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INSIDE
FRIDAY
APRIL 12,1996
Study: Privatizing Saves at Workers’ Expense
■ The BOG is expected to
forward the report to the
legislature this morning.
BY LESLIE KENDRICK
STAFF WRITER
The UNC-system Board of Governors
will act this morning on a report that says
privatizing seven different types of univer
sity jobs could save the system more than
sl6 million annually, but much of the
savings would come from cuts in employ
ees’ wages and benefits.
The report, prepared by a consulting
firm, was approved by the BOG’s Budget
and Finance Committee on Thursday.
Bill McCoy, UNC system vice presi
dent of finance, introduced the report,
which was a response to the N.C. General
Assembly’s request last summer forastudy
of privatization.
“We want to be sure we’re getting the
maximum efficiency out of taxpayers’
money and at the same time we’re fair to
state employees,” he said.
“The legislature asked us to determine
what savings could be achieved and how
much of that would come from wages and
benefits. Because of what’s already hap
pened at the University, we made it a point
to ask that question.”
As mandated by a law passed last sum
mer, the BOG must forward the report to
the General Assembly by Monday. A sub
committee on privatization will receive
the report and make a recommendation to
the full legislature in 1997.
The UNC Housekeepers’ Association
and the student group Coalition for Eco
nomic Justice have opposed privatization
because it cuts wages in jobs where salaries
were already low, saidseniorFred Wherry,
a Coalition for Economic Justice orga
nizer.
“This is more of an ideological and
political debate than a debate about effi
ciency,” Wherry said.
W.K. Boutwell of the consulting firm
MGT of America outlined the study’s
methods and findings. Boutwell said the
study examined national privatization
trends and explored privatization for seven
different University services—housekeep
ing, grounds maintenance, HVAC main
tenance, steamplant operations, solid waste
management, hazardous waste manage
ment and data processing.
The study estimated the cost of
privatization and then compared that to
the amount the UNC system spends on
those services right now.
“The savings we estimate are on the
Plan to Link Teaching and Salaries
Might Be Shelved for Further Study
BYDEANNAWTITMER
STAFF WRITER
A UNC-system committee voted Thursday to delay
for at least one year a plan which would link the
amount of funding each of the 16 system schools
would receive with the quality of each institution’s
undergraduate teaching.
The Board of Governors’ Committee on Educa
tional Planning, Politics and Programs also recom
mended a system to monitor faculty teaching workloads
and reward faculty who teach more than a standard
academic workload.
The Board of Governors will vote on the two issues
today at 9:30 a.m. at the George Watts Hill Alumni
Center.
The BOG’s study on incentive funding outlines
strategies to improve undergraduate teaching, such as
improving academic advising and increasing the num
ber of undergraduate classes taught by tenured faculty.
Violence at Great Hall Parties on Decline
BY REINO MAKKONEN
STAFF WRITER
Despite several recent well-publicized incidents,
violence at Great Hall parties hosted by black Greek
organizations has decreased in the last three years,
University police reports show.
There has only been one violent event reported
inside the Student Union during a party since Septem
ber. Each year, 10 to 15 thousand people attend the
alcohol-free events, Director of Greek Affairs Ron
Binder said. “They are a significant, if not the only,
social outlet for minority students.”
The parties, which attract students from Triangle
universities, require participants to pass through metal
detectors and are monitored by a minimum of six
security officers. Black Greek organizations scheduled
15 parties so far this year.
The majority of violent incidents have occurred
outside the Student Union when students are turned
away from the Great Hall because it has reached its
822-person capacity, law enforcement officials said.
Chapter of the Year
The brothers of Kappa
Alpha Psi, Inc. fraternity
have earned various
awards this year. Page 3
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Barbara Prear, a UNC housekeeper, speaks against privatization during
Wednesday's rally in front of the legislative building in Raleigh.
basis of institutions currently spending $ 104
million 'otftMse services,” Boutwell said.
“They would save about sl6 million, or
around 16 percent, through outservicing.”
According to the study, 30 to 35 percent
of those savings would come from lower
salaries and benefits, and most of those
cuts would occur in the “lower wage func
tions” like housekeeping, groundskeeping
and food service.
Wherry said that even when
privatization seemed to benefit universi
ties and taxpayers, cuts in wages and sala
ries would actually cause hidden costs in
If universities met the standards, they would be re
warded with additional funding from the General
Assembly.
