North Carolina Newspapers

l,l,"'RlUW! p I U Around and around The UNC head football' coach merry-go-round gained two more riders Thursday. Miami of Ohio's Dick Crum and former Tennessee coach Bill Battle are now under consideration. See page 3. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Volume 85, Issue Ho.JA J Friday, January 20, 1S78, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Please call us: 933-0245 Drier The all-too-familiar rain should end by tonight, and there's a good chance for a clear weekend, with highs in the upper 30s. The low tonight will be 30. n f' 4 1 pp fflar Storm freezes town; knocks out electricity Ice-laden tree limbs make beautiful hazard By KEITH HOLLAR City Editor and TONY GUNN State and National Editor Freezing rain crippled Chapel Hill Thursday night, downing trees throughout the city and resulting in massive power outtages in several areas. No power outtages were reported on campus, however, said E. E. Blackwood of the University Power Plant. "We haven't had any calls at all," he said. "The cables are under ground on campus, so the ice can't get to them." Throughout this evening we have had heavy (power) outtages in several main circuits," Paul Martin, Chapel Hill district manager for Duke Power Co., said Thursday night at 9:30. "We estimate that we've had as many as 4,000 customers (households) throughout the evening and night without power and for different durations, some for three . to four hours." He said two circuits remained partly out at 9:30 p.m., one serving areas on Farrington Road and the other serving the area along Franklin Street from Estes Drive west' into the downtown area. "That's the situation now," Martin said. "We could have more areas out in five minutes. "If the weather conditions remain the same throughout the night and into the morning, it could be Friday afternoon before we get all the power restored." A winter-storm and flash-flood watch was in effect, and the forecast called for continued rain, possibly ending late this afternoon. On campus, University Police reported about 9:30 p.m. that falling trees had presented the most problems, damaging cars and breaking phone lines. University Police had no record of personal injuries, however. Power was off from approximately 6 to 9 p.m. in Granville Towers and the surround block, then went off again about 40 minutes later. People were stuck in elevators for a few minutes, "but everyone got out okay," one resident reported. Decision due Monday Raleigh rally urges Hunt to pardon Ten By STEPHEN HARRIS Staff Writer RALEIGH A crowd of about 75 persons braved heavy rains to attend a rally Thursday night in support of a pardon of innocence for the Wilmington 10. Meeting at the First Baptist Church, the assembly heard the rally's chief speaker, Mrs. Elizabeth Chavis of Oxford, mother of imprisoned Ten defendant the Rev. Ben Chavis. She called on Gov. Jim Hunt to show "moral courage" and to do what is right, no matter how controversial it is. Mrs. Chavis called the Wilmington 10 trial a miscarriage of justice which only can be corrected by a pardon. Hunt plans to announce Monday night whether he will grant the jailed civil rights workers a pardon of innocence or a pardon of forgiveness, commute their sentences or leave them in prison. The Ten are nine black men and one white woman convicted on charges of arson and shooting at firefighters and police officers during racial unrest in Wilmington in 1971. "People ask me why a pardon for the Wilmington 10," Mrs. Chavis said. "Two reasons. First, all of the defendants are completely innocent. Second, the defendants were framed. 3. s , . I r A - ? y $t J f , 4f M I 4 f i. , . . s ' , . I ' ' , . i " ( M i Ti-'"-.' x - SfAu,', )f - - " - - - - 1 i i V; pji. "rJDri-T : j - -V -c- ' - - - I - - - - - Ice man The owners of these bicycles will find themselves with cold seats this morning after the ice storm left these lovely, crystalline and cold remnants. Staff photo by Billy Newman. Commission: no order By EVELYN SAHR Staff Writer TheN.C. Utilities Commission apparently will not order Southern Bell to rebate area subscribers money it collected from them for property taxes the utility did not pay for in 1977. . Chapel Hill Alderman Bob Epting, howevergtiU. plans to petition the utilities commission to force Southern Bell either to give a rebate to its subscribers or to make a voluntary contribution in lieu of taxes. "While I wouldn't say that there is no hope, it would be very hard to prove that one part of North Carolina would be entitled to a refund where another would not be," Hugh Wells, head of the utilities commission public staff, said Wednesday. Southern Bell avoided paying local property taxes for last year for property it purchased in March from UNC, even though it charged area phone subscribers for the taxes through its monthly service charges. Because of a tax loophole, almost 99 percent of the property Southern Bell purchased from the UNC-owned Chapel Hill Telephone Co. was assessed as tax exempt for 1977. Anything less (than a pardon) would compound the original injustice to the Wilmington 10." Speaking under a banner which read, "Human Rights Begin at Home, Free the Wilmington 10." Mrs. Chavis said, "The eyes of the entire world are on North Carolina. "You have actually saved the lives of the Wilmington 10; you have saved Ben's life... from the slow death of being forgotten about." Mrs. Chavis contended that the restrictions of a parole coming from commutation would limit the actions of The Ten for many years to come. "I trust and pray that Gov. Hunt will end the injustice to the Wilmington 10," she said. j .. Mrs. Chavis received a standing ovation. At the gathering letters and telegrams from across the country and one from abroad were read, including a letter from the Carolina Gay Association. Following the rally, participants were scheduled to march three blocks from the church to the Governor's Mansion