The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Volume XIV, Number 27
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 20, 1979
The snow is really becoming a pain in the
but things seem to be clearing up around campus
Sun Belt tourney one
step away from NCAA
WFAE inspected for grant
By Kathy Espin
Those who know the staff of WFAE
as the fun-loving, but hard-working
group seen around the radio station in
the basement of the Cone University
Center would have been surprised to
see them at the WFAE Community
Advisory Board luncheon last Friday.
Imagine Bo Pittman, Chris Wright
and Paul Stribling in coats and ties,
and Cheri Patterson acting the
gracious hostess.
The luncheon, sponsored by the
radio station, featured a slide show,
produced by Larry Ferguson of the
Learning Resources Center, which
demonstrated the format and the
goals of the station.
Other guests at the luncheon in
cluded two representatives of the Cor
poration for Public Broadcasting
(CPB), Betsy Dirnburger and Cheryl
Strange, who had come to UNCC to
inspect the WFAE facilities to see if
the station qualified for a proposed
planning grant.
Pittman told the Carolina Journal
Friday night the station has
received a $25,000 grant from CPB.
This grant, along with a $120,000
Health, Education and Welfare grant
and other funds raised by WFAE will
enable the station to increase the
power from 10 watts to 100,000 watts
next July, increasing its possible au
dience from 20,000 people to 1.5
million.
In addition to an increase in wat
tage, the station is also working to
establish a side band broadcast which
would allow transmission of reading
programs for the blind and other
educational aids while broadcasting
the fine arts entertainment format on
the main channel.
Pittman said the station is now
working with public television station
WTVI on setting up simultaneous
By Nancy Davis
Three days of exciting Sun Belt ac
tion and then an automatic bid to the
NCAA playoffs; a festival of events
and the fight for the right to repre
sent the Sun Belt in the Mid-East
Regionals. A year ago it would have
all seemed like a dream. This year it
will come true.
But for who is the question. All six
charter member schools will travel to
Charlotte in an attempt to take the
Sun Belt championship title away
from last year’s owner, the Universi
ty of New Orleans. UNCC has every
intention of being the representative
school, but is not sure where they will
be seated in the tournament pairings.
A series of five games, beginning
Friday, Feb. 23, will determine the
winner. The regular season's first and
second place teams will receive first
round byes and will not begin playing
until the semifinal round. Friday's
first round will be a doubleheader
with the third and sixth place teams
playing at 7 p.m. followed by a
meeting of the fourth and fifth place
teams at 9 p.m.
At the same times on Saturday
night, semifinal action will pit the
first place bye against the winner of
Friday’s second game and the second
place bye against the first game's
winner. The championship game will
take place on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 2
p.m.
The University of Alabama at Bir
mingham will not be eligible to par
color television and stereo radio
broadcast of symphony orchestra
concerts and other fine arts pro
grams.
“We can see nothing but growth for
WFAE,” Pittman said.
UNCC boasting Wildcat victory
It was a neck-to-neck race for too
long, until UNCC finally decided to
stick their necks out further to go
ahead and beat Davidson and John
Gerdy 93-83. In their first meeting,
ever, fears that the snow would keep
the crowds away, were swept aside, as
area fans filled the coliseum.
There will be no trophy and no
changing of the coliseum floor's color.
However, UNCC fans have the trium
phant right to say “We beat David
son.”
Vic Bubas, Sun Belt commissioner.
ticipate in the tournament. The
Blazers are waiting for final clearance
from the NCAA to participate in the
national championship.
This is the first year the Sun Belt
Conference champion will qualify for
automatic entry into the NCAA
championship tournament. The Sun
Belt ranks as one of 16 conferences (of
the 24 qualifying for automatic entry)
that will receive a first round bye.
This bye is given to the 16 con
ferences with the best win-loss
percentage in NCAA playoffs over
the past five years. The Sun Belt is
currently tied for fourth place with a
.600 mark. Other Sun Belt teams will
be eligible for an at-large selection to
the tournament.
Murfreesboro, Tenn, will be the site
of the Mid-East Regionals at Middle
Tennessee State University. The Sun
Belt Conference champion will be
playing against the champions from
the Big Ten, the Southeastern Con
ference and the Mid-American Con
ference. Murfreesboro and Indiana
University in Bloomington, Ind., will
host the second round. The Mid-east
Regional will be held at Butler
University at Market Square Arena
in Indianapolis, Ind. and the finals
will take place at Salt Lake City,
Utah.
For UNCC, though, it all begins at
the Sun Belt Tournament. Ticket
books for all five games are still
available by calling 597-2354.
This afternoon, a coin will be tossed
to decide (between South Florida and
UNCC) who will get the second place
bye for the first round in the Sun Belt
Tournament, beginning this weekend.
State tournament action for the
Lady 49ers begins tonight at 5 p.m. in
the Mine Shaft. The Mean Green
women will head for Campbell College
Thursday in the second round of tour
nament action if they win tonight
against Guilford College.