Gary Barnes, General Administration associate
vice president of planning, said the extra year for
research would allow planners to gather more sugges
tions from each of the UNC institutions.
“Both reports ... demonstrate the University’s ac
countability by its willingness to monitor workload
and do it in a comprehensive way,” Barnes said.
Bames said he thought the BOG would approve the
recommendations today.
The BOG’s plan for rewarding teaching states that
institutions might be using too many faculty members
for research instead of undergraduate instruction at
universities.
Keith Bryant, a senior at N.C. Agricultural and
Technical State University and an ex officio commit
tee member, said he was pleased the study would bring
about individual workload requirements.
UNC police have responded to three incidents
outside the Great Hall parties since September. This
was far fewer than in previous years, University Police
Major Greg Graves said.
“Some people come a long way and can’t get in, and
that gets them frustrated and upset,” Graves said.
Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. fraternity president Mark
Lee said violence was simply a characteristic of any
large gathering and was not unique to the Great Hall.
“In any type of function, you’re going to have
people that get rubbed the wrong way, are intoxicated,
or are just having a bad day, that get into altercations,”
Lee said. “I don’t think that’s at all unique to to the type
of social events put on by our African-American orga
nizations.”
The Great Hall dance parties are the main source of
revenue for black Greek organizations at UNC, so the
fraternities and sororities advertise the events on other
campuses including Duke, N.C. State, N.C. Cen
tral and N.C. Agricultural and Technical State univer-
See GREAT HALL, Page 4
If you want your dreams to come true, don’t sleep.
Yiddish proverb
FrisbeeFunforAll
Dogs and their owners
will compete Sunday in
the Canine Frisbee
Competition. Page 3
other areas.
“One of the things that has not been*
addressed is that whatever happens to
wages and benefits has a spillover effect,”
he said. “Employees need to provide for
their families, and some kind of safety net
has to be provided for them, so in the long
ran, state savings are not that great.”
McCoy said that although privatization
usually meant lower salaries, universities
could work to prevent that effect.
“If an institution found it would have
See BOG, Page 2
Living Through Her Faith
BYKEVINDEGON
STAFF WRITER
What comes to mind when people think of college
students? Late-sleeping, keg-standing, bar-hopping
party animals, maybe? Annika Harris, president of
New Generation Campus Ministry (NGCM), is a walking,
talking contradiction of that image.
Although Harris is an active Christian, she is not the Pit
Preacher. “I just want more people to come to the knowledge of
God, not by whacking them in the head with a Bible, but by
demonstrating through my own lifestyle,” Harris said.
NGCM member Rodney
Sanders said he admired
Harris’ dedication to Chris
tianity.
“(She is a) God-fearing
woman, a paragon for all women on campus, morally and
intellectually,” Sanders said. “She sets an example of how to be
a college student, be a Christian and make an impact on the
world.”
Harris, a senior from Cove City, jumped into life at UNC with
both feet. She has a list of activities as numerous as the rules in
Leviticus. She is a resident assistant in Avery Residence Hall and
has been involved in NGCM since she was a freshman. She has
also been a peer health educator at the Wellness Center and an
orientation counselor, and she is a senior class marshal.
She has also volunteered in service organizations outside of
UNC. She was a United Way tutor for minority children, she
helped provide food and clothing for families as a volunteer for
Interfaith Council for social services, and she was a volunteer
counselor for inmates at Yokefellows Prison in Hillsborough.
How does she manage all of these activities and remain a
student in good standing? Harris relies on her three planning
calendars. “If I don’t write it down, it doesn’t happen,” she said.
Harris said she wanted to pursue a ministerial career after her
May graduation. Her dream is to build a complex containing a
school, orphanage, women’s center and a teen center.
It seems as though Harris wants to save the world, but as she
said, “I’m not an island. One person can’t do it by himself.”
NGCM member Tiffany Webb said Harris “is like a pioneer
as far as getting everybody together."
Harris said she wanted to be remembered 20 yean from now
as someone who cared about other people.
See HARRIS, Page 7
Tar Heels Record
Perfect ACC Slate
The men's tennis team
topped Duke 4-3 to go
8-0 in the ACC. Page 5
o
Contracting Out Already Common in
UNC System, on Chapel Hill Campus
BY JAMES LEWIS
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR
Six months ago, a group of UNC-CH
students formed a coalition to combat what
they saw as a potential threat to workers’
wages and benefits at the University.
Privatization.
