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(Mir ri o y Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Monday, October 27, 1975 Vol. 83, No. 44 Weather: rsin by Nancy Mattox Staff Writer Student Government may have a surplus of student fees that is close to $250,000, the Daily Tar Heel has learned. After a one-week investigation by the DTH, Student Government officials confirmed that the General Surplus, composed of unspent student fees from past years, could range anywhere from $40,000 to $500,000, with the actual amount probably being close to $250,000. However, as recently as last year, Student Government officials have said only $35,000 was in the General Surplus. The General Surplus is the money used by the Campus Governing Council for expenses at the beginning of each fall semester until student fees are collected. Throughout the year, any money not spent by student organizations funded by CGC reverts to the Williams on homecoming queen ballot by Tim Pittman Staff Writer Because of a decision by Carolina Athletic Association Chairperson Rob Friedman to allow all sponsored candidates to be in the Homecoming Court, Delmar Williams will become the first male to join the court. Williams will be one of 12 candidates to appear at half time of Saturday's football game. Homecoming queen elections will be held Thursday. In the past, the Homecoming Court has been limited to six candidates through a selection process handled by a Homecoming Selection Committee. Chip Cox, a staff member of Carolina, a campus publication which sponsored Williams as a Homecoming candidate, threatened last Thursday to file suit to prove the illegality of such a selection committee if Williams' name was not included on the ballot. Although the Homecoming Selection Committee interviewed all candidates Friday and selected six candidates for the court. Friedman decided to by-pass the committee's decision and allow all candidates to be listed on the ballot and participate at Saturday's game. Friedman would not release the committee's decision. However, he said the decision proved to him that the committee serves a valuable purpose. "Their decision was commendable, and it proved to me that such a committee is worthwhile in limiting the Homecoming Court." he said. He said he would take the necessary steps to incorporate the committee as a constitutional part of the Homecoming selection process. Friedman denied that Williams' candidacy forced him to allow all 12 candidates to be on the court. "I saw no reason to bog down Student Government with this sort of issue," Friedman said. "There was also no reason to see myself subjected to a Student Supreme Court suit because I've got too many things to do besides get involved in something like this," he added. Friedman said the candidates needed to be informed of a decision Friday, so they could go ahead with plans for the Homecoming weekend. Cox, who threatened the suit which could have delayed the election, could not be reached for comment Sunday night. Williams, however, said he thinks his candidacy did influence Friedman's decision. "1 definitely think my candidacy influenced his decision to allow all the candidates to be on the Court," Williams said. "Rob (Friedman) wanted to avoid a legal confrontation, and in many respects, so did I." Because Williams will be on the ballot and will be allowed to participate in the Homecoming election, Cox will not file suit, Williams said. Williams still contended ,that a Homecoming selection committee defeats the purpose of H omecoming by not allowing all candidates to run for queen. But he said that the committee was fair and he did not detect any bias during his interview. "The screening committee was very fair, and I was impressed by their attitude and questioning," he said. "I think they asked me fair questions and they did not reflect any concern that I was a male or that I was challenging a tradition." Roslyn Hartman, associate dean of student life and member of the selection committee, said the committee was both aware and concerned that its election concerned a male candidate. But she said Williams was given equal treatment in the interview and the decision. Bill Lam, UNC wrestling coach and member of the selection committee, agreed that Williams was given fair consideration in all facets of the committee's decision. general surplus. Several CGC members have expressed concern that if the actual amount in the General Surplus was revealed, student organizations would present over-inflated budget requests to CGC. The amount of funds held in the General Surplus has been closely guarded by CGC members. But. local attorney Robert Epting said the amount is, by law, public information. . According to Epting, all printed documents, letters, etc., made by public offices of the state and its divisions, including the University, are public information. Failure to supply such information to citizens is considered a misdemeanor, Epting said. Meanwhile, Student Government's unappropriated balance (funds in this year's budget to be used by organizations for unexpected expenses) has fallen to almost $5,000, forcing CGC to deny an increasing i '! ffjjl! sf r Wjl Jlf ill ff tt m. , V' ltkf ' tt i u m u w U yips-. h " ft " . ... . I x ' r; aiam)WWiiW rs?Ltit?i--'". y't""- I . i"- - - V s ,' , , :: ' : ' V ' : , - , " ' - ' . . .: v-::.:.,.y.: '. '-. :::: " yys.