Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Aug. 30, 1994, edition 1 / Page 8
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8 Tuesday, August 30,1994 Qfyt latlg ®ar 1M KeOy Ryan editor (5), | Established 1893 101 Years of Editorial Freedom Oversee, Don’t Overlook The University can’t afford to leave stones unturned, questions unanswered or money un accounted for. And UNC administrators shouldn’t stand for the University’s auditor sweeping potentially unflattering information under the carpet be cause he feared bad publicity. A recent state investigation has found that the University’s Internal Audit Director Edwin Capel regularly neglected to issue reports of financial irregularities in departments ranging from the Student Stores and the School of Busi ness to the Property Office and the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid. This isn’t an isolated problem. It’s one that has repeated itself not once, but several times over the course of eight years. Capel has worked for UNC since 1981. It’s time to end this blatant contempt for the taxpayers ofNorth Carolina. And it’s time for an answer that explains why UNC didn’t notice or respond to the irregularities sooner. Until recently, Capel answered to Wayne Jones, vice chancellor for business and finance. But Chancellor Paul Hardin, upon learning of the discrepancies, changed the auditing process so Capel will answer to him effective Sept. 1. Hardin’s reasoning is that the audit will have more “clout and credibility” under his charge, even though he says the audit’s chain of com mand was not the problem for the past eight years. Eliminating the middleman—the vice chan cellor for business and finance only means that the already overworked chancellor will have even less time to ensure the University’s finan cial integrity. The vice chancellor is the one best able to fix financial irregularities as they arise because he is Lower Rent for the Homeless More than 100 students are living in tempo rary on-campus housing. These students, who are forced to share tight quarters in dorm lounges, should be put up at as low a cost as possible until the housing department can find them the rooms it guaranteed. Wayne Kuncl and the housing department have made a whole-hearted effort to accommo date all the freshmen who are guaranteed hous ing. Because certain kinks in the system like accurately predicting how many of the students UNC admitted will actually show up in the fall can never be worked out perfectly, some unlucky students every year will end up in make shift campus housing for the first, difficultweeks. The students living in lounges —with little personal space, no phone and no idea when they will be moved to their permanent room are paying 80 percent of the full housing rate for every day they live in temporary housing. That’s right. 80 percent. The standard double-room rate of $985 per Cooperative Cabinet Beginning this year, thanks to a decision by Student Body President George Battle, the Cabi net meetings of the executive branch of student government will be open to the public. This action was long overdue, and it is a positive step toward achieving a better student government with greater campuswide participation. There was virtually nothing gained by keep ing the executive branch meetings closed to the public. Student government is supposed to be the students’ collective voice, one that is acknowl edged by the administration. It is only appropri ate that the entire student body, rather than an elite cadre of elected and appointed officials, has the opportunity to be involved. Low student participation in past campuswide elections has plagued the University. Some stu dents may have been alienated in the past by a THE DAILYTAR HEEL Business & Advertising Staff Buwwti and Advwtising: Kevin Schwartz. Cluiifwd/Cuttonw Svic: Melissa Allam, Logan, assistant account executives: Tina Collie. director/general manager Chrissy Mennitt Dodie Brodsky. Jacson Lowe. Leah Richards, Holly office assistant advertising director. Leslie Humphrey, classified ad Stepp and Justin Williams, representatives. Advertising Production: Bill Leslie, manager/ manager Holly Aldndge. business manager Jell Display Advertising: Kristen Boyd. Michelle ClHton. system administrator. John Mims and Denise Kilman. advertising manager. Amy Cojac, Tiffany Krueger. Gidget Lamb, Megan Walker, assistants Business Staff Jenny Schwartz, assistant Stephenson. Kathy Trent and Ashley Wddis. manager account executives; Nina Hashway and John Editorial Staff Assistant Editors: Alison Maxwell, arts/diversions Holly Williams Layout Jill Lovelace. Michelle Lambeth, city. Emma Williams, features: Copy: Jennifer