McDermott realizes he got into acting as a way to deal with the pain of growing up without a mother. His died when he was 5 years old.

``When my mom died, I felt invisible psychologically; so from that point on, my goal was to be seen,'' McDermott said. ``Acting wasn't about making a career choice. It was almost like I had to become an actor to heal that scar.''

Director proclaims film `anti-remake'

Director Gus Van Sant is tired of people saying his new film ``Psycho'' is just another lame Hollywood remake.

``It's an anti-remake film,'' Van Sant says in the Dec. 7 issue of Newsweek, which hits newsstands today. ``Why do people take films that are really well done and change the dialogue and change the shots and call it the same movie? I don't have much faith in Hollywood's ability to do remakes. There's a remake curse.''

Van Sant's ``Psycho'' is more tribute than remake, since he made the scary thriller the same as Alfred Hitchcock's original, copying it nearly shot for shot and using mostly the same dialogue. The biggest difference is that his is in color. It opens Friday.

``I wasn't really aware that I had crossed some bounds,'' Van Sant said. ``Why are they asking why? For me there are many, many reasons: the biggest reason of all is that nobody's ever done it.''

Jackson considers UK school for son

Michael Jackson wants to send his 21-month-old son, Prince, to an expensive British boarding school when he reaches high school age, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Jackson has sent a representative to inspect Stowe and to inquire about booking a place for the boy at the private school in Buckinghamshire, about 50 miles northwest of London, the newspaper said.

The best-known past pupil of Stowe - which costs nearly $25,000 a year - is Richard Branson, the flamboyant tycoon whose Virgin company name adorns everything from record stores and clothing to an airline.

British newspapers reported recently that another pop superstar, Madonna, is also considering sending her daughter to an English boarding school, Cheltenham Ladies' College.

News Lite is compiled from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

PHOTO (1) Strings in numbers

More than 1,000 cellists from four continents play in a mass concert Sunday in Kobe, Japan. The performance, billed as the largest of its kind, was staged as a fund-raiser to help Kobe's recovery from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, which killed more than 5,500 people in 1995.

Chiaki Tsukumo/Associated Press

(2) McDERMOTT