-ys.yy; -Jy v.y:.y . v . , -x. .- Yr,?js f ,s i y y v;-.v.;.-. ry,yt, ;,; , t ' ; - "'" . ' . . iv t v, . . r y. yyy-y.y&-vyy-y yv $a , ' a ' ,.t j It ' ' '''''"' s-V- ; ; . I j I J - -" " , - , v ' . j,,., ,T.. ....... . ir . Saturday was band day in Kenan Stadium. The band played far better than the Tar Heels, who lost to East Carolina Pirates 38-17-a sour note in a souring season. RHA proposes alternative to lottery plan Dorm sign-up plan combines persistence and lottery systems by Bob King Staff Writer The Residence Hall Association (RHA) proposed a modified persistence plan as an alternative to the housing department's lottery system proposed for this spring's dormitory room sign-up. The plan is explained in a column on today's DTH editorial page. Under the modified persistence plan, a high percentage of spaces could go to those students who waited in line. The remaining spaces would be allotted to those away from school on sign-up weekend, those who were closed out of the wait and those who preferred not to wait in line. RHA has not determined what percentage of spaces would be given to residents who decide to wait in line. The plan calls for a Saturday afternoon sign-up and does not allow students to begin waiting in line until an unspecified hour Friday evening. The plan would keep the penalties for cancellation, specified by the lottery plan. An applicant would lose half of his $50 deposit if he cancels within two weeks after being notified of his acceptance and all $50 if he cancels after the two-week period. The main problem with the plan, according to RHA Co-president Jay Levin,, would be keeping students from forming a line before the designated hour on Friday evening. Comptroller proposal by Merton Vance Staff Writer A proposed bill which would establish the office of student body comptroller was amended at a public hearing Sunday to state that the comptroller and the treasurer would have to approve any freezing of the Student government organization's funds. Under the original bill, which will be introduced to the full Campus Governing Council (CGC) next week, either the comptroller or the student body treasurer could freeze funds or requisitions of student organizations. The bill was amended to state that both the comptroller and the treasurer would have to approve fund freezes. By making two people responsible for such decisions instead of just one, co-authors number of group requests. According to Student Government laws, the unappropriated balance may be replenished by placing some of the General Surplus into the balance. However this has not yet been considered by the council. At the beginning of this year's series of financial controversies involving, among others, the Daily Tar Heel, the Black Student Movement, the Graduate and Professional Students Association and former Student Body Treasurer Mike O'Neal, the DTH was told by a CGC representative that a former Student Body Treasurer, Tim Dugan, told the council there was approximately $500,000 in the General Surplus. The representative said Dugan's statement was made during an executive session in the midst of last April's budget hearings. Under Student Government law, all proceedings taking place during an executive Housing's lottery system would allot each dorm space by drawings in the residence areas. Each applicant would have an equal chance to return to his dorm under the plan. Levin said Sunday the RHA plan "seems to give students control over getting back into their dorms while not solving the problems of long line waits." RHA Secretary Bernie Zimmerman said the plan offers solutions to each of the problems which forced the housing department to come up with a plan different from last year's persistence method. The persistence method in which students waited in lines to reserve spaces, ran into three - major problems last year. A few instances of line-breaking were reported, Petition criticizes bus by Sue Cobb Staff Writer A petition signed by 40 Chapel Hill residents, against the purchase of bus driver uniforms was submitted to the town transportation department last week, according to Transportation Director John Pappas. The petition is one of several recent attempts to have the town reconsider an Oct. 13 decision of the Board of Aldermen to allow the purchase of the uniforms. of the SH Ben Steelman and Dick Pope said they hope to provide a better system of .checks and balances between the offices of treasurer and the proposed comptroller. If the two offices could not agree on whether to freeze funds or not, ultimate authority would rest with the CGC to resolve the problem, according to Pope and Steelman. The amendment to the bill arose out of a hearing on the proposal held by the CGC Rules and Judiciary Committee. At the public hearing, several