Neckyfarow. Chrissy Sweeney and Photography. David Alford. Jonathan Radcliffe and Adam Davis. Jacson Lowe and James Whitfield. Sue Taylor. Shelly Romero. sports; Chad Austin and Alison Lawrence. Editorial: Michelle Chan. Gregory Dreher and Sports: Andy Alley. Doug Behai. Seth Brown. Gautam sportsaturday Ryan Thornburg, state and national; Meredith Nicholson. Khandelwal. Erin Parrish. Robbi Pickeral, Jill Marissa Jones and Judy Royal. University Features: Chris Nichols, senior writer Marshall Santopietro, Frank Wang and Scott Weaver. Arts/Diversions: John Neiman. Mark Pnndle. Jon Benbow. Jonnelle Davis. Jennifer Fuller. Michelle University Ali Beeson. Kari Cohen. Jeni Cook. Vida Rich and Charlie Speight Huggins. Alllison Ince, Dana Meisner, Rachel Miller. Foubister. Rachael Landau and Heather Robinson. Cartoon: Brian Kahn. Holly Ramer, Jenny Schmidt and Mary Cameron Editorial Production: Stacy Wynn, manager City Bill Blocker. Nicole Galbo, Kathryn Hass. Van Gruaafeiland. Printing: The Chapel Hill News. Kristen Laney. Sarah Mcßride. Jacob Stohler and Graphics: Todd Barr and Chris Kirkman. Distribution: Triangle Circulation Services. The editorials are approved by the maionty of the editorial board, which is composed of the editor, editorial page editor and three editorial writers. The Daily Tar Heel is published by the DTH Publishing Corp.. a nonprofit North Carolina corporation. Mondayfriday. according to the University calendar. Callers wrth questions about billing or display advertising should dial 962-1163 between 830a m. and 5 p.m Classified ads can be reached at 962-0252 Editorial questions should be directed to 962-0245/0246 Office: Suite 104 Cwofeia Union ISSN #IO7O-9436 Campus meg address: CB 5210 Bos 49. Caroline Union U.S. Mel address: P.O. Box 3257, Choral Mil NC 275153257 HuniMis Cunhinis EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR Amy Ptouk university editor Janie Kriber CITY EDITOR Jenny Heinien STATE 6 NATIONAL EDITOR Steve Robblee sports editor Jon Goldberg FEATURES EDITOR Wendy Mitchell arts/diversions editor HoDy Stepp special assignments editor Kathryn Sberer copy desk editor Katie Cannon PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Job Casern design/graphics editor Kelly Peacock layout editor Jake MaeNeDy editorial cartoon editor Justin Scheef SPORTSATURDAY EDITOR close enough to the management level to work toward solutions. But, clearly, that safety valve is not enough to offset Jones’ obvious conflict of interest in working close to department heads. The University’s auditor also should answer to the Board of Trustees, which would be less susceptible to departmental politics. The BOT, then, could watch over the vice chancellor to make sure all monetary problems had been noted and dealt with. By also involving the BOT, which is far away from the daily brouhaha of campus administra tive life, the University would be assured that a more unbiased party would be part of the audit ing process. In 1989, the state auditor’s office “strongly recommended” that the UNC auditor report directly to the BOT instead ofto the vice chancel lor for business and finance. That recommenda tion was dismissed five years ago and was ig nored again recently by Chancellor Hardin. Hardin said the incident boiled down to Capel having made a bad judgment call that the discrepancies were not the fault ofJonesorofthe reporting process. And the chancellor said he wanted to change guidelines to ensure there would be no future confusion over when a report needed to be filed. But, certainly, something went awfully awry for Capel to spend 5,277 hours over the course of eight years doing work that he never wrote reports on. Whose interests were being protected for the reports not to be issued? All the individual parties who stood to gain from the information not released by Capel’s office should come clean now rather than let the administration appear confused, incompetent or secretive. semester boils down to about $8 per day. If a student lived six weeks in a lounge, he would pay about $267 saving all of $67 for his inconve nience . Those suffering the indignity of spending their first college weeks with no secure home should not have to pay 80 percent of the full rate. Housing is a University auxiliary service and has to make ends meet without any University funding. Its administrators try hard to provide a service that students will want to pay for. But right now, the department is not losing money. Perhaps it could afford to cut a little more slack to the students making their homes in lounges. Those living in lounges are still using some services that housing has to pay for, like electricity, housekeeping, moving furniture around and hot