Officials
By KATIE WOLFE
Staff Writer ' .
The failure of the weather radar
system at Raleigh-Durham Interna
tional Airport (RDU) to detect a Nov.
28 tornado that tore through Raleigh
was unavoidable, but officials say the
system needs to be updated to prevent
future disasters.
; Officials met at a field hearing
March 3 to discuss the problem. U.S.
Reps. David Price and Tim Valentine
from North Carolina organized the
hearing.
"We came to the conclusion that
the fact that no warning was issued
prior to the tornado was really no
one's fault," said Edward Brotack,
UNC-Asheville professor of
meteorology.
i Price and Valentine, members of
the, Natural Resources, Agricultural
Research and Environmental Sub
committee, will use the evidence
gathered at the hearing for the
reauthorization process of the
Rational Weather Service.
The subcommittee will make a
recommendation , to the House
House bill
By GLENN O'NEAL
Staff Writer
Despite objections from the Bush
administration and House Republi
cans, a bill has been proposed in the
U.S. House to raise the minimum
wage from $3.35 to $4.65 an hour.
The bill, introduced by Rep.
Augustus Hawkins, D-Calif., and
Rep. Austin Murphy, D-Penn.,
would also create a Minimum Wage
Review Board that would make
recommendations on future changes
in the minimum wage.
"The bill is a modest attempt to
restore some of the purchasing power
of the minimum wage," said Jim
Riley, staff director and chief counsel
of the Labor Standards
subcommittee.
; Today $3.35 is equal tQ $2.41 in
purchasing power after being
adjusted for inflation. People are
making a dollar less in respect to what
they can buy, he said.
"The minimum wage has histori
cally been set at half the average wage
of-the country. Right now it is 35.5
percent of the national average," he
said.
.The bill provides exceptions for
small business owners who only gross
$57OQO a year, said Jay Butler, press
secretary for the Education and
Labor Committee.
The bill also provides for tip credit
which allows :iiotel and restaurant
owners to apply a portion of -an
employee's tips to the minimum wage,
Kesaid. s
The increase of the minimum wage
would occur over a three-year period
with an initial increase of 50 cents
followed by two years of 40-cent
increases, Riley said.
The final increase to $4.65 would
stilt be 59 cents lower than is needed
to each the present level of inflation,
he said.
The Bush administration recom-
Dean
from page 1
is probably a desire to make a
statement about the aspirations of the
school by recruiting a nationally
prominent person. There's also the
desire to establish that the school will
go outside (to find a dean), since at
least the previous four searches
resulted in internal deans."
Turnier also said the lack of an
obvious candidate in the law school
led, the committee to consider outside
candidates. "There's no real consen
sus in terms of one person who should
bedean."
Hazen agreed. "I think there was
no natural fully-declared candidate,"
he said.
But Link said there were probably
strong candidates in the school.
- One of the candidates is a woman,
Turnier said. If chosen, she would be
the first woman to serve as dean of
the UNC School of Law. Nationally,
most law school deans are men, Link
said.
i-But both Link and Turnier said
they expect the number of women
serving as deans of law schools to
increase. There are a number of very
good women coming onto the scene,"
Link said. "It's a question of getting
experience and maturity. You look
for somebody who's an established
scholar with at least some adminis
trative experience that takes time."
The age and education required of
law school deans means universities
are choosing from a candidate pool
with few women, said Turnier. "There
were not a lot of. women in law
schools in the past. You're looking
for someone in a certain age group,
say, 40-plus. You're also looking for
someone with a certain education."
The committee may not submit its
recommendations to Hardin imme
diately after the interviews are fin
ished, but may ask for more infor
mation on candidates, Turnier said.
IBut Hardin may not choose the
new dean immediately, Turnier said.
"He could take a month or two in
dealing with him."
Itbringsout
thebest UTj?
vary
seek updated! radar system
- J
David Price
Appropriations Committee for a
funding increase for the National
Weather Service.
"Price and Valentine gathered a
good deal of useful information for
proposes
mends an increase in the minimum
wage of 27 percent over three years.
The minimum wage would increase
by 30 cents a year until the wage
reached $4.25, said Paul Williams,
spokesman for Secretary of Labor
Elizabeth Dole.
The administration also wants to
establish a training rate of $3.35 for
the first six months of work for all
new employees, he said.
Dole has recommended the pres
ident veto any increase over $4.25,
Williams said.
Riley said the training wage doesn't
have any viability in the House. The
sponsors of the bill are considering
TRAVEL
RELATED
SERVICES
An Atnancan Ea
LJ
the reauthorization process," said
Rachel Perry, press assistant for
Price. "They will put a priority. on
getting the Doppler radar."
The controversy surrounding the
effectiveness of the present radar
system has emphasized the need for
the improved Doppler radar.