students expressed concern over the transfer of powers from the treasurer to the proposed comptroller. Under the present system. Pope said, CGC has no checks and balances over the treasurer. He expressed concern that the treasurer and student body president might withhold financial information from CGC. session are to be held in strict confidence by CGC members. Revealing' any information discussed in such a session is considered an Honor Code offense. However, a council member told the DTH that he thinks information involving an accumulation of student fees should be public knowledge. All but three of the present 1 7 members of CGC who attended last year's budget meeting were asked if they remembered Dugan's disclosure of the half-million dollar surplus. Reps. Tal Lassiter and Laura Dickerson said that while they could not remember the exact amount of the surplus, they recalled it was sizable. Dickerson, CGC speaker pro tern, said, "I remember being flipped out by the amount of money it was." Other CGC members were reluctant to comment on the closed session. Dave Rittenhouse, Administrator and many students missed classes because of long waits. Also, a number of students who wanted to return to University Housing were out of town on legitimate University activities on sign-up weekend. The problem of line breakers could be solved with better monitoring of the lines, she said. Long waits would be eliminated by allowing lines to form no earlier than the designated Friday evening time, and the problem of spaces for those away for University activities would be solved by the partial lottery. Officially, RHA favors neither the modified persistence nor total lottery because it is trying to measure student opinion on the issue. Written by citizen Cora-Jo Blair, the petition stated, "We like the idea of our drivers having, the freedom to wear w hat they please to work... If you sincerely believe uniforms will make the driver and bus system look more professional, then you are sincerely mistaken. It is only going to make you and the town look ludicrous." The petition also suggested that the money allocated for uniforms be used instead to clean the town's buses. Pappas said he has also received a few letters and phone calls criticizing the amended He said the comptroller would be accountable to the CGC and would thus prevent withholding of information. CGC member Michael Grissom said at the hearing he is concerned about the possible conflict over signing of requisitions by the treasurer and the proposed comptroller. Pope then suggested that both officers should sign requisitions and that, in the event of a conflict between the two offices, a majority CGC vote would be required to resolve the problem. Pope and Steelman both say the comptroller's office would ease the workload of the student body treasurer without duplication of services. A second public hearing on the comptroller bill will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 205 of the Union. Committee chairperson, said the $500,000 figure is completely wrong. When asked if any amount was specifically mentioned. Rittenhouse said, "A few figures were batted around, but I'm not going to give you any amount on that." A conflicting account came from Rep. Zapp Jennings. "I was at the budget meeting but no (surplus) figure w as mentioned at all." Jennings said. Ben Steelman and Miguel de Valverde said Dugan revealed the amount of the surplus, but that it was less than S500.000. When asked what the figure was. Steelman answered. "I don't recall. I thought it was S300.000. but I'm sure it has been depleted considerably since that time." Student Body President Bill Bates told the DTH last week he thought the General Surplus is between S40.000 and S60.000. Bates said Sunday, however, that he had discovered the actual amount is probably Staff photo by Martha Steven RHA members, residence directors, interested students and housing department employees will speak at dorm meetings this week to outline both sides of the controversy. RHA will also distribute questionaires sometime late this week to gauge student opinion. In a related development, a group of Scott College (Avery, Parker and Teague) residents is currently circulating petitions against the lottery. Teague resident Eddie Gibson said Sunday the petition is intended to determine student opinion on the sign-up systems as well as to advocate the persistence method. Housing Director James D. Condie was unavailable for comment Sunday afternoon. uniforms purchase of the uniforms, but that the transportation department has been told to carry out the board's decision to buy the uniforms. "There are a lot of issues facing the bus system right now that are more important than uniforms." Pappas said. "The uniform issue is getting more attention than it's really worth. And what does not get mentioned is that there are drivers who are in favor of having uniforms more than 10 percent do. Pappas said he thinks Mayor Howard N. Lee has bent over backward during his tenure to ensure that the public's opinion is represented in board decisions. He