carrying flashlights, simulating a candlelight vigil. The procession was to circle the mansion and return to the church before breaking up. Hunt's announcement of his Ten decision will be broadcast live Monday on statewide television. returneth Area tax officials estimated the loss in tax revenue to the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County governments to be $400,000. "While $400,000 may be insignificant to Southern Bell, which nets over $100 million a year, it means a great deal to us," Epting said. Although an appeal which would force the utility to pay the back taxes is before the Property Tax Commission, "we will still file a petition to the (utilities) commission," Epting said. Wells explained, however, that asking the utilities commission to require Southern Bell to refund the money would not be the most practical thing to do. "Because of the way the commission sets the rates that Southern Bell charges, there is no way that you could isolate the property taxes in a way to apply them against the Chapel Hill rates," Wells said. "That $400,000 you're talking about is such a small amount, you'll not likely be able to show the commission where it fits in." Epting admits that Wells "didn't hold out a lot of hope that we'd get Southern Bell to rebate it. However, we don't have a consumer-oriented utilities commission. f If proposed architectural changes to the Carolina Union are approved, the number of bowling lanes in the basement will be reduced from 12 to six. Staff photo by Nancy Golz. Bowling alley to be cut in half By ROBERT THOMASON Staff Writer The Carolina Union may lose half its bowling lanes if the current plan for the renovation and expansion of the Carolina Union is approved. J. Hyatt Hammonds Associates, the architects handling the changes, presented drawings to the Carolina Union Board of Directors Wednesday afternoon. If the plan is approved by the UNC Board of Trustees this spring, the Carolina Union board hopes construction can begin within a year. Moss, to hush surplus fun By HOWARD TROXLER StafT Writer Three, members of Student Government agreed in October 1977 to keep the amount of money in a surplus fund hidden from members of the Campus Governing Council, the officials admitted today. Student Body President Bill Moss, Student Body Treasurer Todd Albert and Phil Searcy, CGC Finance Committee chairperson, agreed in mid-October not to divulge the surplus amount to members of the CGC or to the student body. CGC member Darius Moss accused Student Government of withholding information concerning the surplus in an article that appeared in the Daily Tar Heel Thursday.' The DTH article reported that Student Government had a surplus fund of $184,443 as of May 16, 1977, and that the amount was not discovered until Nov. 22, 1977. Treasurer Albert said Thursday he had the information concerning the surplus before the surplus figure was made available to a few CGC members in late November. "I could have easily told anyone who wanted to know how much money we had, but I was told not to give out the amount by the people I first informed of the surplus, namely, Bill M oss," Albert said. "They were afraid that the amount would be misunderstood, which it has been." President Moss defended the decision Thursday. "The rationale behind all this has been that if this general surplus amount is a widely on Bell North Carolina has a reputation to be a rubber stamp for utilities as much as any utility commission in the country." Because the service rate is determined by the number of phone subscribers in an area, Epting said that he is trying to get more information from other areas in North Carolina which have the same number of phone subscribers. "1 want to find out what percentage of the other areas' rate bases actually comes out to be taxes," he said. "This way I can determine what a fair portion here ought to go out for taxes." However, Mike Carson, Chapel Hill district manager for Southern Bell, said Tuesday, "1 doubt seriously that Southern Bell will make a donation or a rebate. In fact, the utilities commission would frown on that because the money would come out of the . tax money collected from every telephone consumer's pocket in North Carolina. Besides, there's so many things that makeup a local service charge nobody can tell me what the right price should be. "1 think enough has been said about the tax situation. We didn't write the tax law, and we're not purposely trying to violate a law," he said. m The proposed plan, which would cost $1.75 million, met with some opposition from the Carolina Union directors. The plans call for elimination of the eight northern lanes of the alley, which is located in the Carolina Union basement. Two lanes would be added to the southern part of the alley, displacing the WXYC studios and the Student Graphics workshop. WXYC and Student Graphics would be moved to the planned Carolina Union addition. A restaurant would replace the northern lanes. The restaurant would be serviced by a See EXPANSION on page 2. Iff I Li others agree known figure, then the CGC will be in a position to be manipulated into dealing with this money in a way in which it would otherwise not do," Moss said. Moss termed the article Thursday misleading and sensational. "Although the amount given as being in the general surplus was really there, we couldn't spend all of it," he said. Albert explained the seeming inconsistencies about the true amount of the surplus in the article Thursday. "When I told someone that there was $80,000 in the general surplus, I meant that's how much we could spend," Albert said. Albert said that as fees for the fall semester began coming in, the amount of money that Student Government could spend rose, thus accounting for the different and widely varying estimates of the general surplus among CGC members. Albert criticized CGC member Darius Moss, who was quoted in the article as blaming the Director of the