Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 24, 1980, edition 1 / Page 6
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6The Dc:iy Tar HeelFriday. October 24. 1980 GE02GE SHADROUf, Editor 2 ,k 71 fit u 's. u 4j w'ij t w- T) in IT a James, Managing Editor Bad Kutkow, Assxiate Editor Thomas Jessiman. Associate Editor Kasin Rowtey, News Editor Pam Killey, University Editor MAS-nu Wacgonts, City Editor Jim Hummil, Stsie and National Editor Bill Fields, Sports Editor Maix Mursexl, Features Editor Tom Moose. Atts Editor Scott SixxIpe, Photography Editor Melanss Sill, Weekender Editor sj f- ; r. vfc I. ft 1 55 A year of editorial freedom A flawed process Today Chancellor Christopher C. Fordham III will submit to the UNC board of trustees a nomination for the new vice chancellor for University affairs. If approved by the trustees, this nominee who was selected from an initial pool of 95 applicantswill be the first person to hold this position in Carolina's history. He will play a major role in the development of the University in years to come, and one of his primary responsibilities, among various others, will be to report to the chancellor the status of minority students and employees on campus. Offices like admissions and financial aid, both of which play an integral part in black enrollment, will fall under the jurisdiction of this person. By creating this post, Fordham demonstrated his concern for the status of blacks on campus. After consulting members of the black faculty caucus and student groups, he made the decision this summer to create both this post and a University Affirmative Action office. In July, he appointed a committee to peruse the initial pool of applicants and to submit a final list of candidates for extensive interviews. This committee included two blacks (one faculty and one non-faculty) and four whites (three faculty and one student). But one glaring fact emerges from this list of committee members: No black student sat on the board, an inexcusable mistake considering that one of the major responsibilities of this new vice chancellorship is to be aware of the concerns of black students. This situation may or may not have had a bearing on the person finally chosen, but certainly this lack of representation cannot pass without comment. Student Body President Bob Saunders was asked to appoint a student to the committee, and he chose a white. Black Student Movement Chairman Mark Canady was not asked to make an appointment. And now, ho matter who is finally selected, Canady will rightfully question the prudence behind the entire process. He has complained that the committee failed to seek the opinion of black students, and he maintains that there is no excuse for this negligence. In an effort to combat this problem, the BSM collected more than 600 signatures favoring the nomination of Hayden B. Renwick, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. The signatures were presented to Fordham, but by the time Canady set up a meeting with the chancellor to discuss the selection process, Renwick had already been eliminated from the committee's final nominations. Canady is upset at the difficulty he had in communicating his concerns and those of the BSM to Fordham and the committee. This should not be the case. And yet, in many ways the whole selection process was unique because of the high number of applicants from the University faculty. Usually selection committees have open meetings where groups like the Black Student Movement and Student Government can present their preferences. But in this case, the confidentiality of the committee was essential. Fordham made the proper decision to ban such open meetings where the careers and reputations of the applicants might have been exposed to unfair attacks from students and faculty on campus. But, if open meetings were not possible, the chancellor and committee should have found another way to solicit the views of black students. Perhaps in the end Canady and the BSM would not have been satisfied with anyone but Renwick for the post, but Fordham's failure to appoint a black student to the committee and the committee's failure to actively seek the views of black students give Canady all the justification he needs to criticize the process and ultimately the final selection. Fordham should be commended for creating the office and working hard to make it function as soon as possible. Certainly, Carolina desperately needs the office and all that it can offer for blacks and other minorities on campus. But this office, because it is new, will become in essence whatever its first vice chancellor makes of it. Therefore, the final selection by Fordham and the trustees is all important. It is a shame, even an injustice, that whoever finally is named to the office will have to serve knowing that he was chosen without the very people he will represent believing they had a fair say in his selection. By THOMAS JESSIMAN In the late '60s whole floors