water for showers. But surely these expenses can’t equal 80 percent of the totd costs for a double room in Carmichael. Housing has made a valiant effort to place everyone and provide acceptable service. But withinreasonable limits, it should strive to charge the lounge-dwellers as little as possible. system that was partially closed to them. Now, the executive branch joins Student Con gress as an institution open to the public. In creased interest in student government should be the result. If more able students are encouraged to participate in student government, the Uni versity will benefit tremendously. With the executive branch Cabinet meetings now open to the public, the University will be able to ensure that any bad government in the executive branch also gets the criticism it so richly deserves. Battle is to be commended for having taken this welcome action. His administration is well on its way toward becoming more responsive to the needs of the students it represents. The public can now watch and see if the rest of his administration’s policies will be as good govern ment as this early action. EDITORIAL g WMAMy IAORE I §oiJ IUFI> 0R SERMSLY mBEFORE Pur am c-./n -rw Tun fir's ry/s^ m-ruCd KVT AN E TO I/Ssr over t W ak I FtWVAtu, XtoUH f j \^AH What Kind of Friends Have You Made at UNC? Before one party, someone asked if I was going to invite this guy I used to date. Indignantly I said, “Of course I am; we’re still friends.” And then I paused. Friend is such a stupid, broad word to use in this situation. I’ve certainly shared more with him than with a lot of other friends, but I’m forced to describe him in the same manner as other random people. Even with more remote “friends,” this diffi culty arises. You can’t exactly introduce some one as “the guy in my Phil class who once dated a friend of a friend.” Not only does it sound stupid, but by the time you finish saying all of that, the two people you’re introducing have lost interest. In order to correct this, I have come up with the following designations: Hello Friends: people you meet once at C TOPS or at a party or some other random place. You don’t remember their names or anything about them. You’d forget their faces if they didn’t keep passing you in public places and waving frantically. These friends often know your entire history and feel obliged to ask you personal questions if they are able to comer you. Classroom Friends: a semester-long friend ship, based on a similar hatred of the course and of your classmates. You sit together every other day for four months, and then see each other maybe three times again before you graduate. Great possibility for deeper friendship, but not often realized. Campus Y Friends: a generic term for friend ships based on membership in any non-Greek organization. You’re all so swell, so upstanding, that you have to at least make a show of friend ship. This friendship is characterized by The Handshake and is often based on the political aspirations among that particular group. It can develop into deeper friendships as well. See also Friends You’ve Had (good/bad) Sex With. Sorority Friends: 100 of your best friends. Modem Fraternities Have Many Positive Qualities I am writing in response to the article by guest columnist David Ganz about the myths of the fraternity system. I start by saying that I was thrilled to see the DTH spending a bit of its space trying to foster an open debate about the UNC Greek system. With that said, I hope you realize how disappointed I was with the anti- Greek opinion of David Ganz. It was not the fact that he was against the Greek community that bothered me but the fact that he was so off base. I hope that this letter sets Ganz, and more importantly the UNC community, straight about the Greek community. Obviously, Ganz was not a member of any organization that forces people from all walks of life to live, dwell, exist and rely on each other. All Ganz focuses in on is the exclusions in fraternities that happened in the 19505. Using studies from the 1950s about the intolerance of fraternities is like saying that according to 1950s studies, getting a man on the moon is impos sible. You cite my fraternity, Lambda Chi Al pha, as an example of exclusion. Perhaps you should know that since the 19605, Lambda Chi Alpha has rushed and associated all men with no consideration of race, creed or color. Now while I admit that we have a way to go to be at the standards that we would like, we are actively working on the problem. Your article did noth ing to solve the problem other than actively foster the misconception to minorities that they are not welcome to come by my house, which is Burnette's Perspective Adds Value to Local