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NOVEMBER 21,1996
Faculty input questioned in search for dean
BY MARVA HINTON
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
A group of social science professors
said Wednesday that they wanted the
new dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences to be someone who worked
closely with faculty.
About 25 professors met with the
search committee to give ideas about the
characteristics they would like to see in
the new dean.
Kaja Finkler, an anthropology profes
sor, said the new dean needed to be
someone who would listen to faculty
members, not just department chairmen.
BY DAVID SILVERSTEIN
ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR
On a survey of last year’s freshmen
class, more than 60 percent identified
themselves as Protestants. But statis
tics only confirm the immense pres
ence that Christianity has on campus.
Add to the pot a sprinkling of Jews,
Muslims and even pagans. Like the
ingredients of good gumbo, numbers
alone cannot convey the true taste of
UNC’s religious climate.
Manuel Wortman, director of the
Wesley Foundation, said scholars had
defined two stages in religious devel
opment.
The first focuses on parents or other
authority figures feeding children then
religious beliefs. In the second stage,
adolescents and young adults begin to
question those beliefs instilled in child
hood.
Many students, faced with this di
verse mix of religions, question what
they have grown up with and what
they’ve learned. Consequently, some
students’ religious beliefs have turned
" DTH/AS
Murdidahara, who left Wisconsin to join the Hare Krishna's center in Hillsborough, helps serve meals at Gerrard Hall
every Wednesday. The dinners are conducted by the Hare Krishnas as a part their service for their god Krishna.
Campuses nationwide see apathy, alcohol as deterrents to intellectualism
■ Freshmen receive extra
attention in attempts to
improve college climates,
BY JENNIFER WILSON
STAFF WRITER
Universities across the nation are send
ing a message to students: it’s time to
buckle down and take the intellectual
climate seriously.
College may be the best four years of a
person’s life, the time for self-discovery
and creating life-long friendships. But
college experiences must also prepare
students to be responsible, knowledge
able members of the community.
Universities define the term differently
leaders investigating the intellectual
climate at UNC said it had to do with the
Food for a cause
Local restaurants joined
together to help the needy
Tuesday by donating part
of their profits. Page 2
“Faculty voices need to be heard. Fac
ulty need a really direct ear to the dean. ”
While representatives of the social sci
ences division got an opportunity to dis
cuss their opinions about the search, Alan
Feduccia, the chairman of the Natural
and Applied Sciences Division of the
College of Arts and Sciences, said fac
ulty in his division showed little interest
in having a meeting with the search com
mittee to iron out qualifications.
Feduccia said he did not think divi
sional meetings were necessary to de
velop the qualifications. “It would be
counterproductive to have endless meet
ings when we all agree on what the quali
Takings w leap affaitA
full circle, while others have seen more
gradual progressions take hold.
Spiritual high
He didn’t spend the summer after
his high school graduation lying
around the beach or flipping burgers
at some fast food joint.
Instead, Jason Darwin followed his
former girlfriend to camp to be a coun
selor. Unlike camps specializing in
arts,basebailorcheerleading, thecamp
Darwin worked at that summer honed
in on religion.
Darwin, a junior from Cornelius,
has always immersed himself in faith.
He grew up Presbyterian and attended
a Baptist youth group. Because his
parents were “not strong Christians,’’
he sometimes took himself to church.
But that summer at a Pentecostal
camp in the North Carolina moun
tains exposed him to new religious
experiences.
“That summer, a lot happened,”
Darwin said. “I can honestly say that
I saw several miracles happen.”
Campers and counselors devoted
iiiuii
I control
Pan four of a five-pan scrie?
about the intellectual climate
surrounding ambi
ance; at North
Carolina State Uni
versity, it is defined
as “the life of the
mind" —but the
factors that harm
intellectual cli
mate, such as alcohol, are universal.
“There is a lot of wasted time,” said
Duke University Chaplain William
Willimon, who recently wrote a book on
the topic. "There is unproductive, dis
ruptive behavior and not enough stu
dent-faculty interaction.”
Willimon describes the present gen
eration as “passive” because students are
not taking responsibility for their own
development. But the climate is chang
ing, he said.
“I've seen soul-searching and self-criti
cism." he said. “I think there have been
&
fications should be,” he said. “The gen
eral qualifications for a dean are well
known everywhere.”