of South campus dorms were empty. In the late '70s there was such a housing crunch that freshmen were forced to live three-to-a-room in rooms designed for two. Last year, 346 freshmen found upon arrival at Carolina that they had been placed in triples they had not requested. This year, that number was down to 85. Yet, the reduction in triples was not due to any new housing space discovered by the University but rather to a rolling admissions policy used for the first time that cut down the size of the freshman class. Clearly, in the '60s, dorm living was not as desirable as it became 10 years later. Now, with the high costs of living off campus, many students have moved back into the dorms. But an important development that could mean some relief for the inadequate housing facilities may be the construction soon of a new apartment complex on University property. When completed, the complex could house as many as 960 students and do much to ease the University's difficulties in housing its more than 3,000 freshmen every year. As Bob Saunders, student body president, pointed out recently, the University will find itself in a new role in the complex. Instead of the standard dormitory arrangement where the University can close the dormitories for vacations and where the outside doors are locked at a certain point in the night, with the new complex the University will assume the role of landlord to its tenants in much the same way as ether apartment owners. "I'm not sure the University has really understood yet what their new position will be," Saunders said. But perhaps, for students, just as important to easing the housing shortage on campus is finding new housing off campus. The Chapel Hill Town Council is considering a change in the zoning ordinances that would allow the construction of high-density housing units. The issue is being discussed by those who want to keep Chapel Hill's small town image and those who see a need for an expansion of the town's housing facilities. fly -4 DTHFile Photo Freshman tripled in University housing ...apartments, dorm space needed Saunders and Student Government have come out in favor of the high-density housing ordinance and this is the proper stand. Although enrollment at UNC is no longer increasing as dramatically as it was five or six years ago, the growth of employees and other staff at the University and the appeal of living in Chapel Hill for Research Triangle people have caused a real housing problem in both the Chapel Hill and Carrboro areas. The council should indeed attempt to protect the town feeling of Chapel Hill, but the obvious lack of housing should make clear to the council that it cannot avoid the facts and must opt for the ordinance change. The Carrboro Planning Board is already taking positive action in working to rezone land for high density housing and this initiative could go far to ease off campus housing in the future. One alteration in the housing situation that is not needed is the conversion of apartments into condominiums. Recently, the Chapel Hill Town Council voted 5-3 against condominium conversions taking place at the Oaks Terrace property and this set a positive precedent. For owners, cultivating condominiums makes for a much more profitable crop than apartments, but for students condominiums are a total loss. Instead of being able to rent an apartment at $330 a month, students would find themselves in a market where the same space would have to be bought for $60,000. After the vote favoring the interests of the Ccuth Cu'd!ng enca vcs a derm ...but now it has cnothcr uss students, Saunders was quick to send a note cf congratulations to the council members. The Chapel Hill Town Council must charts its zoning ordinances to allow high-density housing; only in that manner will off campus housing improve in the Chapel Hill area. In 1978 only eight of the apartment complexes in Chapel Hill had any vacancies and when those were added up the final total of empty rooms amounted to just 27. The situation has improved little since then and unless more apartments are built ui the future, things will get much worse. But there is one other possible solution to the housing crunch and it involves finding new dormitory space on campus. After the vacancies in the '60s, the University is not about to construct any new dorms, but there is the option of converting present buildings on campus into dorms. Student Government has made the suggestion, and it has its points, that Lcncir Hall could be converted into a dorm when the art department moves out in 1933. But perhaps even easier than converting Lenoir Hall, which has never been a dorm, is converting other buildings that have served in the past for housing. It does not take much research, looking through old Daily Tar HeePs, to find that Steele and South Buildings were once dormitories. The University's administration lives there now, and, though the buildings would make great locations for dormitories, the