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STB f .A- T I I 100th Year of Editorial Freedom Est. 1893 Serving the students and the University community since 1893 0 1992DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Volume 100, Issue 46 Thursday, July 23, 1992 Chapel Hill, North Carolina NcwiSporaAro 962-0MS BudnefAdMMn 962-116) E E K I Y S Administrators not to present trustees with fee increases By Peter Wallsten Editor UNC-Chapel Hill officials will not propose new student fee increases at the Board of Trustees meeting Friday, said Donald Boulton, vice chancellor for student affairs. "I was told the whole issue is dead," he said this week. "All we can say is we're going to regroup and cut back to get through another year." Meanwhile, Boulton suggested that the UNC-system create a plan for stu dent fees using UNC-Chapel Hill's methods as a model. "It seems to me we ought to make a plea for a plan that involves constituents at each institu tion," he said. UNC-CH administrators made their decision to withhold their fee proposals after learning that a bill in the state legislature that would place a morato rium on student fees this year at UNC system schools passed through the state House and probably will get final ap proval this week in the Senate. At press time Wednesday, the Senate had not voted on the measure. The bill states that the Board of Gov ernors "may not increase any required fees at the constituent institutions until the board adopts rules to limit the amount of student fees that may be charged to retire debt at each institution." State legislators have said they were not convinced that BOG was commit ted to keeping student fees low at its member schools and that UNC-system officials pressured them to approve a fee-supported athletic complex at UNC Charlotte. "There's no one really to advocate for the students but us," said Rep. Mar tin Nesbitt, D-Asheville. The BOG would not be allowed to adopt the rules before April 1, 1993, and the UNC system would have to send the rules to every legislator before the mora torium is dropped. UNC-CH students and administra tors had hoped to increase student fees at the University by $57, for programs such as APPLES (a service learning program), intramural sports and a tech nology fee (for new computer labs). In response to legislators' calls for a student fee plan, Boulton proposed form ing a committee of vice chancellors from the 16 campuses to study student involvement in decision making. "It seems to me the consumer who pays the bill has to have some role," he said. "We have a model that ought to be looked at. ... I would like to work with a number of my colleagues. I would welcome working on a committee tak ing things we have learned and that others have learned. I believe we could come up with a process that would be inclusive." Boulton emphasized the importance of a process that involves students ev ery step of the way on boards and com mittees. In addition, students should be able to react to proposals through the press and public forums. Student body referenda are helpful, but don't always have the same impact as other, more proactive processes, Boulton said. But fee proposals not supported by a wide cross-section of students never survive, Boulton said. "I don't even let (them) leave my office." UNC-system President CD. Spangler said in an interview this week that student referenda shouldn't dictate policy about fees. "If only S, 8 or 10 percent of the students turn out, it's not BCC advocates confront Spangler in dining hall By Peter Wallsten Editor UNC-system President CD. Spangler advised supporters of a free standing black cultural center to make their arguments with care during a spontaneous gathering in Lenoir Hall Tuesday. "There are two different argu ments," Spangler told the group of about 1 2 students, some of whom rep resented the Black Awareness Coun cil (BAC). "One is about programs and space, and that's buyable. "The second is to say we want a certain spot and a certain building. And that doesn't sell." Spangler eats lunch typically consisting of a taco salad in Lenoir, UNC-Chapel Hill's main dining hall, at least once a week. The stu dents; led by BAC member Chuckie Burnette, ap proached Spangler after he finished his meal. Burnette also is a quarter back on the UNC football team. CD. Spangler The BAC was formed this summer to promote a free-standing BCC, an issue that garnered a great deal of attention this month after several rallies and a symbolic ground breaking last week. "(Black students) don't have any where to go," Burnette told Spangler, - 4V mmmh n X , - ' ,. hi .iiii.iiiiii-urn- .&....., .....