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Tuition increase
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Volume 97, Issue 50
Friday, September 15, 1989
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
NewsSportsArts
BusinessAdvertising
962-0245
962-1163
P
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Lewos
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By AMY WAJDA
Assistant University Editor
Brien Lewis, student body president,
has proposed what he calls the Tuition
Defense Initiative, a six-point response
to the UNC-system tuition increase the
N.C. General Assembly passed in
August.
A law passed near the end of the
legislative session increases 1989-90
tuition 20 percent, from $504 to $604,
for in-state students and 15 percent,
from $4,458 to $5,127, for out-of-state
students. Students were billed twice
because of the increase.
Lewis' plan recommends that:
the president of the UNC Associa
tion of Student Governments (ASG)
a coalition of student government offi
cials from the 16 schools in the UNC
system present a report to UNC
Board of Governors meetings;
student leaders appear before House
and Senate committees and subcom
mittees to give input to legislators;
20 percent to 25 percent of any
Frye:
By JOEY HILL
Staff Writer
Student Congress set an important
precedent by defeating the bill that
would have required a second vote on
student funding for the Student Recrea
tion Center, said Lisa Frye, Carolina
Athletic Association (CAA) president.
; "The precedent is that you don't
overturn a vote of the student body
without good reason."
Congress defeated the bill 17-9 with
one abstention. The bill would have
established a November referendum,
asking students to vote whether to raise
CoircoDft
By JASON KELLY
Staff Writer
An overload of the main building
circuit caused power failures this week
in Ehringhaus Residence Hall, Univer
sity housing officials said Thursday.
Residents were periodically without
power from Sunday night to Wednes
V
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i Blowing in the wind
. 5-year-old Joshua Miller, an aspiring Tar Heel,
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It's all right letting yourself go, as long as
tuition increase be used only for need
based aid;
all money directed by the legisla
ture to private colleges and universities
be used only for need-based aid;
any tuition increase take effect the
following calendar year; and
all UNC-system student body presi
dents establish a financial aid task force
made up of students and administrators
at their respective schools to examine
their institutions' aid policies and pro
grams and to make recommendations
to their chancellors.
Lewis said he would present the plan
to the ASG at its meeting Saturday.
"Hopefully, the new officials and body
will be as enthusiastic as I am, and will
adopt it.
"Then I'll work with the ASG on
lobbying, letter writing and discussion
with members of the BOG and legisla
tors." The first provision, a report to the
BOG by the ASG president, should be
easy to implement, Lewis said. "It's
vote
student fees $13 per semester to fund
the construction of the SRC.
Students passed a similar referen
dum last February, when they voted to
fund the SRC.
Jeffrey Beall, the Student Congress
representative who authored the bill,
said he was disappointed at the bill's
defeat. "I just accept it. I think the
students should have had the right to
vote."
The CAA presented only the posi
tive aspects of the SRC before the origi
nal referendum was passed, Beall said.
"I think the first referendum was un
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day, including all day Monday and
Wednesday. .
Steve Stoddard, Housing Support
Services superintendent, said his crew
had diverted some of the power into a
different circuit, so the main circuit
would not cut off under this year's
increased demand for electricity.
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relaxing in the
afternoon.
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just a matter of asking (BOG Chair
man) Roddy Jones for five minutes of
space on the agenda. It doesn't sound
too outlandish to me."
But Brian Nixon, N.C. State Univer
sity student body president, said the
board had reacted unfavorably to that
proposal at the board's retreat in Boone
last weekend. "We were told they didn't
like the idea of a student member of the
BOG.
"The BOG probably won't budge on
that one, but if we go down we'll go
down swinging," Nixon said. "I don't
necessarily want the power to vote, just
the power to persuade."
To appear before General Assembly
committees, Lewis said student leaders
would ask to be added to a list of people
usually called before committees to
discuss tuition increases. "I'm sure the
legislators would rather have us talk to
them in a 15-minute formal session
than have us pounding on doors and
running them down in the hall."
John Tart, co-chairman of the house
set precedleinilt
fair, but Student Congress's vote was
fair."
The CAA's presentation of the origi
nal referendum was "totally one-sided,"
Beall said. "It didn't really give achance
for any negative things to be said about
it.
"I hope that my bill served to create
an awareness of the funny position that
the CAA and other groups are in.
They're supposed to be representative,
but they seem to create policy."
Frye said she was pleased with the
results of the vote. "I have a lot of
respect for the decision they (congress
"I want the students to understand
that the problem has been solved,"
Stoddard said. "What we did was we
split the feeder and took some of the
load off of the main switch. Before we
could only handle 1 ,000 amps of power,
but now we're up to 1,450 amps."
David Maynard, deputy superinten
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I
education appropriations subcommit
tee, said the appearances could proba
bly be arranged easily through UNC
General Administration. "I'm sure if
student government contacted (UNC
system) President (CD.) Spangler's
office it could probably be arranged
very easily."
UNC-system schools should be able
to establish their own financial aid task
forces by following the example of
UNC-CH's task force, Lewis said.
He said the proposals involving fi
nancial aid, private schools and post
poning increases would be harder to
achieve and would require the most
lobbying.
Tart said a defined percentage of
financial aid could not be guaranteed.
"That would not be anything we could
say was going to happen. We would
provide financial aid if we had the
money."
