The Daily Tar HeelMonday, February 12, 19901 1 As I have served the Residence Hall Association (RHA) for three consecu tive years first as a Spencer Hall Representative, then as Spencer Dorm President and currently as STOW Area Governor I have gathered the neces sary information, knowledge and expe rience to be the president that the Resi dent I lall Association now needs. 1 lence our slogan: "Committment Through E.jerience." 1 am committed to repre senting and serving the residents on the numerous issues that face those of us who live on campus. -The first issue that must be addressed is safety and security. My goal to incor porate SAFE Escort into RHA would allow residents to feel safe within their homes. SAFEi Escort's inclusion in RHA would guarantee consistent and effective service for each area on cam pus, including Granville Towers. Each aiva w ill have its own coordinator, who wnll sit on an Escort committee, and be responsible for recruitment, publicity and serving their area's unique needs. This committee will also investigate w ays to incorporate the L Shuttle into the Escort service. A second issue is to expand existing recycling programs w ithin all dorms to x 1 Most candidates for student body president have a lot of trouble thinking up catchy slogans. Mine was no trouble: A Commitment to Service. A commit ment to service sums up how I feel about student government. In the last several weeks of the campaign, I've talked to many of you about what you want from Carolina. The issues that I'm talking about are important be cause they're important to you. These are several areas that I'm particularly concerned about: Educational Services: Create a better advising system. Enhance minority student and faculty recruitment and retention. v Develop a 24-hour study and computer center. ' Support academic minor option. ' Food Seniccs: Develop a downtown meal card option. ' Establish an open food court (independent franchises) in Lenoir. Financial Services: , -j Secure more graduate teaching assistant funds. ' ' Increase financial aid opportuni ties. Boost Day care option for stu dents with children. Support tuition defense initiative. Student Scn ices: Reduce cashier's and Financial Student government. Notice the first word of this phrase: student. That word should echo the reality that student government is only student government w hen students are involved. Yet, should students get involved? Will it make a difference? Will involvement help? One .would hope the answer is "Yes" to all these questions or the efforts of student .government are in vain. I make the Argument that there is a distinction in making a difference and making an effective difference. My '7 point plan' pan make an effective difference. t Community Outreach. We are roughly 200 years old and so is this community. We need to give strong attention to our relationship with the community. What better way of build frig this relationship than setting up a Community-Associated Work Study "Program to supplement ourcurrent work study program. Or extending the hours of bus routes from 1 2 a.m. to 2 a.m. to help students in apartments who want to study longer on campus or relax longer on Franklin Street. Administrative Relations. Why not focus more efforts on fortifying the relationship with student government and administrative members? Why not . The top of every DTH says "serving .the students and University commu nity since 1893." That's not as true as it used to be. The DTH's performance is not meeting the needs and expectations of this campus as w ell as it could. We want a chance to change that. Between the two of us, we have worked as city editor. Omnibus editor, design editor, assistant city editor, edi torial page assistant and staff writer. These positions have given us a unique, chance to participate in every aspect of the DTH, from calling sources to put ting a finished story on the page and .everything in between. With this be hind us, we have the practical know how as well as the tlexibility to make these changes: Eliminate board opinions except on 'trie rare issues crucial to the entire University community. ';' .Create a forum editor to organize fetters to the editor and to solicit opin .ions from students and faculty, espe cially from those who traditionally have pot had a voice in the DTH. ' ''Create an ombudsman to deal objec . Jtiyely with the concerns of readers " through regular office hours and accu ,1.1111 ,1.1 I .1 I. I 1 Mill.. II III . I. ..HI II I II I. II include glass and paper, as well as to further current aluminum can recycling. The need and desire to recycle is evi dent among residents at this time. In order to ensure a successful program RHA will join in efforts to place a recycling center on campus. A third issue is energy conservation. Due to increased utilities, the Housing Department has found it necessary to increase rent rates to cover its costs. In attempts to prevent a permanent rate increase a full scale conservation pro gram will be launched to increase resi dents' awareness. Residents need to realize that they are spending their own money when they waste energy. Another important issue is the need to expand the position of executive assistant