The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Volume XIV, Number 25 Charlotte, North Carolina February 12, 1979 Lady 49er$ win Sun Belt Tournament By Nancy Davis The Inaugural Sun Belt Invita tional Tournament for women ended on a winning note for UNCC, the host school. UNCC won the tournament after beating the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the cham pionship game, 62-61. The Lady 49ers reached the finals after defeating Georgia State University 71-65 the night before. Five teams participated in the three day tournament. Georgia State beat the University of South Florida in the consolation game and the University of New Orleans was out of the tourna ment after losing earlier in the day to South Florida. UNCC Coach Judy Wilkins said all the teams seemed real pleased with the tournament and hope it will be something the Sun Belt will continue. South Florida Coach Joanne Rogers said, “I think some strong rivalries will start from this tournament. It can’t but help the Sun Belt Conference.” Wilkins said the tournament was “more than I hoped it would be.” Thrilled with the attendance and en thusiasm of the crowd, Wilkins gave a lot of credit of her championship to the support shown by the crowd. In the final game, UNCC was often in a pressure situation where a lot of en thusiasm was needed. Starting the second half with a 38-32 lead, the 49ers even stretched it to a 12-point lead. Alabama- Birmingham was a much more physical team than the Georgia State Panthers and UNCC got into foul trouble early. With more than seven minutes left in the game, UNCC lost Kim Fox and Paula Bennett, both leading rebounders and scorers, with five fouls. Wilkins then had to rely on substitutes Patricia Tennent and Laurie Livingston to replace the two starters. “It wasn't the first time I’ve had to put in subs during pressure points. I'd say there have been more situa tions this year when subs had to deal with the pressure games than the starting five," Wilkins said, praising the efforts of Tennent and Liv ingston. Alabama-Birmingham took advan tage of UNCC’s foul situation and built up a 52-49 lead. However, luck and skill came through for the Lady 49ers and in a matter of minutes had come back to take the lead. Liv ingston converted on the two free throws that sent Alabama- Birmingham superstar Wanda Hightower out with five. Hightower’s replacement failed to check in with the scorer’s table and Brenda Brown hit the technical foul. Together with a basket by Brown before the foul and another basket by Patricia Payne after gaining possession of the ball resulting from the technical, UNCC was ahead 56-52. It took Alabama-Birmingham’s Gloria Helton to stop the 49ers from going any further as she scored their last nine points, giving Alabama- Birmingham the lead, 61-60. Brown made the basket and the rest of the 49ers kept the Blazers from putting up another shot. Thus time ran out (photos by Debbie Miller) UNCC coach Judy Wilkins answers chants of “We want Judy" by joining her team in the victory celebration. Kim Fox (left) and Paula Bennett (right) were UNCC's contribution to the Sun Belt Invitational All Tournament team. More cheating incidences being reported By Nancy Davis It hasn't been an easy year for At torney General Billie Stickell. Accor ding to her, this past year has been “rough." Stickell said the biggest reason is because of past inefficien cies and problems with continuity.” Another reason the year has been rough is because in the process of making up for past problems, Stickell has taken on quite a load of cases in an attempt to restore a little faith in to the office. "The administration, PFM, the Bookstore and other university departments have had very little faith in our system here. Now they trust us a little more ... but we've got a long way to go,” Stickell said, in her office, located in the student government complex. The attorney general's office handles all charges brought by students, and various university of fices. Stickell said she has had a hard time trying to get these people to come to her for help, because of the in efficiency shown in the past. Working to improve the office's relationship with the university, much to UNCC’s pleasure and the 62-61 victory was final. “Alabama-Birmingham was so much more physical than Georgia State. And the calling wasn't as con sistent as I'd hoped for. The refs were tight on our end and loose on the other,” Wilkins said after the game. The UNCC team thought Alabama- Birmingham was the tougher team, but Wilkins thought Georgia State Stickell has made some changes in policies. She has tightened up the security in her office, so now she alone has access to her files. Her assistant can only see the files he is working with. She is speeding up the process and finishing up cases much quicker than in the past. When appointed attorney general by Student Body President Larry Springs, Stickell then resolved to do something about the number of unreported cheating incidents going on in classes. It has been difficult for Stickell to get faculty members to br ing cheating cases to her, because they don't feel the attorney general’s office can effectively help. Presently, the attorney general's office is work ing on more than 11 cheating cases. None of these cases have had to go to court. Stickell would prefer an out-of- court settlement and said most students do, too. She and the pro fessor agree on a penalty and usually the defendant will plead guilty and take the penalty. There are seven cheating cases pen ding in the engineering department, which Stickell said is the“biggest was. Wilkins also said she didn't get a “true picture of South Florida, because they had an All-American sit ting on the bench hurt.” Two Lady 49er players, Paula Ben nett and Kim Fox, made the All- Tournament team. They were joined by Joyce Harrell of Georgia State Wanda Hightower of Alabama- Birmingham and Most Valuable Player Terese Allen of Georgia State. problem right now. The instructors are working closely with me and will prosecute." Besides cheating, Stickell has handled out-of-court cases dealing with property damage, disorderly conduct and indecent exposure. Twice, she has had to go to court. One 'case involved throwing fireworks out of a dorm window “which is very hard to prove,” Stickell said and the other was a plagiarism case. It was found in this case the defendant was unaware he was plagiarizing and was sent to the Learning Awareness Resources Center to “learn how to write a paper and turn one into the court before he graduated." Stickell said this is a good example of the different way they must look at various cases. “We have to ask what is the problem, why did this occur? These are people with problems and must be judged on their own merits.” Most of the cases, such as book thefts and vandalism of vending machines involve students who want it to be resolved “as quickly as possible. They give you no trouble and never do it again."