Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / April 8, 1982, edition 1 / Page 8
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8The Daily Tar Heeinhursday, April 8 1Q82 OTANY-ZOOLOGY. MERGER (Mr 90i .year o editorial freedom John Drescher, ANN PETERS, Managing Editor KERRY DeROCHI. Associate Editor RACHEL PERRY. University Editor Alan Ch apple, Cuy Editor JIM WRINN, State and National Editor Linda Robertson, Spom Editor AL STEELE, Photography Editor Ken Mingis, oaa ELAINE MCCLATCHEY. Projects Editor LYNN PEITHMAN, News Editor SUSAN HUDSON, Features Editor NlSSEN RITTER, i4m Editor Teresa Curry, sa Editor Faculty, students weigh pros and cons By KAREN HAYWOOD Food fight (part III) Four weeks ago, the UNC administration proposed an expensive plan to renovate the University's food service. UNC students who do or do not eat in the Pine Room, or do not know where Chase Cafeteria is, would have to pay for the renovations. All students, those off-campus, on-campus, in sororities and in fra ternities would pay at least $25 per year for the new and improved food service. Under the administration's proposal, not just the Pine Room, but all of Lenoir Hall and all of Chase Cafeteria would be Completely redone. The Fast Break in the Carolina Union would be moved to the bottom floor of Lenoir to help expand its services, provide for mingling between faculty and students, and serve pizza. Student Government proposed an alternative. Four days after the re lease of the administration's report, Student Body President Mike Van denbergh called for a more specific plan with fewer renovations at a lower cost to students. It wasn't until Wednesday, however, that administration officials first showed a willingness to compromise. After lengthy meetings be tween administration and Student Government officials, there is now talk of a $20 per year food service fee. Some type of food service may remain in the Union, perhaps a "butcher block" operation. The compromises, however, are not good enough. The flurry of meetings between the administration and Student Government officials only point to the hurried process which has left many questions un answered. Administration officials want a decision made soon; ap proval is needed by the Board of Trustees, the Board of Governors and the North Carolina General Assembly. The next scheduled meeting of. the Trustees is April 9, and the Board of Governors, May 14. Pushing and hedging In view of the tight schedule, administration officials have pushed their proposal through different committees and meetings, while hedg ing on questions and avoiding making commitments. James Cansler of Student Affairs, Charles Antle Jr. of Business, and Biruta Nielsen of Business and Finance wrote the proposal and pushed it through the Food Service Advisory Committee meeting as if it were an all-or-nothing proposal. The Student Government report, compiled in four days, proved there could be alternatives. But when the Student Government proposal was sent before the Food Service Committee Monday, the members voted it down because they had already approved conflicting measures in the ad ministration's report. Only 7 of the 13 members on the committee were present to vote on Student Government's proposals (two students were absent). In close votes two of the dissents came from Cansler and Nielsen. Cansler arrived at the meeting about two hours late before voting against the proposal. When both reports were submitted to the Chancellor's administrative council the next day, Vandenbergh was not allowed to speak for his pro posal. Unanswered questions Because of the method used by the administration, serious questions still remain unanswered. A board plan in which students living on cam pus would pay a combined rate for housing and food service has been proposed. But no one knows how many students will be involved or how much they would have to pay. Officials have not answered the question of whether faculty members would have to help pay for the renovations: No definite figure has been set on how many students would actually get jobs promised by the administration in exchange for the loss of scholarship money from student store profits when the food service takes over the snack bars. And no one knows what to do with Chase. Only about 75 people use Chase for breakfast or lunch. Yet the administration's plan calls for a full food service providing three meals a day at Chase. Their actions are in hope that student lifestyles will change, with a little help from a board plan in South Campus dorms. The administration's actions have been on the premise that 'a food service plan is needed by Friday to be presented to the Trustees. This is to meet the Board of Governor's meeting on May 14. There appears to be no reason the Board of Trustees cannot call a special meeting. This would give the administration and Student Government the needed time one month to do adequate research and write a complete proposal. The Bottom Line Editor's pote: This is the first of two parts dealing with the proposed merger of the botany and zoology de partments. Today's column looks at the reasons for and against the merger. - In July,, the UNC botany and zoology departments will combine to create a new department of biology. It sounds very simple. But many questions have been raised since Chancellor Christopher C. Fordham III, Dean Samuel Williamson Jr. and Dean CP. Manire began