for minority affairs. This will allow RHA to develop programming that appeals not only to minorities, but to the residents as a whole, allowing more interaction and education con cerning other cultures. Finally, I am committed to repre senting the residents on issues that will arise in the future, and those that have been dealt with in the past and will require continued input from RHA. Some of these issues include parking. aid lines. Work with administration to pro vide larger facilities and more resources for the Black Cultural Center. Develop more parking options. Boost recycling and environ mental planning. Obtain more campus security and lighting. Establish Student Government liaison with the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Just a quick note. Food Service is one of the most important concerns of stu dents, and one that I'm asked the most about. All of us eat, many of us in Lenoir or Chase. That is why I am committed to providing UNC students with high quality food at reasonable prices. And this is also why we need a wide variety of food choices. As a stu dent congressman, I have been research ing these problems, talking with ad ministrators, but most importantly talk ing with you. When Marriott's contract expires next year, students will play a major role in determining the future of our campus food service. Join me in advocating bringing independent food franchises to UNC. But this is not enough. Variety of food choices is just as important. That's why I'm working on a plan with the Downtown Commis sion to establish a separate downtown meal card that can be used at all local set up an administrative liaison posi tion in the executive branch of student government like my role on Student Congress? Effective government in cludes good administrative relations. Minority Concerns. Diversity is the key to the success of a university. What better way to diversify our campus than bringing more Native American pro fessors here and helping the Black Cultural Center bring the campus to gether through programs that are of fered. What better way to stay diversi fied than student government having a role in minority concerns. Inter-student Government. We are inevitably linked to 15 other schools in our 16-university system. First, our relationship with those other universi ties has to be strong to enable us to battle tuition raises and low teacher pay. State legislators stand up and lis ten more so to a whole system than to a part of the system. We need to make sure we are a strong part of that 16 university system. Financial Education Support. Stu dent government should continue strong advocation for more financial support of students. Yet, also student govern racy checks. The ombudsman would also recruit new writers including mi norities and non-joumalism majors. Expand sports coverage to include a Sports Friday featuring graphics and previews for non-revenue events as well as basketball and football. In addition, publish intramural championship re sults and club sports' standings and schedules. Place national news briefs on the front page in a small column on the left side. This would not detract from Uni versity news, but would ensure more complete coverage of national events in a consistent and easy-to-read format. Abolish the managing and business editors. The managing editor's tasks would transfer easily to the ombuds man, who would focus on the needs of the community as well as the internal needs of the DTH. Business stories would be handled in a more timely fashion through day-to-day coverage by the city and other news desks. Break up the arts and features desk, since coverage of the theater, arts events. Focus page and general features are extremely difficult for one editor to the installation of cable in the dorms and guaranteed sophomore housing. Residents deserve parking spaces on campus, near their dorms, and RHA is in a position to aid residents in obtain ing these, through efforts such as rep resentation on the Transportation and Parking Advisory Committee. The question of cable installation in the dorms has been brought to the fore front, as the Housing Department con siders the numerous bids that have been submitted. The Housing Department has said that no final decision will be made without a student mandate. The means for gathering residents opin ions on this issue is through RHA. RHA will ensure that the residents desires are met, and that Housing fol lows through on these commitments. Finally, RHA will examine the results of guaranteed sophomore housing closely to secure the best lottery sys tem for all residents. The knowledge and commitment necessary to provide the service and representation that you, the residents, demand and deserve is my promise. Gretchan Diffendal is a junior po litical science and speech communica tions major from Charlotte. restaurants. I'm really excited about these pro posals. I wish I had the time (or the space!) to discuss all of them with each of you. I've designed my platform so it can be accomplished within the space of one year. My official qualifications for stu dent body president are simple: in volvement with student advocacy here on campus at Carolina, in the Town of Chapel Hill and