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The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, September 28, 19883 Increase m toyrDm iooyirie causes bac for state By TAMMY BLACKARD Staff Writer The state agency responsible for promoting tourism in North Carolina said Tuesday it was unable to answer more than 90,000 inquiries this year because its budget did not increase at the same rate as tourism in the state. "The state Division of Travel and Tourism generally gets about 430,000 requests each year, but that number has been increasing," said Sam Taylor, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Commerce. "We havenl been able to add to our ability to respond to the inquiries. This year that resulted in a backlog.'" Taylor said there had been a 9.23 percent increase in total inquiries, from 398,200 in 1986-1987 to 435,200 in 1987-1988. In addition, there was a 23 percent jump to 129,000 telephone inquiries, he said. Tourism revenues in the state have Soviets to American through' exchange By JENNIFER WING Staff Writer ; A group of 14 Soviet students and faculty from the State University of Rostov On Don will visit UNC this yfcar as part of a Campus Y sponsored U.S. -Soviet Exchange Irogram. ; The UNC committee has planned activities for the Soviet visitors, who wjll come either in October or January, that include "all kinds of forums on different topics like the role of each person in society, the role of the media in each other's countries, health issues and a tour of the health center, and ideas for projects in each other's countries," said Nancy John son, co-chair of the incoming dele gation committee. ; The Soviet students will also have the opportunity to tour Chapel Hill Senior High School, see a production in Playmakers Theatre, watch ' a sporting event, go to church, visit a farm, go shopping and sit in a number of classes at UNC, said Johnson. Joe Nowakowski, the project coordinator, said the Soviets will be , housed with UNC students. This will save money and 'give the foreign students a better feel of the campus, he said. The Marriott Corporation and several downtown restaurants will donate dinners for the Soviet stu dents, and the Playmakers Theatre and athletic department will donate tickets for events. Fliers and banners will be placed all over campus prior to and during the Soviet students visit, said Karin West, co-chair of the Publicity (jorhmittee. In addition, the Slavic afnd Russian departments will be notified. : "We are going through a press release to the local papers and the Ideal radio stations," West said. "We are telling and inviting students to come to forumsdebates and social activities. A lot of things are open to the campus." The students will remain in the ordan criticizes Martin on management ability From Associated Press reports RALEIGH After spending a week depicting Gov. Jim Martin's administration as unethical, Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan broadened his attack Tuesday, saying it deserved a gold medal for incompetence. Jordan, a Democrat running to unseat the Republican governor, said managerial errors had plagued Mar tin's administration because he was "not minding the store." JIt is time we had a governor who is Jon the job and not one who is forever on the road or on vacation op on his sailboat," Jordan said at a news conference. Martin campaign spokesman Tim Pittman said, "We hate to keep characterizing this as desperate campaigning, but clearly he's reach ing here for issues that in most cases had an explanation or were not the fault of the administration or were corrected." He said the Martin campaign "is gojng to make him answer for these negative charges starting tomorrow." Tlte campaign probably will hold a nejvs conference, Pittman said, de clining to elaborate. Jordan has aimed a barrage of criticism at Martin since mid September, when a series of polls indicated Martin was leading by 8 to 1 1 percentage points. Martin has accused Jordan of making personal attacks, and Jordan took pains to deny that Tuesday. "He's a nice guy. I like him. I like his family," Jordan said. "The ques tion is not who's a nice guy, but who will run North Carolina, who will determine what the problems are and do something about them." Martin is not a good manager, said Jordan, a Mount Gilead lumber mill gone up from $5.2 billion in 1986 to $5.7 billion in 1987, according to the vice president of McKinney & Silver, the advertising firm that directs the state's annual tourism campaign: , The packet-mailing was completed earlier this month as summer vaca tion season was ending. The state used prison labor to help clear the backlog of inquiries, Taylor said. Both Taylor and Richard Myracle of McKinney & Silver said it was impossible to determine how much business may have been lost because of the late responses. "I can't say that those unanswered inquiries amounted to a $10 million loss in revenue," Myracle said. "We have to make some assumptions about the inquiries. "First, you need to determine the value of the inquiries," he said. "The people most likely to visit are those who make phone inquiries. We answer those on a first-priority basis explore cu tore United States for 10 days, also visiting Washington, D.C., and New York City. UNC students from the com mittee will spend 10 days visiting the State University of Rostov On Don, Leningrad, and Moscow during Spring Break, Nowakowski said. The U.S.-Soviet Exchange Pro gram was initiated by Matt Tiede mann, who was a UNC senior last year, and Richard Ulin, international studies professor. Tiedemann discov ered the program through the Citizen Exchange Council (CEC) in New York. Students from Harvard University originated the first student-organized collegiate exchange program of this type on their own initiative, with students ,from the Soviet Union, Nowakowski said. After the pilot program was com pleted, the Harvard students sought the help of the CEC, which now runs the program with 10 different univer sities in the United States and the Soviet Union, including Stanford, Yale and the University of Maine. The Soviet Union's Ministry of Education sponsors similar programs in the Soviet Union with Third World countries, Nowakowski said. Taking Russian language or liter ature classes is not a prerequisite for the program, Nowakowski said. "The program is open to anyone. The object is to get the most diverse group possible, not just Russian majors," he said. Campus Y officials and professors will choose UNC students to travel to the Soviet Union based on appli cations and interviews. Interviews will be awarded to those students that work hard during the preparation for the visiting Soviet students, Nowa kowski said. Several plans for fund raising, like soliciting