Feduccia said he would rather have
one meeting for the college instead of
four separate divisional meetings.
But the group of social science profes
sors used the meeting to air their con
cerns and make suggestions.
Stanley Black, vice chairman of the
Social Sciences Division, said one of the
most important responsibilities of a dean
was choosing department chairmen.
“We should pick a dean who will pick
good people,” Black said.
The new dean will replace Stephen
four to five hours to chapel each day.
Groups of kids, filled with religion,
sometimes went down to the dock at
night and prayed together, he said.
And Darwin said he even saw divine
visions while on that dock.
“I was on a spiritual high, literally,
on the mountain where we were,”
Darwin said. “Then, of course, I came
here.”
During his first year at UNC, Dar
win decided to pledge a fraternity, a
move he said conflicted with the be
liefs he had encountered during his
summer camp experience.
For instance, he said he didn’t see
anything wrong with social drinking,
but that there must be limits.
“I drank, but not to excess,” Dar
win said. “And that obviously wasn’t
accepted.”
Dissatisfied with campus religious
organizations, Darwin decided to form
his own Bible study group with mem
bers ofhis fraternity. He said the meet
ings, which also attracted Jewish and
See RELIGION, Page 12
some positive moves that have made a
significant change in climate on cam
puses.”
Making a Change
Once the intellectual climate is de
fined, universities must determine the
most effective ways of fostering a better
environment.
Maurine Heartford, vice president of
student affairs at the University ofMichi
gan, said students were actively making
the most of their college experiences
through involvement in community ser
vice at campus YMCAs and research
programs.
“Students are pushing universities to
rethink how you build a learning envi
ronment, and they want to be partners in
doing that, not passive recipients,"
Heartford said.
AtNCSU, Stiles said, students need to
He is a fine friend, He stabs you in the front.
Leonard Louis Levinson
Those stimulating
cigarette breaks
Anew study shows
smoking aids short-term
memory. Page 4
Birdsall, who announced his intention to
return to a full-time teaching position in
the geography department when his five
year term ends June 30, 1997.
Finkler said a dean should be comfort
able working with faculty and depart
ment chairmen. “We need somebody
who would be willing to be reviewed and
institute re vie ws of chairs. The chairs are
not infallible. We get reviewed by the
students every semester. Why isn’t the
chairman reviewed once a year?”
Lloyd Kramer, a history professor,
said the dean should be able to commu
nicate what the faculty was doing to
those inside and outside the University.
DTH/KELLYBROWN
Elder Aurich, a Mormon missionary from Las Vegas, shares The Book of
Mormon with a student on campus. Missionaries serve two-year terms.
Mormons bring mission to UNC
BY LAUREN AGRELLA
STAFF WRITER
A young man—dressedina dark
suit and tie, wearing a fanny pack
and looking purposeful walks
through Polk Place. He stops a back
pack-clad woman heading past
South Building and starts talking
with her, pulling out a book and
continuing the conversation as they
move toward her destination.
devote time to reflection on intellectual
issues through a “holistic approach
founded in academics.”
“The fundamental way to really
change (the intellectual environment) is
to have people interpret and decide what
is most important," Stiles said.
But most importantly, a balance must
exist between academics and social ac
tivities, he added.
John Strohbehn, provost at Duke, said
Duke had recently implemented a stricter
alcohol policy, placed freshmen together
in a specific area of campus and encour
aged interaction between students and
faculty.
Fostering discussion is another way
the intellectual environment has been
enhanced at Duke.
Willimon said the addition of three or
four coffee bars to the Duke campus had
given students and faculty a place to
Christmas in
October?
Stores gear up for the
Christmas season earlier
every year. Page 12
“It’s vitally important to have a spokes
person who can articulate what our fac
ulty do,” Kramer said.
William Thompson, a physics profes
sor, said he thought the faculty should be
able to meet the candidates once the
committee narrowed the field to three
candidates. “It would be a big mistake
not to allow the faculty to interview can
didates,” Thompson said.
Bullard said the search was still open
and had yielded 30 names from both
within and outside UNC. The commit
tee will present three unranked candi
dates to Chancellor Michael Hooker, who
will make the final decision.