considering such a merger. Ir would be difficult to find any department on the UNC campus where all the faculty were in favor of being merged with another department. Some members of both faculties are in favor of the merger, believing it will be in the best interests of the departments and the Uni versity. But many of the faculty are against the merger. They say that if the departments are merged, the botany department will suffer. Botany sacrificed There has been a trend of mergers at other schools in .the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many professors said that at most of the schools that did have mergers, botany was weakened. "The force behind the mergers was the feeling that molecular biology was a unifying principle, present in the life processes, that made it essential to study com mon elements at the expense of diversity," said botany professor Max Hommersand, who is against the merger. "In the course of this, botanical science was simply sacrificed. In my opinion, the strongest institutions are the ones that maintain a high level of diversity." Although molecular biology needs more emphasis than in the past, Hommersand and other faculty mem bers said that the study of plant taxonomy and systema tics will suffer in the merged department. Hommersand said the merger would not only affect . the study of botany at the University, but in the state of North Carolina as well. "One of the greatest strengths of botany in North Carolina is the three strong departments (at UNC, Duke University, and North Carolina State University)," he said. "The triangle area is a center for research and academic studies. (If the departments merge) one of the elements in this combined program would be lost." Botany student reaction The small number of students studying botany has been given as one reason for the merger, but botany stu dents also said that research was important. "What's wrong with research for research's sake?" said Tim Nifong, a Ph.D. student in botany. "Mendel did his work for the sake of research. You can't just sit down and say 'this is going to have far-reaching results,' but who can say it won't. But then, we're getting into philosophy. The administration doesn't seem to care about the philosophy behind education. They just want the research dollars." Other graduate students said they are concerned that after the merger the University will be unable to attract the top students it has in the past. t "I came here because this is an outstanding depart ment of botany, recommended to me by botanists," said Joan Gibson, a Ph.D. candidate. "This merger is supposed to attract more students," said Pat Risk, also a Ph.D. candidate. "But I personally could not recommend this school to anyone after July." Dr. James Hardin, a botany professor at N.C. State, said the merger would not necessarily affect botany at all; that would depend on funding. "As long as various people in the department can get funding for their research, fine," he said. "But if all funding goes to molecular biology, there's a danger that ecology, organismal botany, and systematics will suffer." Advantages of merger Although some professors are concerned about the detrimental effects of the merger, it could strengthen both departments. A large department could have more power in the University and botanists and zoologists should be able to interact more in a unified department. Dr. Peter Vitousek, an associate professor of botany, was at Indiana University when their botany and zoology departments merged. There were no formal divisions recognized there by the administration he said, but the biology department recognized divisions of ecology, cell and molecular biology, genetics, microbiology, developmental biology, and plant science. A student could get a degree on the graduate level in one of these divisions. Vitousek said he favors the merger here with divisions such as those at Indiana. "I think divisions like ecology, cell and molecular bi ology, and genetics better represent the way most of us look at things," he said. "That's the scientific advan tage." ; Dr. Ann Matthysse, also an associate professor of botany, listed several advantages of the merger. "The larger department will allow us greater flexi bility," Matthysse said. "We can put together some new programs not defined as plants or animals, but com ponents of both, in molecular and classical aspects. "The merger will also strengthen an undergraduate . biology major. I don't think most undergrads are ready to opt for botany or zoology," she said. Even in a merged department, very little will change in graduate student education, she said. "Graduate student education in sciences is historically very traditional. They are trained in someone's lab. That's not going to change." . . Drl Larry Gilbert, chairman of the zoology depart ment said he favors the merger for two reasons. In modern life sciences, no distinctions are made at the cell and molecular level between plants and animals, al though there are obvious differences if one is studying taxonomy, he said. . More money? The merger would also allow more money for the de velopment of plant sciences, he said. "State universities and departments within state universities receive state funds at least in part based on the number of students they teach. All botany departments attract very few un dergraduates." - Gilbert agreed with the botanists that the