Stuflent Activities Fund Office, Frances Sparrow, for the lack of information concerning the surplus. "It's not Mrs. Sparrow's job to tell people how much money they have," Albert said. "Her job is simply to keep the records. CGC didn't even try to find out for themselves how much was in the surplus. Instead, they relied on members such as Darius Moss." Searcy, CGC finance committee chairperson, agreed with Albert. "Darius was completely out of line in blaming SAFO," Searcy said. CGC to discuss investing new-found hidden monies The Campus Governing Council will discuss at its Jan. 31 meeting a proposal that a portion : of the general surplus be invested. The proposal calls for the investment of the surplus funds through the University's pool of investments. Representatives of Student Government contacted Wayne Jones, assistant vice chancellor for finance, about the possibility of investment earlier this year. "As far as the University is concerned, it would be no problem to invest the surplus if Student Government approves it," Jones said Thursday. Jones said University Honor Code changes get CGC committee approval; Council to consider today By JACI HUGHES Staff Writer The Rules and Judiciary Committee of the Campus Governing Council unanimously approved Thursday a set of proposed Honor Code changes that includes elimination of the so-called "rat clause." The Faculty Council will consider the same proposals at its 3 p.m. meeting today. The CGC will vote on the proposals at a special meeting Tuesday. The changes must be approved by the Faculty Council, the CGC and the chancellor. The proposals were drawn up by the Committee on Student Conduct, a joint student-faculty group. The "rat clause" is the provision in the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance that requires students to report H onor Code violations by other students. The COSC proposals also recommend that a statement of faculty responsibilities, including proctoring, be appended to the Instrument. Other proposed changes in the Instrument include: Making suspension the "normal sanction" for first academically related offenses. Probation would be the only lesser sanction which the courts could impose in such cases. Extending the minimum length of indefinite suspension. Indefinite suspension now carries a minimum length of the balance of the semester in which the sanction is imposed. Under the new proposals, indefinite suspension would last one semester beyond the semester in which the sanction is imposed. Making probationary sanctions more meaningful by prohibiting students on probation from being inducted into campus In the article. Bill Moss and Albert contended that some sort of surplus fund must be maintained at all times for three reasons: Cash flow. "Just because the surplus figure is there on paper as what we can spend doesn't mean that money is really there in the bank," Albert said. "That's why we need to keep a surplus for cash flow purposes." Albert said that at the beginning of the year, before any student fees come in, the budget already has been approved, and student organizations begin spending money. But since no student fees are yet in, there must be a cushion in the Student Government account. Long term expenses, such as machinery for Student Graphics, WXYC and other groups. Emergency funds. "There is a need for emergency fundi in case the unexpected happens, and there is a need for the money," Moss said. He cited examples such as possible lawsuits against Student Government or breakdowns of Student Government-owned machinery, Albert estimated that approximately $40,000 should be kept in the surplus fund at all times for these reasons. Moss emphasized the need to make sure there were sufficient funds in the surplus. "It's critical that we safeguard our credibility," he said. "Student Government doesn't want checks bouncing all over the place." investments usually earn about 7 percent interest. He said the investment could be returned to Student Government upon request. The surplus funds have accumulated over several years, according to Student Body Treasurer Todd Albert. At the end of each fiscal year, all unspent student fees go into the surplus. Actual revenue from student fees usually exceeds the estimate on which the Student Government budget is based, Albert said. The extra fees also go into the surplus fund. - HOWARD TROXLER honoraries. Students on probation also would be required to report to an Honor Code counselor. Creating the position of an Honor Code counselor who would hold mandatory conferences with all students placed on probation and insure that each student complies with the terms of his probation. Before the Faculty Council votes on the proposed changes in the Instrument, it will consider a set of faculty responsibilities designed to create joint student-faculty participation in the Honor Code. The responsibilities include: "To exercise proper security in the distribution and collection of examination papers and to be present in the classroom ' during an examination when the instructor believes his presence is warranted or when the circumstances, in his opinion, make his presence necessary." To avoid reuse of instructor-prepared examinations unless they are made available to all students. To report cheating to the Office of the Student Attorney General or the Office of Student Affairs and to cooperate in the investigation and trial of any alleged violator, including the giving of testimony. "To take all reasonable steps consistent with existing physical classroom conditions. . .to reduce the possibility of cheating on graded work". To inform students at the beginning of each course that the Honor Code is in effect and to present a clear definirion of plagiarism where appropriate. To identify which books or materials students may and may not use. To require students to sign a pledge on all written work that they have neither given nor received unauthorized aid.