T^Ite. Coow^luaf ^owwait
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
)lume XII, Number 1
Charlotte, North Carolina
July 9, 1976
Carolina Journal photo by Lisa Laney
mi
w
Parking improvements
done during summer
The new entrance to the visitor’s parking lot.
News Analysis
Murder on the
orientation express
By Doug Lerner
This past fall, changes were
•ade in the way new student
dentation was to be handled. As a
•suit, the Orientation Committee
ts seen walkouts and resignations
V at least two students, and the
ffice of Student Affairs has been
msured by the Student Body
overnment. In a three-part series,
'.’ginning with our Orientation
sue in August, we will examine
le changes that have been made,
hy they were made, and the
tasons why the Orientation
ommittee has become the subject
f controversy on our campus-
his week we will report on the
’neral issues that have been raised
i order to make the campus,
'irticularly the students, aware of
le nature of the controversy. We
nnk the Orientation Committee is
ut a single example of a more
’.rious problem facing the student
ody in the area of student rights;
e hope that by becoming aware of
te problem, students will find
leans of resolving it. Questions or
)mments concerning this series
lould be made in writing to the
arolina Journal.
—The Editors
In Dencember of last year, the
:udent body learned that changes
'ere to be made in the structure of
he new student orientation
rogram. These changes were to be
lade without consulting students.
Lmong the more important of
lese revisions was the change in
le structure of the Orientation
ommittee, which is supposed to
esign the orientation program. The
rientation program itself is
esigned to give new students their
TSt exposure to the whole UNCC
ampus.
The students were told that no
)nger would a student chair the
Committee as had been the
arrangement in the past. Instead,
Betty Chafin, the Associate Dean of
Students was seleeted, again
without consulting students, to
chair the committee. A professional
Director of Orientation, Sally
Allison, was hired to coordinate the
S ram with the new seven dollar
ent fee charged freshmen and
transfer students to fund the
orientation program. In addition,
changes were made in the ratio of
student, faculty and staff
membership on the Committee;
Dean Dennis Rash explained
that among the reasons for the
changes were the new fee structure,
complaints of errors in past
orientation programs and
specifically the complaints of an
academic dean he refused to name.
It has been reported the
changes made are having an effect
on student parti ipation in the
direction of policies of the
Orientation Committee. There have
been revisions in parts of the short
Orientation Handbook for this year
which make certain sections appear
more ‘positive’ to the
administration. In fact, a high
ranking member of the Committee
has said, “The major concern of the
Orientation Committee is not what
the students think, but what the
administration thinks.”
The academic dean who was
largely responisible for the changes
in orientation is Dr. Norman Schul,
Dean of the College of Social and
Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Schul says
one of the reasons he prompted the
changes were, “concerns expressed
on the part of people, including
myself, about lack of liaison with
academic units...that there was not
a good understanding (on the part
of students) with regard to
essentials.” Dr. Schul maintains
that although there were some
things that worked well in the
student-run program, the new
By Doug Lerner
Some construction is going on
in the parking lot behind the Cone
University Center. In one spot, the
area near the gameroom, it looks
like the entrance is being divided in
two. In the upper lot, a single space
has been chained off in a
boondoggle that looks like a place
to hitch a horse to.
When asked about these
projects, Jerry Hud son,. Director of
the Department of Public Safety,
said he did not know anything
about the quadroned off space
though he spoke about the work
being done on the lower lot.
Hudson said at the request of
Dennis Rash, Dean of Students and
Vern Parrish, Director of the Cone
University Center, plans were made
to designate some space for
“conference parking.”
Visitors will enter and leave
the lower lot from the same spot
they presently do, but will need
either a token or a quarter to leave.
A mechanical arm will control
traffic in and out of the lot.
The amount of spaces to be
used up by the new system will
range from a minimum of about
20-25 to a maximum of 132,
depending on how many visitors
are expected each day. Chains will
be moved between poles on the
other side of the lot to regulate the
lot’s size.
The lot behind the Cone
University Center is the only space
left where students are able to park
right next to the University.
Despite receiving a negative
response from the Chancellor’s
Parking Committee last year.
Security changed the parking lots
taking away the students’ right to
park behind Denny Building.
Hudson said the committee did
approve the loss of additional
spaces this past October by
approving this latest construction,
however.
Hudson, did not know how
much this venture would cost, but
a similar system at Central
Piedmont Community College cost
at least $6000.
A member of the Chancellor’s
Parking Committee verified the
committee “approved of the plan
without approving of it.” The
member said the committee saw
the need as a necessary evil until
plans are made for additional
parking, possibly parking decks.
One problem with the plan is
the cost will not be made up for
several years, possibly causing
another raise in the already high
parking fees. As the member of the
committee put it, “ We’ll actually
be paying to have less spaces to
park in.” He added he was not
returning to the committee this
year because it was “futile.”
Parrish said he authorized the
chaining off of the boondoggle
behind the Cone University Center.
He said it was for “access” for
deliveries and maintenance and for
that reason he chose a space near
the newly constructed service
ramp.
Carolina Journal photo by Lisa Laney
: ■ w..
The unusual car-hitch shown above is actually
a service entrance. See above story.
Committee is carrying on the
orientation program with a ‘new^
dimension’. Dr. Schul readily
admits one of the main purposes
for the changes was to enable the
Committee to accentuate what he
considers more positive aspects of
the University, downplaying
criticisms of the administration,
faculty and policy.
A new ‘area’ of policy has been
created to handle the Orientation
Committee, loosely described as
‘Institutional Policy’. Although a
highly disputed contention, the
Office of Student Affairs maintains
that despite the fact that students
pay the new student orientation
fee, the program and the fees are
not under student control since
they fall under ‘institutional
operations’. Institutional Control,
that is control by the.
administration, of certain areas of
University life has been dissaproved
of often in the. past, especially by
(Continued on page three)