tUlip iatlu ®ar H?ri
INSIDE
THURSDAY ♦
SEPTEMBER 19,1996
Memorial service honors lost co-workers, classmates
■ The service was held for
community members who
died in the past year.
BYSHENGLEE
STAFF WRITER
More than 200 family members and
friends gathered in Memorial Hall
Wednesday to honor University students,
faculty and staff who died in the past
year.
Sister Margaret Harig, associate cam
pus minister at the Newman Catholic
Student Center, opened the memorial
service by reading scripture, an opening
prayer and the statement of purpose.
“Fear not for I have redeemed you. I
have called you by name. You are mine.
When you pass through the water, I will
be with you,” she cited from the Book of
Isaiah.
Elson Floyd, executive vice chancel
lor, acknowledged the year’s tragic losses
while he spoke the words of welcome.
“I thank each of you for pausing from
your busy and complex schedules to re
member and reflect not only on your life
circumstances, but, more importantly and
in the spirit of this great University, on
the circumstances of others,” he said.
While the students, staff and faculty
lost in the past year were all taken prema
turely, they had an undeniable impact on
Housekeeper attorney
adds more initiatives
BY SHARIF DURHAMS
ASSISTANT UNIVERSfIY EDITOR
Although a settlement offered to the
UNC Housekeepers Association by the
University on Tuesday was called unac
ceptable, lawyers continue to negotiate
in an attempt to settle the discrimination
lawsuit while preparing for Monday’s
trial.
Housekeepers attorney AlanMcSurely
said Wednesday that details of the nego
tiations were private, but he said he had
delivered alternative initiatives to Tom
Ziko, the University’s attorney.
“We can say there are settlement talks
going on,” McSurely said.
The Housekeepers’ Steering Commit
tee also garnered support Wednesday by
getting signatures from 60 employees
supporting the lawsuit. “The Housekeep
ers Association went out today and reaf
firmed rank and file support for the steer
ing committee,” McSurely said.
The Housekeepers responded Tues
day afternoon to a settlement offer made
TREED
DTH'GRAHAM BRINK
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen has pledged to protect citizens from scams involving the promised
removal of trees, such as this one, from residences. See page 3.
? Shake your
moneymaker
A bar will host a Macarena ”
marathon Saturday
to benefit a charity. Page 2
the University, Floyd said.
“All those we honor today have in
spired as teachers, as friends, as col
leagues,” he said. “We are indeed richer
for having known them.”
The University scheduled the service
after an unexpected number of deaths
affected the UNC community. Nine stu
dents and 10 faculty and staff members
died in the last year.
Friends and family remembered the
five students killed last May in the Phi
Gamma Delta fraternity house fire, and
students and faculty members recalled
colleagues lost to similarly tragic circum
stances.
Jane Brown, professor of journalism
and mass communication, spoke fondly
of her friend, Bernadette, who died of
cancer last year at the age of 40.
“She was a quietly beautiful person,”
she said.
The two became friends when they
lived together for a summer while
Bernadette finished her master’s degree.
Brown said she was surprised when
Bernadette’s son called to tell her of the
death.
“ She meant more to me than I knew or
had ever expressed to her,” she said.
She feared her friend died not know
ing how much she was loved but felt
better when she received a paperweight
that Bernadette had requested be sent to
her as a token of their friendship.
“It was as if Bernadette had seen my
by Chancellor Michael Hooker earlier
that day. The offer included pay raises of
1 percent per year of work for up to 10
years of service and new funding for job
training programs that the University
would provide regardless of whether the
housekeepers drop their lawsuit.
A group of housekeepers filed a class
action lawsuit in 1992, claiming the Uni
versity discriminated against its lowest
paid workers.
Hooker also offered to pay House
keepers’ attorney fees if they decided to
negotiate settlement without going to
court.
The press release sent out by the House
keepers states that Administrative Law
Judge Brenda Becton would have to ap
prove any settlement because the lawsuit
the housekeepers filed represented all
employees in the lowest pay grades at
UNC.
Although McSurely said the House
keepers were considering the chancellor’s
offer, he said he was preparing to go to
court Monday.
I’m so timid I was beaten up by Quakers.
Woody Allen
Heads up
A UNC professor got an
$84,000 grant to research
the recovery of athletes
with head injuries. Page 4
§
In Memoriam
_ ■ ■_
Students Faculty
Curtis Todd Fauglrt Jfass C. JUScott
April 25, 1996 March 19,1996
Juanas Kristi— Ho—il Jham W. Darasll
May 12,1996 September 29.1995
Bradluy Ross King Carolyn 0. Hanfay
May 31.1996 April 2,1996
Robsrt Harris Mich.lt Barbara A. Harris
November 13.1995 March 31, 1996
RoginaM Lament Pony Laois Lauriaa
January 25. 1996 October 15,1995
Anas Mcßride Smith Umyor Loan* Jr.