Around the UNC campus, situa
tions like this one abound. Perhaps
you’ve seen the woman politely
shake her head. Maybe she decided
to listen. You even may have wit
nessed a rude rebuff.
“Some people are receptive, while
others are not,” one Mormon mis
sionary said. “This area hasn’t been
one of the most successful areas.”
See MORMON, Page 12
“hang out and talk.” The Self-Knowl
edge Symposium, a lecture series involv
ing interaction among students, faculty
and townspeople, has facilitated discus
sion on the Duke and UNC campuses.
And about 100 faculty at Duke partici
pate in the Faculty Associate Program,
which involves faculty and students join
ing each other for events such as dinners
and visits to the theater.
Strohbehn, a faculty member who
participated in the program, said these
gatherings fostered discussions and cre
ated personal relationships between fac
ulty and students.
Alcohol Abuse
To date, alcohol abuse on campuses
has taken much of the blame for the
decline of the intellectual climate. In an
attempt to curb excessive drinking and
binging, many universities increased en
103 years of editorial freedom
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community since 1893
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Volume 104, Issue 115
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C 1996 DTHPubhshmg Cap.
All agists reserved
Today's
Weather
Partly cloudy, chance
of rain; low 50s.
Friday: Partly cloudy; low 50s.
Company
resents
and plans
■ Developers proposed a
monorail connecting all
UNC properties.
BY RACHEL SWAIN
STAFF WRITER
Fifty years from now, when alumni
return to UNC for a visit, they may find
themselves taking a monorail to campus
instead of a bus.
Johnson, Johnson and Roy Inc., a
Michigan-based land-use planning con
sulting firm, presented the final land-use
plan for the Horace Williams and Mason
Farm properties to University, Chapel
Hill and Carrboro officials Wednesday.
The proposal, which includes possible
development of an elevated railway, pro
vides a glimpse of UNC in the 21st cen
tury. It includes plans for new housing,
transportation systems and continuing
education structures.
The University hired JJR to develop
the long-range plan for the 972-acre
Horace Williams tract and the 1,356-
acre Mason Farm tract.
Landscape architect Carl Stevenson
and JJR project manager Dick Rigterink
addressed the environmental impact and
concerns of the proposal, such as the
effects on Bolin Creek and the hardwood
forests located on the Williams property.
“The hardwoods are a special area,”
Rigterink said. “The University has said
they will develop them only as a last
resort.”
George Alexiou, a transportation con
sultant with Parsons Brinckerhoff traffic
engineering company, said the transpor
tation and transit aspects of the plans
were issues that needed to be addressed.
“We need to take full advantage of
mass transit,” Alexiou said. “Adminis
trators need to plan, design and promote
alternate ways of moving people in and
out of the sites without the use of per
sonal automobiles.
“The single most (important) con
straint on this site is what the roadways
will be able to handle.”
JJR will compile the proposal into a
final report to be given to UNC in De
cember and voted on by the BOT in
January.
But University and JJR representa
tives stressed that the plan was only the
first step. “This is really only the first
phase for development into the 21st cen
tury,” said Bruce Runberg, UNC associ
ate vice chancellor of facilities manage
ment.
University and town officials were
pleased with the proposal and JJR’s ef
forts. “We get positive reactions from
nine out often people,” Runberg said. “I
think we’ve ended up with a good, solid
plan.”
Chapel Hill Town Council member
Joe Capowski said he was satisfied that
the plan considered community concerns.
“I’m extremely pleased, ” Capowski said.
“JJR has taken into account all the con
cerns the town of Chapel Hill has about
the properties.
“ I think it’s as good as plan you can
get in an imperfect world.”
forcement of existing policies and imple
mented new policies.
At UNC, the open-container ordi
nance was put in force, fraternity rush
was shortened, Chancellor Michael
Hooker asked alumni not to drink at
tailgate parties and kegs were banned.
Heartford said alcohol had always been
the drug of choice on college campuses,
and some students abused it. She quoted
someone at the University of Virginia in
1842 who said, “99 times out of 100, the
problem lies in alcohol.”
See CLIMATE, Page 12
The Daily Tar Heel is holding a forum
on the intellectual climate from 4 p.m. to I
6 p.m. Friday in Union 226, Call
John Sweeney at 962-0246
for more information.