They perceived the threat last summer
when the N.C. General Assembly man
dated a study on the feasibility of privatiz
ing more services within UNC-system
schools.
The product of that study, a 132-page
report which will be sent to a legislative
subcommittee next week, documents
privatization not as a potential threat but
an established means of providing services
at UNC-CH and all schools in the UNC
system.
UNC-CH contracted out two services
in the late 19605; Western Carolina Uni
versity and Pembroke State University
contracted out one service each a decade
before.
Today, UNC-CH contracts out 69 dif
ferent services. Combined, UNC-system
schools contract out 294 services worth
nearly S9O million annually, according to
the report.
Following local and national trends,
efforts to privatize services at UNC institu
tions have gained momentum since the
mid 1980s. The schools awarded four out
of every 10 contracts they have today in the
period since 1991.
The cun-ent push in the General Assem
bly to explore further privatization has
split many of the state’s workers and ad
ministrators. Administrators are grappling
with ever-constricting budgets and see
privatization as a way to save tax dollars
and score political points with lawmakers.
Workers view privatization as a threat to
job security, pay and benefits.
According to the system report, con
ducted by MGT of America, which in
cludes a survey of all system schools, most
schools contract out because they don’t
have an in-house staff to provide needed
services. Other reasons include cost sav
ings and state and federal requirements.
Bruce Runberg, UNC-CH associate vice
chancellor for facilities management, em
phasized the study reports nothing new.
“If you look at the report the (General
Administration) had the consultants put
out, you will note that the University sys
tem is already contracting a fair amount of
\ TAKING A MARK.
Today's
Weather
Sunny, high near-80.
This weekend: Partly sunny
high mid-TCs.
Why Privatize?
A December survey of UNC-system
administrators shows reasons for
privatizing services at system schools.
No in-house staff 31.6%
Better to contract than hire
and train personnel 26.9%
Save money 14.6%
Staff could not handle work 12.9%
Provide better services
and choices 11.2%
Volume price discount 4.4%
Federal/State government
requirements 4.1%
Volume was too large 3.1%
Operating in the'red' 1.0%
Don't know 4.8%
services,” he said.
“If you look at the University and par
ticularly facilities you will see that there is
a balance between contracting out and the
need for in-house services. What we want
to do is have a good balance realizing we
cannot do everything in-house.”
Last summer, the General Assembly
mandated the study to learn if the system
could save more money through expanded
privatization.
According to the survey of current
outsourcing within the system, 25 percent
of contracts save over $7.5 million annu
ally about .6 percent of the system's
annual operating budget.
The final report suggests the UNC sys
tem could save up to sl6 million annually
if administrators privatized areas where
generally low-wage workers were em
ployed.
Sen. J.K. Sherron Jr., D-Wake, chair
man of the legislative subcommittee on
privatization, said lawmakers had many
fSctors to consider when deciding what
services could be privatized.
“A lot of it is depending on the opera
tion and how much the cost is,” he said.
“This is just not a yes or no question.”
Sherron added that lawmakers often did
not have a lot of hard data on which to base
their decisions.
“The first thing to consider is the deliv
ery of the service and whether it will be
equal to the current quality and then
See PRIVATIZE, Page 4
-$ * A
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DTH/ RYAN MATCHES
Senior Annika Harris relies on three different planning calendars
to schedule her time. Among other activities, Harris is president of
New Generation Campus Ministry and a resident assistant.
103 years of editorial freedom
Serving the students and the Umvetsity
community since! 893
News/Feanoes/Aifs/Sparfc 962-0245
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Volume HU, Issue 30
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C 199617 m Publishing Cap-
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UNC law student JACK DALY
Daly Files
Another
Complaint
■ The UNC law student
disputed eight BOG positions
for women and minorities.
BYTRICIA JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
RALEIGH School of Law student
Jack Daly filed another lawsuit against the
UNC system Thursday morning, arguing
that state laws on racial and gender quotas
for the UNC Board of Governors are un
constitutional.
The 23-year-old Republican said cur
rent N.C. law reserved four of the BOG’s
32 seats for mi-
jmMMr
for females.
“There is no
need for quotas
members of
•jtidniti Piif li
Fighting Daly's
Other Lawsuit.
See Page 3
the board should be selected for merit,”
Daly said at the N.C. Legislative Building.
Currently, there were nine blacks on the
Board of Governors and six women, he
said.
Co-plaintiff and attorney Nathan
Pendley said, “Clearly the General As-
See DALY, Page 2