across the state. But I am qualified to be student body presi dent because I eat in the same cafeteria as you do, stand in the same lines that you do, sleep in the dorms just like you. I see first hand the problems that you face each day. My experience has given me the skills to help you overcome the obstacles that occur at a large public university. In my opinion, the job of student body president should be to bring people together from all parts of campus, graduate and undergraduate. Over the next year, I am committed to serving you and your needs. It's time to give the student government back to the students. It's time to return to a Commitment to Sen'ice. I would appreciate your vote on Feb. 20. Mark Bibbs is a sopfwmore political science and speech communications major from Kings Mountain. ment should play a role in the educa tional support mechanism. T.A.A.B., my idea for an advisory board for teach ing assistants, would do this by helping students and teaching assistants. Security. Student government can play a role in helping funding efforts of Student Patrol and other security ef forts. Health. Student government can play a role in funding efforts of our Student Health Services program. The Total Package. A student body president should be complete in every aspect. Platform issues are very impor tant. Yet, a student body president will represent the students in a variety of situations that go beyond his or her platform issues. A student body presi dent should have the innate ability to relate well with students and adminis trators. All of us need each other a very realistic concept that a student body president has to have. Without it, we will only make a difference, not an effective difference. I have this concept and I am complete. Allow me to make a effective difference. Thank you. Jonathan Martin is a sophomore economics major from Greensboro. organize. Previews of theater and art shows would be covered in Omnibus, while reviews would run in the DTH. The features desk could then expand to cover more news-feature subjects in cluding health and science issues, reli gion, recreation and other aspects of student life. Improve dialogue with student or ganizations including the BSM, Cam pus Y and Greeks through increased coverage, meetings with the ombuds man on a regular basis and the forum editor's efforts to include theirviews in the DTH. Working with the news-editorial, entertainment and advertising aspects of the DTH has given us the back ground necessary to make The Daily Tar Heel more representative of the University community. We have the skills to do the job and the experience to do it well. Jessica Lanning is a sophomore journalism major from Raleigh. Kelly Thompson is a sophomore journalism and international studies major from Jefferson, Ore. Campus Election Platforms '90 wf x-'" w trV T rr Tt V" 'd 4" t-V" 4? s i " A st i si s si s n . A si s x s s. ? s. si st s si A s " sf t si si i A Our student body president plays a vital role in the system of student self governance. The responsibilities of the person holding this job are wide and varied. Similarly, the needs of this stu dent body are quite diverse. Given these facts, the student body president must be a dynamic leader capable of work ing with different ideas and people. I believe that I am the person for this job. My experience in Student Congress along with my work with the executive branch uniquely qualifies me to imple ment the policies set forth in this plat form. In order to best serve the students and represent their needs, I will make accessibility one of my priorities. I will accomplish this by extended office hours, frequent visits to dorm and club meetings and informal discussions with student leaders from all organizations. My platform includes many short- range, highly feasible projects which will be carried out within the time frame of my administration. I will not, how ever, limit my vision to the 12-month term, but rather pursue a number of longer range goals which will serve students for years to come. My three-pronged platform of class room, campus and community inter ests addresses important concerns. The two issues regarding class room and academics that I would most like to attack are financial aid and teach ing. Students must fight to maintain the low cost of education while finding Broadening educational opportuni ties inside and outside of the classroom is the overriding theme of my cam paign. Surprisingly, this has not been a popular platform in past years, but I believe that the single most important aspect of our college careers is the level of our academic challenge and achieve ment. The following are five of my concrete plans to provide new educa tional outlets and tools for all UNC students. My first goal is the creation of a book entitled "The Indispensable Guide to Classes."This book will consist of prose evaluations of each class. It will in clude descriptions of the expected work load, the prerequisites and the teaching style. Without raising student fees at all, the guide will allow students to make informed course selections. My second plan is to develop a co op. Students at State, Clemson and U Va have an educational opportunity that we do