May 12.1996 January 13,1996
Mark Briggs Strickland Barry M. RSoriarty
May 12.1996 September 30.1995
Robsrt Joshua Woasar Anita P. Riggsbae
May 12, 1996 August LI 996
Boujaadn Watson RfoodndV Mary E. Stephens
May 12.1996 June 30,1996
iamULlhonai
June 30,1996
distress,” she said.
Oliver Wagner, Presbyterian campus
minister, said university life’s intricate
series of events was sometimes compli
cated by unfortunate matters. “All have
a way of increasing the load that we carry
to an almost unbearable weight, ” he said.
“When tragedy and loss visit us, as they
have this past year, life can be at times
Daily routine starts early for UNG housekeeper
■ Housekeeper Pat Noell begins her
day before sunrise and works on
campus until late afternoon.
BY DEBBIE GWYN
STAFF WRITER
At 5:21 a.m. Pat Noell’s alarm rings, indicating the
onset of what could be a very tiring day.
Noell wakes her children, Uneka, 7, and Casio, 5,
and prepares them for day care. Only after she has
dropped them off can she begin the 45-minute commute
Secretary of State candidate charged with reckless driving
■ NASCAR legend Richard
Petty will appear in court
Oct. 16.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH—NASCAR racing great
Richard Petty, who is running for Secre
tary of State, was charged Wednesday
with hit and run and reckless driving in
connection with an accident in Cabarrus
♦ #
simply overwhelming.”
Student Body President Aaron Nelson
said the past year’s deaths were tragic.
“In 1996 we have experienced tre
mendous losses,” he said. “It has been a
difficult year for all of us, but I believe
that through our common strength we
will get through it, leam from it, grow
and continue on."
from her home in Apex
to UNC.
By 8:30 a.m., Noell
sets foot on campus and
begins work as a house
keeper in Morrison
Residence Hall.
Noell has been a housekeeper at UNC for the past 15
years, working on South Campus for the past two.
Noell’s daily responsibilities include cleaning the
eighth floor and one-half of the seventh every day. But
recently her work has increased, making an already
tiring day even longer.
She has had to clean two whole floors because a co-
County last week.
State Highway Patrol officials said the
accident happened on Interstate 85 as
Petty was trying to pass another driver.
Petty is accused ofbumping the car from
behind, then passing it and driving away,
The News & Observer reported.
Petty is scheduled to appear in
Cabarrus County District Court on Oct.
16 at 9:30 a.m. on the charges, both
misdemeanors, said Renee Hoffman,
spokeswoman for the state Department
Technology discrepancies worry students
■ A lack of funding creates
disparate technology levels
across the system.
BY WHITNEY MOORE
STAFF WRITER
Across the 16-school UNC system,
conditions in computer labs range from
poor to better, said representatives of
various UNC colleges.
For students and faculty, however,
the most disturbing aspect is not the lack
of technology, but the discrepancy of
funding among schools.
JohnDervin, president of the Associa
tion of Student Governments, said these
discrepancies must be dealt with.
“We have to address the inequalities
that exist,” he said. “Technology is an
absolute necessity on campus if we are
going to be able to address the educa
tional needs of this state.”
Many collegesblame their lack oftech
nology on a lack of funding from the
N.C. General Assembly. Chet Harvey,
the information systems director at UNC-
Wilmington, said the state didn’t make it
easy to stay ahead of technology. “We
just don’t have the funds to keep up.”
Dervin also blamed state legislators
Surfing the ’net
Administrators across the ▲
state are worried about "
discrepancies in technology
at public schools. Page 9
Convocation allows University
community to remember friends
BY ASHLEY STEPHENSON
STAFF WRITER
Students, faculty and staff who at
tended Wednesday’s memorial convo
cation said the service was a chance for
the community to unite in remembrance
of those who had contributed greatly to
the University.
Judith McKeon, director of parent
programs in the division of student af
fairs, said the service was positive and
emotionally uplifting.
"I felt the community exhibited a need
for this all summer long,” McKeon said
after the service. “We needed a chance to
look forward.”
Student Body Vice President Lindsay-
Rae Mclntyre said she had known former
Disability Services Director Laura Tho
mas, who died this summer following a
lengthy illness, and Joanna Howell, one
of five students who died in a May fire at
the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house.