study of classical botany would probably suffer after the merger, but said there really is no choice. If the departments merge, classical botany will suffer; if the departments do not merge, the whole botany department will decline. Williamson said there were several factors contributing to the administration's decision to merge the depart ment, including the small number of botany students, and state and possibly federal funding cuts. The University, which has alio lost clerks and other positions because of North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt's budget cuts, is also facing the prospect of losing federal funds. Williamson said that Hunt's newly-, created Bio-technology Center also figured in the deci sion to merge. The University hopes a biology depart ment will attract some funding from the center. Manire, vice chancellor and dean of the graduate school, said that a biology department will allow the University to get in on the changes being made in the biology field. "Biology is in a dynamic age and it's changing with rapidity. The University must organize its resources to be at the forefront of this development," he said. "Re search will proceed in a much more organized fashion after the merger." Karen Haywood, a junior journalism and English major from Charlotte, is an assistant managing editor for The Daily Tar Heel. Letters to the editor Homecoming funding attacked Forgot something? Lots of you on campus quickly ad mit that misplacing room keys after conscientiously locking the door for a night on the town can be a frustrat ing habit. Especially after returning back home with the special person who caught your eye and having no where to go. But when you're locked into a habit like closing the car door behind you it can be equally embarrassing. Waukesha County Sheriffs detec tive Charles Flanders, who in his off duty hours is a town police officer in Wisconsin, discovered Thursday that he had locked his cruiser with the ig nition keys on the front seat. However, he saw that the rear pas senger door was unlocked, so Flanders crawled in and instinctively closed the door behind him. Smart idea, huh? But Flanders was still out of luck. Unfortunately, the keys were still out of reach because of the steel safety screen separating the front and back scats. The back doors, through which prisoners often pass, naturally had no latch handles. " I tried to roll down the windows, but they do not roll down in late model cars," Flanders said. "After I sat there for about five minutes, Ie membered I had left a portable radio somewhere.' At least the last driver had left the walkie-talkie within reach. "It's a good thing, too, or I'd pro bably spent the night there," he said. Flanders summoned an officer from a nearby town to the rescue. With a spare set of keys, he was finally freed. Thieves Need extra cash? Carl and Patricia Fowler found themselves quite a lucrative business, until they got' caught. Last week,, a Raleigh judge sentenced the married couple to jail for stealing moss from a protected federal wilderness. Park rangers say the case points to a growing problem of thefts from the lush mountain forests of western North Carolina. Poachers harvest the moss out of season, leave it by a roadside, then come back at night to pick it up. By the time it reaches florists in big Eastern cities such as New York, it can bring $2 a pound. "It's a big business," said Robert Iowe, manager of Woodruff Evergreen Co. of Low Gap. "A lot of people make their living off it." And that's the bottom line. To the editor: If students at other universities were asked what the major extracurricular fall activity was, they would undoubtedly say Homecoming. But nooooo!, not at the University of North Carolina! At the Carolina Athletic Association's finance committee hearing on April 2, I watched in dismay as what I considered to be a reasonable Homecoming budget was totally obliterated by the committee members. As a token of their support, they did see fit to grant me $40 for publicity purposes. Forty whole dollars for Homecoming! Incidentally, they also decreed that if I was able to raise $300 in entry fees for the Homecoming Court, I could only use it to buy flowers and souvenirs, thereby ty ing my hands behind my back when it came to funding the parade and the tradi tional Ehringhaus party. Let's face it, Homecoming as it now exists at UNC-CH is a big nothing, and it will continue to be so unless the CGC makes a bigger commitment to the fall weekend. Homecoming is an event that somehow touches almost every student here at the University (whether they want it to or not). The point was raised that graduate students get nothing out of Homecom ing. That may be true. But by the same token, those that choose to exclude themselves from any activity will not receive any benefit from it. Even if the present CGC proposal is divided exclusively among undergraduates, the cost comes only to approximately three-tenths of one cent per student. Is this a significant amount for an event as important as Homecom ing? It is my opinion that Homecoming should not be considered so much a pro- YFiSS isAsorn viz am. I GcSTtA m SOMETiMBy.. r . - A JfST WOtfK -n Wl V SIV I II I i- tp.jU l Vi , H aLJ I sL -M gram of CAA as one sponsored by CAA for the benefit of the University as a whole. When I was campaigning last winter, everyone I spoke with seemed to want a bigger 'and better