--iw! kiJt - 1 DTHEiin Randall Denise Marthewson holds the ribbon after a symbolic ceremony for the BCC last week adding that he was having a difficult time making white administrators and coaches aware of the need for a free standing BCC. "Blacks don't have any representation." Penny Blackwell, an All-American on the UNC track team, said most black students didn't have a place to go for help, although an effective support net work was in place for athletes. "We as athletes have certain things built to deal with things athletes need," she said. To build what many students want a free-standing Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center would help solve -some problems facing black students on campus, Blackwell said. "It doesn't provide separateness,"she said. "It provides unity and more self esteem ... rather than having (black students) search so deeply for it only in an (African-American studies) class. So when they leave the University, they have something to give back." Spangler emphasized that as presi dent of the 16-campus UNC system, it would not be appropriate for him to take a definite personal stand on the issue. Chancellor Paul Hardin has expressed . his support for the BCC, but also has said that a free-standing center would promote too much separatism on cam pus. 'There's no difference in me being president and me being a person," Spangler said. "If I don't support the chancellors, then I've got a problem." But Spangler also told the students he supported their philosophies about black students needing representation. "I'm with you all the way," he told Blackwell. The students told Spangler of their frustrations dealing with some admin istrators on campus, such as Hardin. "What do you think I believe?" Spangler asked. "What do you think I work for? I want you to graduate." Spangler questioned the students' tactics in demanding a free-standing building. "I'm saying a place should be provided to give you what you want, but does it need to be separate?" he asked. "You're asking for something separate rather than something that will solve the problem." Burnette responded by explaining what he perceived as a need for a center of black culture. 'The stuff I get about my own culture and my separate black achievements, I have to get on my own," he said. Spangler said: "I couldn't be presi dent of this university if I didn't believe some of the things you believe. (N.C. CGLA may join student coalition By Anna Griffin Awocfate Editor : The Carolina Gay and Lesbian As sociation may join the coalition for a free-standing black cultural center as s early as September, CGLA and coali tion leaders said this week. At a BCC speakout last Wednes day, Doug Ferguson, co-chairman of f the CGLA, told the crowd of about $ 150 that the CGLA was willing to give : the coalition whatever support it needed. "I don't know racism," Ferguson said to a group of about 150 students. "I'm not going to say I understand i racism, because I've probably been guilty of it in the past. "But I'm your ally whether you want it or not. I stand with you in the fight for a free-standing black cultural center." Ferguson later said he hoped the ; CGLA could join thecoalition, which includes the Black Student Movement, the Black Greek Council, the Campus Y, the Student Environmental Action Coalition, the Sonja Haynes Stone Task Force, the Alliance of Black - Graduate and Professional Students i and the Collegiate B lack Caucus. The coalition also includes the newly- formed Black Awareness Council, an ' organization of black athletes who s also are members of the BSM. "We're going to approach the BSM if this week and see if they'll come speak House Speaker) Dan Blue would have me out by nightfall." During the hour-long conversation, which at some points became confron tational, some students said a free-standing BCC would help the University break out of the days of segregation. "We don't want to start with the hatred of the past," Blackwell said. But Spangler, who was a student at UNC-CH from 1950-54, asked the stu dents to acknowledge society's progress since the 1950s and '60s. "We are doing everything we can to change things," he said, noting the vari ous programs on campus this summer aimed at recruiting and retaining mi nority students. "When I came here (for college) there wasn't a single black on this campus. It's not necessary to knock progress in the past 20 years to make progress in the next 20 years." At one point during the conversation. ; at one of our meetings in the fall," Ferguson said. "I'm definitely in favor of joining the coalition, and I : believe a majority of officers are also in favor of it." Although the CGLA and BSM have never officially worked to gether. Interim BSM President Charles McNair said he would sup port the CGLA joining the coal ition. Members of the BSM voted last : spring to voice their opposition to riders put on the CGLA's annual budget by Student Congress, s "I was very encouraged by what (Ferguson) had to say," McNair said. "I don' t think our past relations would be a problem. We'll welcome any body." McNair said Ferguson's com ments at the speakout were proof that the BCC movement was not just limited to black students. Although the other members of