added that he thinks the aldermen received public input before voting on the issue. It is impractical to have any business or operation take a vote on every action it makes. Pappas said. "The town listens to its employees, but it doesn't run by democratic process everything that goes on." "This is not a big issue with me." he continued. "It's not going to kill us if we don't hav e uniforms and it w on't kill us if we do. Overall support for the bus system is what's important." Mayoral candidate Gerry Cohen, the only alderman who voted against the purchase of uniforms, said he thinks the board ignored public opinion in making its decision. The decision could be reversed by another vote if the newly elected board is opposed to the purchase. Cohen said, adding that he is still strongly opposed to requiring uniforms. Cohen's opponent Jimmy Wallace said he too w ould oppose purchasing uniforms, if it could be determined that the public is against having them. higher. He said his original climates were given to him by O'Neal. Dugan said Saturday he was apparently misunderstood by several council members at the budget meetings. He said he urged the council to enter into Executive Session because he thinks he had information not already presented to the council by the Finance Committee. There was heated discussion. Dugan said, over how much money to appropriate to student groups, with some council members fearing that the unappropriated balance would be lowered to an unacceptable amount. Dugan said he suggested the unappropriated balance be set between S4.000 and S5.000 - half the amount usually appropriated because "there would be enough money in the surplus to take care of Please turn to page 2 Lack of funds causes temporary shut-down by Laura Seism Staff Writer The Chapel Hill Drug Action Committee has temporarily suspended operations of Genesis House, a drug rehabilitation center, because of a lack of funds, committee chairperson Robert Williams announced Friday. The Drug Action Committee is a non profit organization which directs the operations of Genesis House and other counseling services. For the past two years. Genesis House has been funded with state-appropriated money from the N.C. Drug Commission and matching local funds. The grant from the Drug Commission was not renewed when it expired last June, and the nation's economic situation has made obtaining matching funds from both individuals and foundations more difficult. Williams said. The drug committee could have maintained the Genesis House project until next June, but running a good program w ould be very expensive. Williams said. The committee could not guarantee matching funds, and there would be no money to finance the construction of a larger facility that could serve more people, he said. The present Genesis House facility serves five people. If a new structure is not built, the number of people helped would be small in relation to the cost. Williams said. "There is still a need for a residential drug treatment center in the Chapel Hill area, but we (the drug committee) had to face realities." Williams said. Thirty of the 150 acres surrounding Genesis House have been sold. Williams said, and 50 acres are in the process of being sold. Thirty of the remaining 70 acres may be kept, but the committee has not voted on this yet, he said. Williams said the drug committee is exploring new avenues for obtaining operational funds, but that this could take several months. One possibility is obtaining another grant from the N.C. Drug Commission, he said. If no funds can be found, the drug committee may allow a state or University agency to use its facilities. A new residential facility, not based on the concept of a self sustaining farm as Genesis House now is. is a second alternative. Williams said a Genesis fund that would make pilot grants to youth centered programs across the state is a last resort. Genesis House, located on Bethel Church Road outside Carrboro. was originally designed to have its residents help finance the program by farming part of the 150-acre tract. Williams said. But the program never became self sustaining, he said. Instead, private donations, foundation grants and Episcopal Church donations sustained the project. Two years ago, the drug action committee sought and received a grant from the N.C. Drug Commission to provide operational funds, but this grant was not renewed when it expired last June. At that time, the Orange-Person-Chatham Mental Health Center, which administers the state grant to Genesis House, requested a demonstration grant, which is awarded for demonstration and research projects. But the proposed program did not meet the guidelines for research projects, and the funds were denied. Williams said. The mental health center appealed the decision, this time not asking for a demonstration grant, but the grant was again denied. The drug commission funded projects in other areas of the state, Williams said.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 27, 1975, edition 1
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