Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 19, 1988, edition 1 / Page 4
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4The Daily Tar Heel Monday, September 19, 1988 fate must ommpirove care lor meofal S y i I i , study says By MICHAEL SPIRTAS Staff Writer Proof for health experts that North Carolina is not providing adequate services for the seriously mentally ill came in a study released last week, but public health officials said the state is making a sufficient effort to deal with the issue. The report by the National Alliance for the Mentally 111 and the Public Citizens Health Research Group ranked North Carolina 29th in providing care for the severely mentally ill in 1987, down from 19th in 1986. Experts estimate that 84,000 people in the state suffer from a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, manic depression and other debili tating mental illnesses. The report presents "an accurate picture of where we are today," said John Baggett, executive director of the N.C. branch of the Alliance for the Mentally 111. While North Carol ina has made some progress in treating the seriously mentally ill, the progress has come too slowly, Baggett said. MWe need a leap." But Don Willis, chief of commun ity initiatives in the state Division of Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse, said the ranking was not necessarily meaningful. Willis pointed to the state's budget for 1989, which allocates $19.9 million for severe mental illness services. Baggett said, though, that an additional $75 to $100 million would be necessary to develop a better care system. Much of the funds reserved for the mentally ill are siphoned off to pay for services to those who suffer from less serious mental illnesses, said Bill Snavely, president of the National Alliance for the Mentally 111. . The report also criticized housing for the mentally ill because a large percentage of the severely mentally ill live in homeless shelters. Of the state's homeless living in shelters, 22 percent in Charlotte, 25 percent in Raleigh and 43 percent in Greensboro suffer from such illnesses, "A shelter is not a good alternative for the seriously mentally ill," Snavely said. And there is a serious problem with the pay scale of health professionals, he added. "The salary structure is such that they (the hospitals) can't fill positions." Critics of North Carolina's care also say a patronage system further hampers efforts to treat the problem. They charge that many employees of state mental institutions are hired and promoted due to their political beliefs rather than their abilities. Several sources pointed to Broughton Hospital, one of North Carolina's four state mental hospitals, as the foremost example of an institution riddled with patronage. Arthur Robarge, director of Broughton Hospital, could not be reached for comment. Baggett has called for both gub ernatorial candidates to speak out against the future use of a patronage system, which he said began under former Gov. Jim Hunt and has continued with Gov.Jim Martin. Report evaluates GooEressiomial Ciob Parking "There is a referral system," said;' Don Cummings, director of person nel of the N.C. Department of ,v Human Resources. Cummings IJ agreed that a patronage system is now: '"- operating, but denied that the systent-1-'-3 results in a lower quality of care. "We: ,r':' do not hire or promote unqualified '-'' people," he said. :;: In cases where several people meet' ' the minimum qualifications for ar,:'n position, the person who gets the job is chosen because of his political beliefs. . , "There is a question of relative qualification. That's a management prerogative," Cummings said. ' i from page 1 ' By LAUREN MARTIN Staff Writer The National Congressional Club ranked third last year among all political action committees (PACs) in total spending but was not among the top 50 in contributions to federal candidates, according to a recent report of the Federal Elections Commission. Despite these figures, the head of the club says contributions are "doing what the donors want." "The Congressional Club is an ideological PAC, so we are concerned with promoting conservative ideas, not just specific candidates," said R.E. Carter Wrenn, executive direc tor of the club. "This report distorts things a little," he said. "They look at business and special interest PACs and say, 'They give 90 percent of their money to candidates. Then they say the Con gressional Club only gives 5 percent." There is a distinction between ideological political action commit tees and business PACs, Wrenn said. Business PACs are often labor unions with specific issues that they want federal candidates to promote, so their contributions go mainly to campaigns, he said. "Our contributors are concerned with promoting certain ideals across the board," Wrenn said. "They are very much aware of what we're doing and what campaigns we're waging ourselves." The Congressional Club ranks fifth among PACs in total receipts. In the last election period, from January 1987 to June 1988, the club took in $3.2 million. Of that, less than 1 percent was contributed to candidates for federal office. Contributions to federal candi dates accounted for 24 percent of the total spending of the Teamsters Union, the PAC with the highest receipts last year. The Congressional Club put $6 of every $7 it raised during the last election period into operations, which Wrenn said included independent grass-root campaigns, advertising issues to "give the conservative perspective," television advertise ments for Reagan policies and legis lative activities such as urging people to prompt legislators to support Judge Robert Bork's nom ination to the U.S. Supreme Court and block ratification of the Reagan- Gorbachev arms treaty signed last year. Much of the money that was spent directly on political candidates went to a skeleton committee to begin organizing a re-election campaign for Republican Sep. Jesse Helms, who is affiliated with the club, should he decide to seek a fourth term. Thomas Fetzer, the Republican challenging Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill in the 4th District congressional race, is a former club employee. - Fetzer's campaign has received $8,000 from the club, less than 2 percent of his campaign budget. "All they can give is $10,000 under the law, so we don't expect to get anything more from them," said Bob Harris, Fetzer's press secretary. Tltae Semttfin Data Systems 14" Mailt Tectaiatogjy Momtoir irepiresemife ftEne ffiirst leap imi CELT tecMimcDtogjy fimi weir fee ' It's the perfect monitor. . .with a perfectly flat video display that virtually eliminates all glare, annoying reflections and creates color images that are nothing short of spectacular! Bundle this monitor with a Zenith Data Systems Z-l 59 Desktop PC Model 13 (ffl O 20MB Hard Bisk & 5.25" 360K Floppy ZCM-1 490 1 4" Flat Technology Monitor data systems $2m IBM PC compatibility MS-DOS included Microsoft Windows Software . Runs virtually all MS-DOS software ' 640K RAM plus 128K EMS RAM Zenith's 2-449 Video Card for high-resolution graphics Internal expandibility for your growing computing needs . Handles large applications and databases Ideal for heavy-duty word processing, accounting and spreadsheets IBM PC is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. 1 MS-DOS and Microsoft are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Itro dents who require parking, residents who may need parking outside their halls and the complete counterpro posal itself, he said. "They're not talking about taking the spaces from residents to (give to) commuters they're talking about taking them from students to (give to) faculty and staff," Martin said. -Three forums will be held this week to allow' students to voice their opinions on the parking problem and possible solutions. Several members of the committee, as well as Mary Clayton, director of parking and transportation services, are expected to attend. The debates will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Morehead Cellar, at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Carmichael Residence Hall and at 7 p.m. Thurs day in the Morrison Recreation Room. David Smith, Hinton James gov ernor, is in charge of the forums. He said the forums are designed to uncover the concerns of each segment of the UNC campus as well as general student opinion. Smith said he is ldoking for the elimination of Proposition 6, Which' would allow the administration to eliminate further student parking, ; and "the development of a more' justifiable option" for students. Smith ', said Proposition 6 is worded too loosely and gives the University power to prohibit junior parking if needed. Smith said he felt the students and administration could work out a'T compromise, but student parkings should not be compromised to the. -, desires of the faculty. "The only way we're gonna win is through compromise, but the stu-; dents shouldn't let the faculty take"; them," Smith said.' Banning sopho more parking could lead to the elimination of junior parking, which could drive juniors out of residence halls and hurt the Department of University Housing, he said. f ' i :.) 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Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 19, 1988, edition 1
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