thought of forcing those people to move or asking them to make that kind of selfless sacrifice for students is totally ludicrous, of course. Thomas Jessiman, a junior English major from Newton, Mass., is associate editor for The Daily Tar Heel. TO) H '112)011(11131 1 a me? proHem in ail olc! world By WILLIAM DURHAM There is an important lesson to be learned from the Mary Cunningham brouhaha: As women become more of a force in business management, there has tobe a redefinition of the structure of interpersonal relationships that are so important in business. Cunningham, 29, Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College and a 1979 graduate of the Harvard School of Business Administration, was hired last year as executive assistant to Bendix Corp. Chairman William Agee. .Last month, she was promoted to vice president in charge of strategic planning. The fact that in only 15 months her power and responsibilities expanded dramatically and that she developed a close personal relationship with Agee, led to a situation ripe for rumors. Cunningham is partly a victim of Agee's unorthodox method of handling these rumors. Agee went public at a meeting of Bendix employees and declared, "It is true that we are very close friends and she's a very close friend of the family. But that has nothing to do with the way I and others in the company evaluate performance." ' Agee's protests did nothing more than inflame a public eager for gossip. And the lurid "expose" oublished in the press, as well as suggv jons that she was promoted without qualifications, put a great deal of pressure on Cunningham to resign. However, the blame cannot be laid entirely at the door of Agee. Cunningham was aware that, coming into the corporation as the assistant to the chairman, she was going to be the focus of resentment. She should have taken time to deal with this and form solid relations with her peers and the people she had beem promoted over. Instead, she and Agee broke these norms and took shortcuts. should not be office gossip, but that is not how the Jar dim said. real world operates,' At Large 'Like it or not, the business organization is basically a male culture," said Anne Jardim, a Simmons College professor and a co-builder of a Graduate Program in Management. "It is made up of rules, formal and informal. It has rituals of apprenticeship and coaching and moving up according to certain norms. Mary Cunningham and Bill Agee ignored all that. They said: 'We will set a style and no one else matters. " It is a shame that two people working together in a high management position cannot have a close personal relationship without being subjected to rumors. But that's the way it is right now. "Yes, women should be judged solely on their performance, and no, there Ideally, once the rumors started, Agee would have managed to kill them quietly. And ideally the two of them would have given the rumors less substantiation by curtailing their public appearances together. However, neither of these things . happened. And Cunningham took the old-fashioned way out: She left her job.. Was Cunningham indiscreet? She must have been aware of the rumors that were flying as a result of her promotion. Surely she knew that as a woman in a position of acute importance and responsibility, only 15 months out of business school, she would be in for malicious gossip no matter how qualified she was. If she expected that her talent would overcome the pressure built up by the gossip and Agee's misguided attempt to set the record straight, she was mistaken. "They should have known that whatever the chairman does, there is always a reaction within the company," said Margaret Hennig, Simmons College professor and Jardim's co-worker in the MBA program there. "They should have said, 'We will not appear at the U.S. Open (tennis match) together. We will not hold late-night suppers and breakfasts for vice presidential candidates in a suite we are sharing. We will consider the consequences of our actions.' " Unfortunately for Cunningham and for Bendix Corp., they did not consider carefully enough. It is not likely that Cunningham's fate will have a long-term negative effect on women in high positions and those hoping to be promoted. But there will be sexism in the executive suite until, as Tht St. Petersburg Times editorialized, "Enough women are promoted; to exective positions that it would, be inconceivable that they all stepped ia the boss's bedroom on the way to the top." However, while it is hardly fair to lay the cause of women in business at the door of Cunningham, the bottom line is that Agee still has his job and she doesn't. And this result certainly doesn't advance the cause of the woman executive. 