Homecoming. That's great, but I feel that it is unlikely that I will be able to produce the splendid Homecoming the University deserves with my hands tied behind my back and forty dollars clinched between my teeth! Let's hope that the full council will recon- Missouri Tar Heel misses UNC By MAR Y RUTH STONE It took 25 years for this North Carolina Tar Heel, a recent transplant to the Midwest by way of Virginia to the state of Missouri, to taste again the nectar of victory. The flavor has not diminished since 1957 when another NCAA Championship heart-stopper took three overtimes to win by one point. Nothing seems changed this time except the players, the coach, and the presence of a teenage son to share the screaming, agonizing, cheering, and the emotional tears at the final buzzer. Then came the same elation, a cloud upon which Tar Heels can coast for months or years if necessary. This basketball madness afflicts a portion of the population along the eastern seaboard each spring around tournament time. It's enough to cause brothers and sisters to clash swords, and the Yankees aren't even in it. It makes one question the wisdom of moving a Tar Heel from the heart of Atlantic Coast Conference territory and plopping her in the midst of Big Eight country in Missouri, no less. Surely that is toying with the natural order, messing with the elements, seri ous action. Yet when it comes to this business of basketball madness, even a Tar Heel must from time to timere-evaluatc pri orities in life goals. For instance, the importance of a teenage Tar Heel making the Junior Honor Society in his new school takes higher value than following the number 1 team in the nation to the final game. No one needs to argue that. Still a Tar Heel has to wonder jf the God who made the sky Carolina blue smiled when a junior high school in Missouri scheduled its honor society . initiation the same night and time as the Tar Heels championship game. , Not even a Tar Heel neglects acade mics, but sometimes a strange reputa tion affixes itself to such fanatics as when someone asked, "Whose mother was that who kept running out after every speech and returning, whispering 4 to 6, 8 to 10, 31 to 32 at the half, is this meeting about over, you think?" Missouri is a good place to live, but it's not a happy state for a Tar Heel to be in, especially this year. Mary Ruth Stone received a master's degree from UNC in 1963. sider the issue. . Perry Morrison Jr. CAA President Can't let up To the editor: We would like to thank The Daily Tar Heel and in particular, Mark Stinneford, for your thorough coverage of the stu dent protest against cuts in educational loans. (Pit rally raps Reagan's policy, DTH, March 26). We also extend our thanks to Vice Chancellor Wallace, Vice .Chancellor Boulton, t Eleanor Morris, Richardson Preyer and other members of the administration. Our efforts would not have been as successful without the cooperation of Student Body President Mike Vandenbergh and his excellent staff. However, we wish to stress to the stu dent population that we have to continue to voice our concerns to our Senate representatives, as this is a long-term fight. We have a chance to assure that higher education is made available for all and not just for those who can afford it. Don't let Washington decide your future. Mae Liau GPSF Treasurer Peter Mallinson GPSF President Norman Barth GPSF Secretary Farewell to Charns To the editor: I too would like to take this chance to say farewell to Alex Charns. He has been an effective advocate here in Chapel Hill. He should be even more effective when he will no longer be in law school and can W(0 devote all of his time to the things he believes in. If nothing else can be said for him, Alex has managed to get a lot of atten tion, even though sometimes his ideas bounce right off the people who most need to be exposed to them. Steve Schoeberle graduates this year also. Farewell to Steve: May he win a lot of lawsuits, make a lot of money and pay his taxes. Yes for all the law students who asked Steve has been in our law school for almost three years now. Of course he knows that Kenneth Broun has been the dean of that school ever since Robert Byrd went back to be ing a full-time professor, before Steve's class entered; Dean Byrd's name was used . in making an inside joke. But maybe Steve did not know that the Carolina Coalition for Social Justice has had new leadership all year and that Alex (although active, of course) is a mere member. The University community will especially miss Alex. People need to be informed about the "real" world; not everyone ignores what they hear. If no one were to step into Alex's shoes, maybe we would hot "get over it." It is incredible how people have to be reminded. The earth people have a point -someone needs to. protect the environ ment. If they were ignored, clearly certain large interest groups would mold our lives in a way that mankind could never forget. And it still is the law in this country that criminals have rights too. The Consitu tion still says that. Lest we forget that everyone has certain well-protected rights, not the least of which is freedom to express oneself, the changes and pro gress fostered by diversity may" be over whelmed by damning totalitarian men tality. ' JeffHedrick School of Law
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 8, 1982, edition 1
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