"There was no way for the present
radar to pick up the tornado because
the storm was in the system's blind
spot and ground clutter such as
buildings interfered with the radar's
capability," said Joe Pelissier, deputy
metereologist of the RDU weather
station. "However, the Doppler's
capability would be significantly
greater."
. The Doppler or Next Generation
radar, like the present system, detects
precipitation to identify storms, but
Doppler can measure wind speed and
precipitate direction for greater
effectiveness in storm detection.
The RDU airport weather service
is scheduled to receive one of the $2
million Doppler units in 1992 which
is not soon enough for North Carol
ina, according to a press release from
mioimyinni
an amendment that would allow a
training wage for 30 days at 85
percent of the proposed minimum
wage, he said.
Riley said the Bush administration
has requested a training wage for six
months so people can learn how to
get up in the morning, dress approp
riately and smile on the job.
"We don't feel people need six
months to learn the proper personal
hygiene for work," he said.
Ed McDonald, press secretary for
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C, said
Coble supports Bush's proposal to
raise the minimum wage to $4.25 and
his training wage.
Prrjn 0 o T T
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Price.
"We must move quickly to get the
best technology on line," Price said
in the release. "It's a matter of setting
our priorities."
Representatives from local govern
ments, colleges, the media, the U.S.
House and the National Weather
Bureau participated in the March 3
hearing. -
"They asked for our information
on the tornado's effects on our
counties and our comments on the
weather service's response," said
Raymond Boutwell, manager of
Franklin County. "Representative
Price and Representative Valentine
will be pushing for appropriation for
an updated radar system."
The purpose of the meeting was
to review the tornado's destruction,
examine the National Weather Ser
vice's performance during the crisis,
reveal new forecasting technologies
and discuss the necessity of better
communication between organiza
tions in dangerous weather
conditions.
wage hike
If the minimum wage is raised to
$4.65, it will force employers to
eliminate some jobs, he said. Eco
nomic advisors have said 500,000 to
2 million jobs could be lost if the
minimum wage is raised, he said.
The Congressional Budget Office
has estimated 200,000 jobs will be lost
if the minimum wage increase goes
into effect, Riley said. But 5 million
workers with increased purchasing
power will be able to spend more
money, and this will benefit society,
he said.
The bill will be debated on the
House floor either Wednesday or
Thursday, Riley said.
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The Daily
N.G.' schools to add
religion to courses
By KIMBERLEY MAXWELL
Staff Writer
After two years of research, the
N.C. Board of Education decided
in January to integrate religious
topics into subjects such as liter
ature, economics and U.S. history.
The decision follows current
trends across the nation to add
religion into school curriculum.
The N.C. decision follows
moves by both the California
Department of Education and the
Arizona Board of Education to
change their educational
programs.
In 1987, the California Depart
ment of Education announced it
would gradually add sections
about major world religions and
ethical traditions on statewide
tests. The following . year the
Arizona Board of Education chose
an outline of specific knowledge
and skills elementary and secon
dary students should have an
outline which included topics such
as ethics and cultural differences.
In November 1987, the N.C.
Textbook Commission presented
national reports which said the
influence of religion on American
culture is not represented accu-
rately in textbooks. The N.C.
Board of Education appointed a
task force in May 1988 to look
into the matter.
The national reports the Text
book. Commission presented
included a study from the People ,
for the American' Way, a group
formed specifically to counter the
religious right. Their 1986 study
stated textbooks did not show how
religion has influenced American
culture. f
The N.C. Board of Education's
!
" ' '
Express.
1
x. xxx-.
XXXX
Tar Heel Tuesday, March 21, 19893;
decision to add religion topics to
the educational curriculum will
not take effect until 1992. New
textbooks will be purchased, but
the purchases will take a long time
because of the sensitive nature of
the issue, said Michael Radz,
assistant superintendent for
instruction in Chapel Hill
Carrboro City Schools.
A community's political orien
tation will affect the way the
changes are accepted, said Warren
Nord, the director of UNC's
humanities and human values
program. Liberals tend to be
against religion in the schools and
say religion entraps students into
certain beliefs; conservatives tend
to support religion in schools and
say students may lose their com
mitment to their belief if exposed
to different views.
But liberals who support teach
ing religion say it promotes reli
gious pluralism through diversity.
The program's effect on com
munities will depend on how it is
implemented, Nord said. "If it's
done well, it'll have a positive
effect."
The new trend of adding reli
gion to educational curriculum is
partially a result of conservative
Christians who believe religion has
been left out of public schools for
over a half-century and has been
replaced by secular humanism.
This argument was dismissed by
courts in Tennessee and Alabama
in cases dealing with the content
of textbooks.
Even though the U.S. Supreme
Court has outlawed religious
exercises in public schools, its
rulings still allow religion to be
discussed in a broader sense.
y;. -H-..f