1 It is to be hoped that there will be no more Mary Cunninghams in the business world. Her example serves to illustrate that as business becomes mere cf a two sex world, both men and women wiU have to discuss the balance of their personal and professional lives. Ajee and Cunningham made a mistake that cost both Cunningham and 1 the corporation others would do well to benefit from it. IVilliam Durham, a junior English major, is an editorial assistant for The Daily Tar Heel. it s EUdDii easy Being govemdDir- Hunt shakes hands, kisses babies in campaign By JOHN DRESCHER Being governor cf North Carolina isn't an easy job. Just ask Republican gubernatorial candidate I. Beverly Lake Jr.: I le is net even sure he wants the job. Lake is so concerned with the pitfalls of the governorship that he said he'd probably be happier if he didn't win the election. His campaign strategy surcests that he's trying hard to ensure his happiness for the next four years. Meanwhile, cur faithful governor, Jim Hunt, has been crisscrossing the state, fulfilling his duties as governor and also seeking votes. Tuesday he was back in Raleigh to njune a new crime-fihtin cgent hired by the Department cf Crime Control. Crime hz been listed by North Carolinians in recent surveys as the most important statewide concern, and Hunt has tsitn action. In a ceremony zX the state Capitol, he Initiated the mcnt forceful crime-stepping ection of l is term. He named a young Ri!e:h girl's the official Ciim: niter cf a move that 1$ sure to strike fear in the hearts cf z'A would-be criminals. Hunt suiJ the dc-, Tray, hid been selected from !00 ether dors I ccauie her or.er had submitted the b-e-J letter mi future cf Itr pt. Of coune, it can be auumei tl.:;.t Hunt penen: ui:::v.i',c::. Hi's net cr.sy lu?z coventor. "You mut rci be foe!. -J by the hiir in Toy's eye Hunt si:i. Then, fcmmecf him'.clf, hscded the d.v;s on?r, 9-c::r.-c!J ii.bry Hr'.tnUw, if Tray rtIv could sre. "Vt'tlS. K-l. tut :::-.;!:;.?$ the tur-i into t?;? rcfii -rtur," ?;'ryt; 1 S. V, ! n Jlluiy lc!J lluut t t said, "That's probably because of Tray." Since the appointment cf agent Tray, estimated crime rates for the remainder of the year have shown a drastic i eduction. It's not easy being governor, but this is just another example of the time and effort your governor puts into his thankless job. From there the governor was off to the farm of former Gov. Robert Scctt for a campaign cookout. Nearly 400 Democrats ate hot dogs and enjoyed the sunset. It's not easy being governor; eating hot dogs and enjoying sunsets can be a real chore. Hunt, between bites, urged the crowd to vote Democratic. Campaigning for fellow party members is another of the governor's responsibilities. When President Jimmy Carter was in Winston-Saiem recently, Hunt was on hand to introduce him to the crowd, hkh means he had to say all kinds cf ni;e things about the president. Sometimes it's really not easy being governor. Hunt, however, wet led hard cn his introduction. Hunt iild that it 2vc h';n great pleasure to introduce cne cf the greatest presidents in this century. Carter himself muit hive teen rendering whether I rani, get elected and have to run that mile next year and get passed by little girls and grandfathers. Hunt continues to campaign. Many candidates don't like to stump. They have to kiss babies with slobber all over their faces and shake the dirty hands of farmers. Lake seems to hate it. When he campaigns he talks to white-collar men with clean hands and mothers vho wipe their children's faces. Hunt loves it. It may not be easy, but he likes talking to the common masses. He just gets in his new helicopter and files all around the state to talk to his people. His helicopter? Gov. Hunt has a helicopter? Yes, it's a $1.4 million jet helicopter funded by the General Assembly for industrial recruiting, except that since the helicopter was delivered. Hunt has used it as much as the recruiters. He's even used it to fly to political events to campaign. Oops. Governors are net supposed to do that v 1 can see it now. Hunt files back to Ra!rh fem one cf his campaign trips. Insensitive reporters, net knowing how difficult the governor's jeb is. will rk him why he is abusing taxpayer's money by camprgnms in the state's helicopter. They'll peutcr him to name an official 192 D Government MluT.ar.egerr.em titer, and ask him why he isn't shaking as many dirty hands as he used to. They m";ht lly mieweJ all !0S Rocscult cr Jchn Kennedy had shown up to speak. him atcut V..:tur Uctby an.j the nu.u-ef M-ry r.ewspirer ti :crs, rut knowing wru Lb .tt-.kei 11 si. i .r i i s f- -rr -: m H t t:t;r. If they v,;:e in his p: .'. -n, tl e! re t'.tilcult it is t .Irg i :tr..?t. li.' ? the t .: r.'.e i) t li.;r.t rurs ii I.. r.cry r r. 1S.1 A that's t ? I ! Li : : e tf i t'.:s iry tun it. L:'e C 1 4'i a.'..: 11 t c ut cn Carter. He's na fix:!; he dur a't CCTA funds They just don't understand. Thry thaulj get off his I . case, i iey, it $ net c-iy c:;ns fovtrr.or. . . t a to r...:-h, it 41 t.l.tJrU c.j-t f,r The LV!y Tar h t C :: J. Hurst chu'rrr-.s r -"-' ! cnnt:u' :r.:
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 24, 1980, edition 1
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