thecoalition have not yet been con tacted, Ferguson said he was confi . dent, his organization's members , would vote for joining the fight. "1 think it's safe to say that the feeling is toward joining the BCC fight," Ferguson said. "It would be a fair guess to say the CGLA will join the coalition." Ferguson said representatives of the coalition would speak to the CGLA at its Sept. 21 meeting and that the CGLA would vote on whether to join the coalition then. Burnette addressed Spangler and other whites by referring to "you all" and "you people," causing Spangler to recall jokingly Ross Perot's now-infamous speech earlier this month to the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People. "You would be helped to not as sume people are against you when they're not," Spangler said to the stu dents. "You can't assume by what people look like what they believe." When the students explained to Spangler that they did not expect him, a white man, to understand black is sues, the president responded that he disagreed with their assumptions. "I believe I'm looking at it as an American, a North Carolinian and as president," he said. "I'm not a white president. You've got to have the abil- See SPANGLER, page 2 Defendants request new trial for discrimination charges By Anna Griffin Associate Editor The three former UNC administra tors ordered to pay a UNC police officer $1 16,000 in damages have filed a mo tion with Orange County SuperiorCourt Judge Gordon Battle asking him to over rule the jury's verdict and grant them a new trial. On July 9, a jury ruled that former UNC officials John DeVitto, Charles Mauer and Robert Sherman had com mitted racial and gender discrimination against Keith Edwards, an 18-year vet eran of the UNC police force. The jury ordered the three men to pay a total of $90,000 in punitive damages and $26,000 in compensatory damages. But this week, the three men, through their attorney, David Parker, a deputy state attorney general, filed motions with the judge asking him to overrule the jury and grant them a new trial. "There's a written motion in the court to grant a motion of judgment not with standing and a motion for a new trial," said Marie Rice, a secretary in Battle's Superior Court office. "That basically means the defense is asking Judge Battle to overrule the jury's verdict and give them a new jury trial." Battle, who is conducting a case in Randolph County this week, will con sider the motions sometime next week, Rice said. The three defendants still are consid ering whetherto appeal the jury 's ruling against them, Parker said. "As far as I know, no decision has been reached," he said, adding that DeVitto, Mauer and Sherman have 30 days to file their ap peal with the N.C. Court of Appeals in Raleigh. Alan McSurely, Edwards' attorney, said he didn't expect Battle to grant a new trial. "I would be surprised if he did," he said. "They're just doing it for the record to establish matters that they might use for an appeal." The three defendants requested a new trial after the jury issued its decision two weeks ago, but at the time Battle told Parker to file a written motion. The motion officially was filed earlier this week, Rice said. Although no decision has been reached concerning an appeal, Edwards' supporters have mounted a petition drive encouraging UNC Chancellor Paul Hardin, one of seven original defen dants in the suit, to "do the right thing," and discourage DeVitto, Mauer and Sherman from appealing the verdict. Edwards' supporters hope petitions will avert appeal Supporters of UNC Police Officer Keith Edwards have begun a petition drive aimed at convincing the three former University officials convicted of racial and gender discrimination not to appeal an Orange County jury's rul ing against them. Organizers began circulating the pe titions last week at black churches in Chapel Hill and Carrboro and placed an advertisement in this issue of The Daily Tar Heel. The petitions urge UNC Chancellor Paul Hardin to accept the jury's ruling that former UNC officials John DeVitto, Charles Mauer and Robert Sherman discriminated against Edwards, an 18 year veteran of the UNC police force. A jury of six men and six women found in favor of Edwards and ruled that the three defendants had to pay damages totalling $1 16,000. At press time, the three men had not decided whether to appeal the verdict although they did file a motion request ing a new trial. The petition drive, which is being run out of The Abundant Life Center on West Rosemary Street, is focused on Hardin. "We want to get as many signatures as we can," said EstherTate.oneof the drive organiz ers. "We hope to get between 500 and 1,000 signa tures." Each petition contains space for 20 signatures. Keith Edwards Edwards' attorney, Alan McSurely, es timated that 500 petitions had been printed. Although Edwards' case against Hardin was dismissed during the course of the trial, Hardin still will play a major role in whether the three defendants appeal, McSurely said. 