The chowan herald SECTION B 1 sMBBH llflr e -%. « . ''mt ’SHI Hi tHU ft ■> .By H'" j* ’•dl o v *• * if /j 11$ 'MV % WCW \ O THUS Paying ONE of the HIGHEST PRICES AVAILABLE IN NORTH CAROLINA m ANYWHERE! HOURS - 10:00 - 5:00 - DAILY. -JEXCEPT WED. - CLOSED COLONIAL COTTAGE SALES 205 S. BROAD ST. AQO ACQI\ EDENTON, N.C. ‘WZ'TOoU funds. The basic tool used in this review has been a conglomerate of five joint sub-committees on ap propriations-each dealing with a separate area of state spending. The screams of agony over possible cuts have been loudest surrounding the Joint Appropriations Base Budget Sub committee on Education the area that touches more North Carolinians and more North Carolina dollars than any other expense item. The Education Sub committee, in action similar to the other four Sub Committees, have categorized possible cuts in educational spending into three distinct priorities. Even under the severest cuts-utilizing all three “degrees” of priorities- the respective areas of educational spending in North Carolina (public schools, community colleges, and higher education) would lose only six per cent funding of their overall budget. More than likely, the only cuts if any will take place in education will be in the Priority I category. Priority I entrees are defined by the Sub-Committee as “having minimal impact on the quality of the educational programs.” The potential loss to public schools would be about one half of one per cent over two years, higher education might lose one and one quarter of 1 per cent over two years. The “big” loser would be community colleges which stands to lose as much as 2M> per cent in the biennial budget. According to the Sub committee definitions. “Priority II means that the budget cuts so identified will result in moderate im pact on the quality of the particular programs.” “Priority 111 means that the budget cuts so identified will result in serious impact on the quality of the par ticular programs.” The Sub-Committee has recommended that Priority II cuts take place only if absolutely necessary and recommends against Priority 111 reductions. Category 111, according to one senator in ttie deliberations, was created for use “only if the bottom falls out.” Unfortunately when a 50 per cent reduction in teacher aides in grades 1-3 was discussed and categorized in Priority 111, a lot of people thought the reduction had taken place for next year. Obviously, the teacher aides reduction is extremely unlikely. The.teacher aides screech is just one example of the noise caused by the Legislative review-an exhaustive exercise that probably should take place more often. Most people are forgetting that Gov. Hunt supposedly sent to the General Assembly a balanced budget with room for ex pansion or “new” spending in excess of SBO-million. Maybe the “spender defenders” should travel to Washington-that’s where the real cuts will occur. ‘Changing South’ Conference Topic GREENVILLE - What is happening in the South today and what problems and opportunities the change presents will be studied at a conference on “The Changing South” at East Carolina University on April 13. Directions and dimen sions of the currents of change in the South will be discussed by the main speakers. The interested public is invited to the conference which opens at 10:30 A. M. at ECU’s Willis Building.