School Board TO THE EDITOR: I expect a lot from the local school board. Through the intervention of the people they hire, I want all the youth entrusted to their care to maximize their skills and become socially re sponsible decision makers. Naturally it is hard to measure exactly how well this is done. I’m slow to praise; so when high SAT or Ivy League college enrollment is touted, I attribute much of this to the raw material our schools are asked to work with, but I’ll concede that smart kids from affluent homes can benefit from the Chapel Hill- Carrboro schools. I also feel the tutelage of Anthony Simpson is clearly an example of failure of the local school board. It is not that they wanted this outcome, but the programs they designed failed to prevent it. I’m sure they try, but I attribute part of their failure to their lack ofdiversity. LaVondaßumette brings anew generation and unique experiences to the board. I hope that she and her ideas can have an impact on the Anthony Simpsons still in the school system. Unfortunately, the board has tried to remove her since her first month on the board. Fraternity Friends: once you’ve shared more than three cases of beer with someone, they’ve seen enough embarrassing shit that you’d better be their friend. Any way, where would all the freshmen get free alcohol the first two weeks of school without them? IEANNEFUGATE STRAIGHT, NO CHASER Fraternity Friends (female): Hell, it’salways nice to have a place to crash after a hall crawl or going uptown, even if it means a little groping when the lights go out. These friends are early risers, leaving in the early morning hours to avoid a public Walk of Shame, and often to avoid seeing who is lying next to them. 21-Year-OldFriends: applicable only to those unlucky underaged readers. These are the people who live down the hall, and who are always willing to make an extra trip to the ABC store. Sometimes they require a little compensation in the form of shots/beer, so the ideal 21-Year-Old Friend is a nondrinker. Bartenders: anyone holding a whiskey bottle is a friend of mine. Smoking Friends (1): people forced to smoke outside due to anti-smoking propaganda. After a few shared smokes and bitter comments about being forced outside, a sort of friendship devel ops. It can grow into something more if you smoke at the same time and place every day. Smoking Friends (2): people whose friend ship is based on smoking, a lot, together. Like Drinking Buddies, you share a lot of experiences while smoking and get to know each other well. Friends You’ve Had (good) Sex With: those JEFF KILMAN just not true. Ganz focuses com pletely on hazing. GUEST COLUMNIST Hazing is a practice that goes on in many differ ent social groups from formal organizations, like hunting clubs and fraternities, all the way down to buddies going to a bar together. I want to actively voice that I truly believe that hazing is the worst way to build an organization. That is one reason that I joined the fraternity that I did. I want to also say that I have close friends in many fraternities on campus, and I have never heard stories like the ones Ganz’s investigative powers were able to dig up. Fraternities are actively running the steep tradition ofhazing out of their educational process. Most fraternities put their pledges through a semester of character-building lessons such as team trips, community projects and leadership skills. As fraternity educator of my house, I take great offense at your claim that fraternities do nothing more than to “preserve immaturity.” I welcome you to come to one of my meetings at my house, and then you can tell me if a session on date rape, building your own business or history of our house is immature. As for as academics, I believe that if you check the UNC numbers, you will see that the frater nity system has a higher GPA than the general student body. I know that in my house we have more than seven Morehead Scholars, and more than 20 Phi Beta Kappa members in the past two READERS’FORUM The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments and criticism. Letters to the editor should be no longer than 400 words and must be typed, double-spaced, dated and signed by no more than two people. Students should include their year, major and phone number. Faculty and staff should include their title, department and phone number. The DTH reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity and vulgarity. I am not trivializing Ms. Burnette’s mistakes; I’m forgiving them. And asking you to put some perspective on them. President Clinton delayed meeting the UNC women’s basketball champi onship team so he could attend the funeral of Tricky Dick. That’s right, folks; we