'This drive is pointed in the right direction,"he said. "Hardin is definitely involved in the decision-making pro cess. I'm not sure Chancellor Hardin knows how the community feels about this. This should show him how strong the sentiment is." The petitions urge Hardin to "do the right thing." According to the petition, this includes not ap pealing the ver dict, extending an offering of good will to Edwards and ensuring that all UNC employ ees receive fair and serious consider ation when they Paul Hardin report discriminatory practices to UNC administration. Hardin'ssecretary said this week that the chancellor was referring all ques tions about the Edwards case to Clifton Metcalf, UNC's associate vice chancel lor for communications. In a statement released July 10, the day after the verdict was announced, Hardin said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the case since it still may be appealed. "I respect the legal process, and I want to see justice done," Hardin said in the release. Anna Griffin a vote of the students," he said. "Ideally you'd have fees supported by 50 per cent of the students." But Spangler agreed that the BOG and the boards of trustees should seek out students' opinions. "I think it's some thing the Board of Governors ought to consider." Nesbitt said the proposal to nearly triple fees at UNC-Charlotte to build a $26.3 million athletic complex had caught the attention of many legisla tors. The BOG approved the plan at the tail end of UNC-system President CD. Spangler's one-year moratorium on stu dent fee increases. See FEES, page 5 Police warn residents about safety ByGerrlBaer Staff Writer Responding to several recent attacks on pedestrians who were walking alone at night, Chapel Hill and UNC police last week issued a warning against walk ing alone on campus after dark. "UNC-CH students, faculty, staff, local residents and others should take extra safety precautions," according to a press release jointly issued by Univer sity Police Chief AlanaEnnisand Chapel Hill Police Chief Ralph Pendergraph. The warning follows two attacks on pedestrians in the last two weeks. One woman was attacked in the Pittsboro Street-Manning Drive area while walk ing to work on campus. "The point of the release was to edu cate people, since several women have been victims of attempted assault," said Jane Cousins, spokeswoman for the Chapel Hill Police Department. li. Marcus Perry, crime prevention officer for the UNC police, said the warning was intended to make people more aware of the dangers of walking alone at night on campus. "The objec tive of the warning was to make people aware so they can be attentive to their surroundings," he said. The press release specifically men tioned UNC housekeepers and other employees who travel to work at night or in early morning hours. According to the release, these employees should contact their supervisors for assistance in arranging safe travel if they cannot find someone to accompany them to work. Alan McSurely, attorney for the housekeepers' movement, thinks the problem should have been addressed with more than a warning. "What really needs to happen is that the men and women on duty at night need to be brought into the discussion," he said. "They must have a grassroots task force put together of both police and housekeepers to put together a cre ative crime program." McSurely said the primary ideas for improving safety around UNC campus needed to come from the people di rectly involved. "The housekeepers are very intelligent people, and they have plenty of ideas," he said. "The cops know the University backwards and forwards. 'The housekeepers and the police know more about the University than the chancellor does." McSurely said, "Many UNC and Chapel Hill police know the house keepers because they come to work at the same times. I believe that if a task force was set up, they could come up with excellent crime prevention sug gestions." McSurely said the cooperation of both police departments was a good step. "There are four police departments See ASSAULT, page 2 That's a wrap 'til Aug. 24! We're sorry to inform ya'll that this is the last issue of the summer. Now we all say goodbye to those who make the news interesting: Keith Edwards, state legislators, CD. Spangler, Jay Robinson, Alan McSurely, Donald Boulton, Paul Hardin, the coalition supporting a free-standing BCC, Chuck Stone, Ralph Pendergraph, Charles Little, Matthew Hodgson, John Turner, the Board of Governors, John DeVitto, Carl Fox, Ben Tuchi, Mill Creek, Ross Perot (and family), etc. Look for the DTH's registration issue Aug. 24 and the first regular daily edition Aug. 26. I still believe in a place called Hope. Bill Clinton
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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July 23, 1992, edition 1
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