not: they are able to spend a semester working as interns with na tional companies gaining hands-on experience, and receiving, in many cases, academic credit. Companies such as IBM and Southern Bell have already expressed interest in having paid in terns from UNC. These co-op jobs can and do lead to offers after graduation, and they tend to put academics in per spective by showing students what subjects they need to focus on. Who cares? In recent years, voting turnout at student elections has been nothing short of pathetic. In the last national election, only 50 percent of the voters in the United States even bothered to vote. Campuses should serve as a role model for the nation, not as a mirror image. The reason I entered this cam paign was because simply didn't care. But as I became more involved with my campaign, I realized that we need to In the 97 years that The Daily Tar Heel has been serving the University community, it has grown to be an inte gral part of the campus and town. With this growth has come increased respon sibility for the DTH editor. Recogniz ing that this responsibility calls for experience, leadership ability, matur ity and intimate knowledge of the paper's day-to-day operations, we think we are the people most qualified to run the paper for the next year. The most fundamental components of the DTH are the news desks and the editorial page. As such, experience in these two areas is crucial to success fully maintaining the quality of the paper. Bill, having served as state and national editor, managing editor and University editor, has experience or ganizing a news staff, writing and edit ing news stories and developing story ideas. Mary Jo, having served as edito rial page editor for a year, has experi ence working with an editorial board, writing and editing signed and board editorials and determining the compo sition of the back page. Given our broad experience in many different areas of the DTH, we have the insight to direct the paper's growth and improvement. We plan to focus on improving news coverage, specifically Itilll KillldUUiolli .eitimm V v?r Si S S new sources of financial aid revenue. The Financial Aid Task Force identi fied problems and proposed solutions concerning student aid. The Lomax administration will work to implement these programs and secure 100 percent of trademark licensing revenues for student aid. My administration will fight for increased salaries and benefits for our instructors professors and teach ing assistants. Working with the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Lomax administration will involve students in orientation and evaluation programs for international teaching assistants. The continued physical growth of our campus is inevitable. Throughout this process, my administration will protect student interests including trans portation, parking and greenspace. In short, I will do everything I can to prevent future problems such as those associated with the Alumni Center. While the physical development of our campus is an important matter, improving the social atmosphere on our campus will be an even higher priority for the Lomax administration. I seek to broaden the cultural horizons of all students by securing funding for the Black Cultural Center. I am committed to finding a permanent home for the Black Cultural Center. Perhaps with the completion of a new business school, the Black Cultural Center can move into an existing vacated facility. Project number three is the active search for a permanent site for the BCC. I have been studying the idea of placing the BCC in Howell Hall and feel that student government can rally a net work of groups to facilitate this move. I have also presented the ideas of combining the BCC with the African and Afro-American Curriculum. This would give the BCC the educational aspect that it desires. Since many stu dents would take classes in the BCC, it would not become the segregated build ing that people fear. All students would be comfortable wandering in the art gallery and going to performances in the auditorium. It would allow cultural arts to serve as another medium of education and serve to alleviate racial tensions on campus. Not only do I want to promote the arts as cultural education in the BCC, but I feel the arts in general should play a larger role on our campus. I would like to see a dinner theater evolve; I will create an Arts Council consisting of representatives from art oriented or ganizations; I will support the Union's Spring Student Fine Art Festival; and I will go directly to the art, drama and music departments to ask professors how student government can best show case the outstanding work of their stu dent. Groups like the Pauper Players prove that there is a very real student interest in these activities and student care. My primary goal is to deal with this student apathy. I am proposing, as a first step, a phone-in voting system 933-VOTE. Call in, dial your social security number, your voter code and cast your vote. The tools we need for this are already here. We could use this same system for a phone-in drop-add. No lines, no more Woollen Gym. N.C. State University has successfully implemented a similar of city