had a presi dent whom everyone recognizes by that nick name. Pillars of our community leading the recall effort have lied. Saint Brock, in her radio SUje laily ©ar HM not-quite-lovers. For some reason or another you couldn’t have a serious relationship with them, but they’ll always be there for meaningless sex when your dating prospects are slim. More intimate than other friends, and also very good to have around. Friends You’ve Had (bad) Sex With: a not so-comfortable situation. One (or both) of you longs for the untroubled friendship before sex, due to feelings of embarrassment or insecurity. Often this makes the relationship tense, but be cause you’ve shared more than a beer, you don’t want to drop the friendship. These friends are also available when you’re single, but the previ ous category is more preferable. Friends You Haven’t Had Sex With, But Want To: the most exciting of categories. You’re both lusting after one another but won’t admit it, due to other commitments or stubbornness. A good drinking spree will usually cure this, mov ing them into a different category. Sometimes it’s better to remain in this category than to move to another (i.e. Friends You’ve Had (bad) Sex With). Drinking Buddies: the best of friends. A dark bar and free-flowing liquor/beer loosen up tongues and break down reserves. You don’t truly know someone until you’ve been drinking with them. The best kind are the loud, obnoxious bastards who aren’t embarrassed to yell out sexual histories and/or profanities. I guess I could end this by making some pretentious (ala high school) conclusion about good and bad friendships, about the real and the false ones, but I refuse to insult your intelligence. Draw your own conclusions and make your own friends. As for me, I think I’m going to go enjoy a beer with some of my friends. Jeanne Fugate is a junior English major from Ocala, Fla., who would gladly talk about her column over a Blue Cup tonight. years. Mosthouses structure timefortheirpledges where they study. Most pledges get their best grades that semester because of the structure. And finally, as far as your most serious charges of violence and rape, I believe that you have fallen off of the deep end. Name one case on this campus of a rape in a fraternity house in the past four years? Funny, I can’t, yet I can name at least 10 rapes that have happened in dorms, apart ments, campus, in broad daylight and near the hospital. You made a serious charge in a very glib way with your off-handed remark that frater nities have “raped their little sisters.” I person ally will not stand for comments like that. We as a fraternity community spend twice as much time discussing issues of rape, cultural diversity and race relations than you or any other member of the University community spends. Learn a little about the system that you, one, seem to condemn so much and, two, seem to know so little about. Give me a call. I would love the opportunity to show you the strength and positive changes that the fraternities of UNC strive for and attain. For you, the reader, I invite you to learn as much about us as you can before attacking or dismissing. I think we all have a fantastic opportunity to learn a great deal from each other. Jeff Kilman is a senior journalism major from Jacksonville, Fla. He is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at UNC. commercials, when she implies that no other real estate firms actually sell houses. Saint Mitchell, when she claims that the petition’s purpose is merely to “take the issue to the voters.” They don’t even have the ethical insight to recognize these lies, much less apologize for them. All humans have blemishes. Petition signer and board attorney (John) McCormick says he only wants the taxpayers to decide. Indeed that Freudian slip legalism may explain why Burnette has been hounded; she does not appear to be from the elite or wealthy class. It is a shame, 25 years after Howard Lee received international headlines on his election as mayor, that this very young black woman is subject to recall. There can be a bright side; a majority of ordinary voters can keep her in office. In effect, she has to win twice to convince the power structure that she should be treated as a board member. But I fear the legacy these peti tioners have sown is enmity and spite. All of this merely to demonstrate that a majority think they are holier than the minority. I count it a privilege to again vote for LaVonda Burnette so she has the opportunity to affect students the rest of the board hasn’t reached. A1 Carlson CARRBORO
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 30, 1994, edition 1
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