businesses and alumni, are being planned, Nowakowski said. "The amount of money we need to raise is pretty big, especially for the airfare," he said. owner. "I know if I had run my business like he's run this govern ment, I'd be bankrupt." Jordan recited a litany of problems that have surfaced in state govern ment during Martin's tenure. Among them: n The Division of Travel and Tourism failed to answer 90,000 inquiries from potential tourists, costing the state's tourist industry as much as $10 million; B The Division of Motor Vehicles erroneously restored driving privi leges to 150 people who have been convicted of multiple drunken driving offenses. Jordan did not mention that Martin fired the official he said was responsible; B Federal auditors said this summer they could not account for $18 million allocated to the state Division of Aging. Administration officials said the money had been spent properly; o The state auditor found that the Department of Commerce could not account for $500,000 allocated to North Carolina's office in Japan; and b The State Budget Office had to take over a $14 million prison construction program because the Department of Correction "proved so incompetent," Jordan said. "The list goes on and on," he said. "If this administration was a TV series, it would be called 'Bloopers, Blunders and Practical Jokes.' If incompetence were an Olympic event, the administration would have the lock on the gold." 0 , American Hoart U Association because we assume about 52 percent of those people visit the state." The second priority is inquiries made from coupons found in news papers and magazines, he said. Forty nine percent of all coupon inquirers are assumed to visit the state. "The last priority is reader service inquiries where you check a card in a magazine if you're interested in North Carolina," Myracle said. "These take the least amount of effort for people to complete. Our assump tion here is that only 25 percent of these inquirers ever visit. It was some Computers no health threat, doctors say By DAVID BALL Staff Writer With the emergence of computers as a prominent component of the workplace have come fears about adverse health effects from computer terminals. But according to local health officials, neither birth defects nor eye damage, frequently cited fears, has been a proven result of working with computers. According to Dr. David Eifrig, chairman of the UNC ophthalmology department, complaints attributed to computers are really just eye strain, a common problem. "Most of the eye problems are due Maiimgemenl Training Program MORGAN STANLEY One of Wall Street's leading international securities firms invites Bachelor's and Master's candidates of all majors with superior academic records to apply to our Information Services Management Training Program. For more information and to submit your resume for consideration, visit the Career Planning & Placement Services Center. of these last inquiries that went unanswered until very late in the season." McKinney & Silver discovered in July that the travel division had failed to send information kits to 93,221 people who had requested them. Myracle wrote a letter to the travel division in July. "My intent in writing to the state was to say we need to get this done," Myracle said. "But they were doing the best they could with the man power they had." The travel division had requested to posture, comfort or the long periods of concentration involved," Eifrig said. "Absolutely nothing is wrong (due to computer screens)." Bob Morehead, associate dean for computing and information services at the School of Public Health, said no permanent damage was likely, but other problems could arise from working with computers. Glare from the computer screens can result in eye discomfort, Morehead said, resulting in headaches and an inability to work comfortably. The worry that pregnant women suffer a higher risk of miscarriages WE SEEK . FALL GRADUATES and RECENT ALUMNI for Winter and Spring start dates WEOFFER A fast-paced leading-edge environment with high intellectual standards. A structured training program teaching the use of Information Systems technology to solve business related problems. A series of challenging assignments with significant responsibility leading to rapid career progression. An outstanding compensation program. UNC-Chapel Hill Recruiting Date: Friday, October 28 Resume Deadline: Tuesday, October 4 MORGAN STANLEY & CO, Incorporated IS College Recruiting 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 Morgan Stanley is an $490,000 last year from the General Assembly to beef up its staff, Taylor said. "We didn't get it, but we will request it again this year," he said. Gov. Jim Martin was very disap pointed after the General Assembly's session this year, said Karen Rotter man, the governor's director of communications. "The governor realizes that tourism is a great economic benefit to the state and (that) manpower is very impor tant in getting the job done," Rot terman said. "He knows we're at a from working with Video Display Terminals (VDTs) was based on one . study that had such a small sampling group that conclusions cannot be made, said Dr. Robert Cefalo, pro fessor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UNC medical school. No increases in birth defects were recorded, said Cefalo, and a larger, more representative study is being made. Cefalo also said the many causes of miscarriages decrease the likeli hood that computer terminals are solely responsible for an increase. "Women who work face a greater risk of miscarriage," said Dr. Allen Equal Opportunity Employer great disadvantage in publicizing the state with a small budget and staff." Taylor said the division will be more prepared next vacation season. "Most of the inquiries come in the first five months of the year," Taylor said. "By May this year, we were about 90,000 pieces of mail behind. "We used the state prison system so we could have more help, and we have it set up so we can use them again this year," he said. "We're also changing the schedule of publications to be published so well make sure well have it on time." Killam, director of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University Med ical Center. Killam said he did not believe computers posed a threat to pregnant women because the radia tion amounts are too small to cause any damage. - Some solutions are available for problems that VDTs do cause. For example, screens are manufactured that cut down on glare, thus solving the problem. But many employees are reluctant to try the screens, Morehead said. "They think it's too much trouble," he said.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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