Tltte Ovio^UtO/ ^owwall
Volume XII, Number 28
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Ciiarlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
April 12, 1977
Why no beer?
By Brad Ricli
Jam-up at UNCC. The mere mention
of the event conjures up vivid images of
bare legs, bare feet, good music, sunshine
and beer. At least it used to. This year,
two of the ingredients were missing-the
sunshine and the beer.
Sunshine was absent due to a quirk
of nature; beer due to a change in state
policy, it seems. To find out exactly how
Jam-up was held for the first time ever
without free beer, three of the people
most closely involved in the
controversey, Doug Lerner, University
. Program Board advisor Jennie Cernosia
and Dean of Student Dennis Rash, were
interviewed.
Rash said in the past the University
policy was guided by a policy statement
from North Carolina University President
William Friday saying, in essence, that
student fees were directly expendable by
the students, and could be used for
anything they deemed necessary.
“This year,” Rash said, “Vice
Chancellor Orr received a statement
saying this was no longer in effect, and
that student fees were now under the
control of the Chancellors of the
individual universities.”
Rash said the administration was
advised that student fees are state
money, that is, they are accountable to
and audited by the state. Since state ABC
laws forbid purchase of alcoholic
beverages (and even cups or containers
for the beverages), the administration
decreed that the money budgeted for
Jam-up beer was not to be used for that
purpose. “This was no attempt to single
out Jam-up, or for the administration to
crack down,” Rash said.
The main issue, according to Rash, is
the question of whether student activity
fees constitute “state money”. Rash said
New bus system one reason
Parking sticker will cost you $30
By Doug Lerner
The administration has announced
that UNCC parking fees will be increased
by 50% beginning with the fall, 1977
semester. The increase from $20.00 to
$30.00 reflects three major developments
in the areas of parking and transportation
at UNCC.
According to Vice-Chancellor Leo
Ells, the $10.00 mark-up in parking
sticker fees will go to:
(1) the new bus system which is
supposed to provide students with an
inexpensive transportation link to the
community (see route map this page) and
relieve overcrowded parking situations on
campus. The heavily publicized
transportation plan will cost $8 per
semester or $15 per year for unlimited
transportation on the CTS, Charlotte
Transit System, Only $1.00 of the
$10.00 increase will go to the bus
system.
(2) 200 new parking spaces which
will be created for new on-campus
housing. These spaces will be located
between the site of the housing (now
being constructed) and Highway 49.
(3) the building of a new parking
deck between the gym and the University
Center. This project will be the major
reason for the increase. The 200 new
spaces created will be ready during the
fall. 1977 semester- probably in late
October or early November.
Ells said the fee increase had not
been voted on and approved by the
. Chancellor’s Parking Committee, where
students and faculty have their
representation, but he said he had
“apprised” them of the action. Although
the increase wasn’t specifically approved
in Committee, Ells says the Committee
did approve the projects being paid for
by the increase.
Ells said he did not know whether
the construction between the gym and
the University Center would be a first
step in prohibiting students from parking
in that area as has been proposed by
Dean of Students Dennis Rash. Ells did
verify, however, that parking fines will be
increased next year from the current
$1.00/$3.00/$5.00 penalties to some
undecided levels.
Dr. Judith Pressler, a philosophy
professor who chairs the Chancellor’s
Parking Committee told the Carolina
Journal that the fee increase had,in
fact, been voted on in the Committee
and that students had been present. She
said she would send us copies of the
minutes.
Opinion on the matter of the fee
increase and the projects it will pay for
seems fairly mixed. While those
interviewed thought the bus system a,
good idea, few were enthusiastic about
its potential in attracting tbe large
support needed to make the project a
success.
Jack Summerlin, Chairman of the
Student Legislature, voiced the opinion
of most of those interviewed. He was
asked whether he thought the new bus
system would be a success. “No,” he
said, “but their (the administration’s)
intentions are good. 1 don’t think that
many students will give up the luxury of
their own cars and of coming and going
when they please. 1 don’t think it is
practical at the present time though it is
a wonderful idea.” Summerlin criticized
the subsidy saying, “1 don’t think it is a
good idea to force over 8,000 people to
subsidize the hundred or so people who
will ride the buses.”
A more optimistic view is held by
Associate Dean of Students Betty Chafin.
She says the plan will, “provide a great
service. The bus pass is one of the great
deals in town. I am optimistic as to its
eventual success on a long-range
basis-but we have to get started now.”
Vice-Chancellor Ells said the bus
system would be, “just as useful as the
staff, faculty and students.make it.” Ells
said he hoped that the success of the bus
system would save UNCC the expense of
building a proposed 903 space parking -
lot.
For those persons interested in more
information about the bus system,
contact Betty Chafin in the Dean of
Students Office. If you are interested in
the new parking deck or the proposed
increase in fines, contact Jerry Hudson,
Director of Security.
lawyer William Steimer, an assistant to
Chancellor Colvard, prepared a statement
saying that in his opinion the money is
state money, since the money is collected
by the University, accounted for by the
business office and' audited by the state
office.
Rash said the reason the school was
able to buy beer in the past was that no
one was held directly responsible for the
purchase, so the auditors didn’t choose
to look at it carefully. With last year’s
revelation of,student activities fees being
spent improperly in some instances, for
example, lunches being
disguised as salaries, the auditing process
was improved and all activities came
under closer scrutiny. '
Doug. Lerner, former UNCC
Attorney General and an ardent
supporter of students’ rights, disagreed
with Rash. “The administration
interpreted how the state feels to suit
their purposes,” he said, “There has
never been any ruling by either the
courts or the State Attrrrncy General, on
whether student fees constitute state
money. I think it says something about
our administration that they want to
stop students from spending their own
money.”
Lerner said Dennis Ra,sh made this
interpretation, and that the
administration is hesitant to ask for a
genuine ruling because ol' fear that all
school money, “right down to the health
center and athletic program, would fall
under the control of the Board of
Governors.”
Lerner said in the past the beer was
bouglit from a wholesaler (at the cheapest
possible price) using a retailer as a middle
man, and that this was the ‘public’
purchase plan this year. When the
administration closed off this route,
Lerner and others felt an alternative had
to be found.
He said, “We felt as student leaders
we had to try and get the students what
they wanted for their money. We felt it
was our job to get them the beer for their
money.”
One route mentioned was
transferring funds allocated to various
miscellaneous accounts in Student
Government to stipends, then having an
individual buy the beer from the
company. Lerner said this would have
worked had the Business Office not
closed out its books for March a couple
of days early.
Jennie Cernosia, UPB advisor, said
the problem was first detected in
December. When she first arrived at
UNCC from Illinois, she was “stunned”
that beer had been bought with activity
fee monies in the past because it was a
violation of ABC laws where she came
from. “I thought it was a great idea,
though,” she said.
Cernosia said when the problem was
detected, a ruling was asked for, and the
response was that the Chancellor was
directly responsible for how student
activity fees could be spent. With that in
mind, she advised the UPB to look for
another purchase plan if they still wanted
the beer, because she could never sign the
check requisition. She told them to try
and obtain the funds through Student
Media Board, since these
organizations do not need a faculty
advisor’s signature on requisitions.
Cernosia went on to say she thought
the first plan tried, diverting the money
through Student Government stipends
would have worked had not a letter from
Dave Johnston appeared in the Carolina
Journal that explained the plan. “I
(continued on page four)