issues. Strengthening this area is particularly important, because while the DTH has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Chapel Hill, city is sues have too often been overlooked as a source of news. At the same time. University issues will remain the paper's focus, and we will strive for more thorough and accurate coverage of campus events. We would also like to draw more varied opinions for the editorial page. By posing weekly questions or issues to our readers, we hope to solicit a wider range of opinions and comments from both sides of an issue. Facilitating better communication among staff members is another key goal we have for the next year. This includes making it easier for new staff members to adjust to the working envi ronment of the DTH, as well as encour aging open and constructive criticism among staff members and editors. Al though this is not something readers will be directly aware of, it should be reflected positively in the quality of the paper. Deadlines are an important aspect of a daily newspaper, and the DTH editors must always focus on meeting them missed deadlines mean financial loss r&r v&r r&r irr ir T&r Si f Si St Si Si St I Si X. . I also have a concrete plan to bring cultural diversity into the classroom by . hiring top minority scholars. The plan is quite complex, but in short it will create an incentive for departments to hire minority scholars to fill vacated tenured or tenure-track positions. The implementation of this program will be a positive step in creating true institu tional diversity. Many areas of student concerns are best addressed through community governments. I will therefore create strong ties to the Board of Governors and state government. The time has . come for a student ex-officio member . of the Board of Governors. My admini- ; stration will advocate student concerns . including tuition and higher faculty . pay to the state legislature. A concern which all communities must address is energy conservation. The Lomax administration will work with other student groups to maximize our campus' energy efficiency. In addition to the conservation benefits, this effort will alleviate some of the burden on the university's budget. On Feb. 20, vote for a dedicated leader with the energy and vision to protect students' interests and imple- ment solutions to the students' prob lems. On Feb. 20, vote John Lomax. John Lomax is a junior political science major from Hickory. government can help in promotion and organization. Finally, this campus is in need of environmental education. I plan to work closely with housing and dorm govern ments to install energy efficient de vices which will keep dorm rents as low as possible. Fluorescent lighting, heat ers which can be turned on and off in the rooms, weather stripping and more insulation are some of the options which should be explored, along with educat ing students about energy efficiency. Also in the environmental realm is my plan to work with SEAC to get all 16 UNC schools to use recycled paper. I will use recycled paper in the student government office if elected. , , The beauty of these ideas is their feasibility. Two years of executive branch work has taught me that know ing the issues is simply not enough. Instead, to be an effective student body president one must have clear, specific goals. There are, of course, other plans not included in the above five, which I have for next year's student govern ment, but, unfortunately, I do not have room to describe those in detail here. I do encourage you to attend a forum to hear the ideas first hand and to have the opportunity to question me about them. Bill Hildebolt is a junior economics major from Winston-Salem. system. I see no reason for us not to be doing the same. These are not my only concerns. I strongly support the use of meal cards at downtown restaurants. I want to examine the possibilities for improv ing the situation at the cashier's office. And I encourage everyone to be nice to trees. Mike Strickland is a sophomore applied sciences major from Fayette ville. for the paper. But long-range planning can significantly add quality to the content and design of the pages. There fore, we see the position of managing editor as a source of such long-term vision. This editor, being free from day-to-day concerns, will provide a fresh perspective to the staff in matters such as design, series ideas and story development. Finally, at the top of our agenda will be the DTH's continued pursuit of complete and open records from the UNC police department. It is high time the public had access to these records in the same way it has access to municipal police records. We will continue to press the University until it ceases to claim the right to hide criminal acts about which the public deserves to know. We realize that the DTH is one of the best student newspapers in the country, but we're not willing to settle for that. We are seeking the editorship because we have the qualifications and vision necessary to keep the DTH at the top of its field while still moving it forward. Mary Jo Dunnington is a junior geography major from Winston-Salem. William Taggart is a junior journalism major from Chatham Township, NJ. (