Tart said the amount of financial aid
See TUITION, page 2
members) made. I think students will
be pleased that Student Congress re
spected the vote taken in the spring.
"Student Congress realized the spring
vote was valid. The vote they took
showed they are willing to respect that
vote, and not to flip-flop on issues."
Frye called the vote an "emphatic
decision" because two-thirds of the
congress voted against the bill. "When
students vote on any future referen
dums, they know their decision will be
taken seriously."
See SRC, page 2
dent of Housing Support Services, said
Ehringhaus should not have any more
power problems. "I'm not going to say
the power won't go out tonight, but
from what we saw Wednesday night,
the circuits we have wired now can
carry the amount of electricity the build
ing needs. The power shouldn't go out."
Airport debate yodecfldled
By CHARLES BRITTAIN
City Editor
Whether debate will continue over
the proposed renovations to Horace
Williams Airport is still up in the air
following the public hearing Tuesday.
Rebecca Zinn, president of the
Chapel Hill Flying Club, said Thursday
she was pleased with the hearing but
only time will tell what the future holds
for the issue.
"My personal feeling is that whether
Areomemitt led to
From staff reports
A shooting in downtown Chapel Hill
two weeks ago was the result of an
argument over $100 in drug money,
according to testimony given Wednes
day at a District Court hearing.
Ernie Lassiter was shot six times on
Aug. 3 1 during an argument with Bernie
Atwater near the Chapel Hill Munici
pal Building.
In a statement read by Chapel Hill
police Detective Felix Talbert, Atwater
said Lassiter had told him several times
that he would kill him if Atwater did
not pay him for $100 worth of drugs.
Lassiter made these threats because
he thought Atwater had stolen the
money from him following a drug deal
in Durham, Talbert said.
After hearing the evidence, Judge
Patricia Hunt of the Chapel Hill Dis
trict Court decided there was probable
cause to send the Atwater case to the
Orange County Grand Jury for an in
dictment. If an indictment is given the
case will then be heard in Orange County
Superior Court.
Atwater, a Carrboro resident, is
charged with assault with a deadly
weapon with intent to kill and with
inflicting bodily injury.
Lassiter, who is also facing drug
charges in Chatham County, was shot
in the chest, arms, neck and legs and is
hospitalized at North Carolina Memo
rial Hospital. A statement released by
Chapel Hill police said Lassiter is para
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Strange behavior
Wednesday's Smith Center
Petty and the Heartbreakers'
Stoddard said the problem was an
unusually large increase in the demand
for power in Ehringhaus. The increase
was totally unexpected, he said.
John Brock, an Ehringhaus resident,
was glad to have the power back. "The
nightly blackouts had gone from frus
trating to ridiculous. I hope the electri
this remains an issue or not depends on
how much other people feel the need to
discuss it."
If anyone comes forward with new
information concerning the renovations
or the use of the airport by the Flying
Club, then more debate may be neces
sary, she said.
Zinn said she did not believe anyone
has brought up anything new, but the
debate over Horace Williams has been
a recurring theme in Chapel Hill since
lyzed from the waist down.
Court records said Lassiter was re
leased from prison in November after
serving 16 months in prison on assault
and drug charges.
Detective Talbert said Atwater made
a statement to police after the shooting
that he had gone to Durham with Las
siter on several occasions to purchase
illegal drugs. Talbert was the only wit
ness to speak at the hearing.
Atwater said in his police statement
that Lassiter had threatened his life
after deciding he had been cheated in
one of the drug deals in Durham.
The police statement said Atwater
began carrying a gun for his safety after
Lassiter threatened him.
Atwater said that on the day of the
shooting he was driving on North Co
lumbia Street near the Municipal Build
ing about 12:30 p.m. when he saw
Lassiter.
Lassiter shouted at Atwater from his
truck and ordered Atwater to give him
his money or give him back his drugs.
The two men parked their vehicles and
continued to argue. Atwater said he
insisted he did not owe Lassiter any
money.
After Lassiter shoved him, Atwater
shot him with a .32-caliber revolver,
Atwater told police.
Atwater told police he was uncertain
how many times he shot Lassiter or
even if he did shoot him. He walked to
DTHTracey Langhorne
concert was the last stop on Tom
current tour. See story, page 6.
cians got the power fixed for good."
The rerouting of power is a tempo
rary measure, Stoddard said. The Uni
versity will not fix the problem perma
nently until Christmas because it re
quires shutting down the whole build
See BLACKOUT, page 2
the 1960s. Some residents living near
the airport have complained about the
noise and the hazard of having an air
port near a residential area.
Julie Andresen, a town council
member and airport critic, said that
clearing up views on Horace Williams
was important, but that she was con
cerned with the University's plans to
increase traffic at the airport.
See AIRPORT, page 2
shoottoim
the Chapel Hill Fire Department after
the shooting and turned himself and his
gun in to public safety officers who
then contacted police.
"I just didn't want to have to keep
running from him," Atwater said in the
police statement.
Diamond days
Zebulon to take up America's
favorite pastime 3
Speeding tickets
Hand-held computers to up
date ticket system 4
Beatles '89
Group recreates Fab Four
sound to perfection 5
City and state news 3
University news 4
Features 5
Arts 6
Sports 7
Comics 9
fimsSdle
, I 11.111. ....I I I 4