“I wasn’t here over the summer, and I
didn’t have the opportunity to grieve the
loss of friends,” Mclntyre said. “The
memorial service allowed me to find a
place for a feeling that had been dis
Housekeepers Amociation
of a four-part serie^P
of Crime Control and Public Safety.
Petty is the Republican nominee for
Secretary of State. He is running against
Democrat Elaine Marshall for the post.
Tom Grady, a Concord lawyer who
said he is a friend of Petty’s, called the
Sept. 11 incident minor. James Forest
Rassette of Oak Ridge, the other driver
involved in the incident, declined to com
ment.
Attempts to contact Petty were unsuc
cessful.
for the problems in M
technology at sys- EHHiijufijM
tern schools.
Sergio Manaca,
the student body '
president at UNC- iHBEKffII
Asheville, said, R J
“We’ve been in the *®® >, **®®* lß
age of fiberoptics, and we’re straggling to
pay for it.” About 3,500 UNC-A stu
dents share eight modems.
Curtis Allen, student body president
at UNC-Pembroke, said their labs were
unable to afford new computers.
“Some labs have much too dated com
puters in my opinion, and I think we have
room for improvement.” he said.
Discrepancies in the technology ex
tends further than the money each school
receives for equipment. It also involves
the number of computers on campus and
the hours they are open.
Most schools have an average of 15-20
labs, with exceptions that range as low as
one and as high as 30. But the North
Carolina School of the Arts only has 20
computers to serve more than 1,000 stu
dents.
Hours vary, too. AtUNC-Greensboro,
the computer labs close every night at 10
p.m. Further east, labs at East Carolina
University don’t open until 8 a.m.
“I feel that ECU students are fortu
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placed.”
Cynthia Wolf Johnson, director ofthe
Office of North Carolina Fellows and
Leadership Development, said, “The ser
vice just gave me an opportunity to take
time out of what’s typically a very busy
day and reflect.”
Johnson said she had known both
Thomas and recent graduate Bradley
Ross King, who died in a car accident in
May.
“It was important to celebrate the lives
of the individuals that had passed away,”
she said.
Although he didn’t personally know
anyone who was honored in the service,
Chris Williams, a sophomore from
Robbins, said he still wanted to attend
the memorial.
“It was an opportunity to unite and
just hear everyone’s feelings on the mat
ter,” Williams said.
Josh Cohen-Peyrot, a sophomore from
Asheville, said he hadn’t known anyone
either, but many ofhis friends knew those
that had died.
“We are a community and that’s why
I wanted to be here,” he said. “We lost a
piece of the community.”
worker retired, and no replacement has been hired.
“When people are out we have to pick up the slack,”
Noell said. “I start around 8:30 or 9 o’clock and if I
hurry I can be done by 3:30.”
For no increase in pay, she is doing more than her job
—a predicament not unique to Noell.
“The problem is there aren’t enough employees and
they aren’t hiring,” said Noell. “The management is so
messed up that nobody wants to work for them. The
people that are here are trying to get out.”
So, one might wonder, why isn’t Noell “trying to get
out” of her situation?
See HOUSEKEEPERS, Page 4
“I have not had a chance to talk to Mr.
Petty other than to tell you that, again, it
was a very, very minor incident,” Grady
said. “I have talked to Mr. Rassette. He
realized it was a minor incident and hope
fully we can have it resolved. Certainly
Mr. Petty regrets that anything’s ever
happened and so does Mr. Rassette.”
Capt. H.M. Overcash, the N.C. High
way Patrol troop commander overseeing
the investigation, said Rassette said he
was hit three to four times from behind.
nate to have the technology that we have,
but I would like to see 24-hour computer
labs,” ECU Student Body President An
gela Nix said.
Terry Harrison, in the computer infor
mation systems office at ECU, said he
doesn’t agree with Nix. “I don’t see the
need for (24-hour labs) anyway.”
Fayetteville State University’s Student
Body President Jeremy Hollingsworth
said he blamed faculty members for the
poor quality of service students received.
“It’s not so much the quality of service
—we have nice connections—but more
the administration with the students,” he
said. Fayetteville State students must also
obtain permission and a password from a
professor to access the Internet.
“They think you might can mess up
the equipment,” he said. “They don’t
respect us as grown-ups.”
The system’s technology is not all
bad. Tommy Whitley, the manager of
computer operations at N.C. State Uni
versity,saidNCSUwasdoingwell. “(Our
software) is pretty up-to-date, and I think
we do a pretty good job,” he said.
At UNC-Chapel Hill, Lisa Robins of
the Academic Technology and Networks
said, “We’re absolutely providing good
services for our students. ” At UNC-CH,
there are 12 regular labs, one of which is
opened 24 hours a day.