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©hr iatlu ®ar Mnl INSIDE THURSDAY JANUARY 16,1997 Fee increase questioned by student representative BY BALKEES JARRAH ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR How far will 25 cents go? A possible student fee increase faces great debate among student government officials. Student Body President Aaron Nelson will present a bill to Student Congress on Wednesday proposing a referendum on an increase of 25 cents in student fees. Nelson said he wanted students to vote on the fee increase in the February general election. The increase will be collected per student per semester. The money raised, totaling approximately $10,500 per year, will be appropriated to the United States Student Association. Hie USSA is a lobbying organization that helps students access an affordable edu cation. “I would definitely be part of a stu dent organization that dedicates itself to the students. It’s certainly worth a quarter,” Nelson said. But some members of Student Aldermen call for University to share more of mass-transit operating costs ■ Carrboro officials turned down a proposal that would raise mass-transit costs. BY JULIA WOOD STAFF WRITER Two Carrboro aldermen say they voted against a proposed transit system change because they think UNC should carry more of the cost. Hie Canboro Board of Aldermen DTH FILE PHOTO The Carrboro Board of Aldermen rejected a proposal Tuesday that would have proportioned operation costs for mass transit according to population. Adopted students search for biological parents, emotional support ■ The adoption center offers support groups and advice to the adopted. BY TRISHA L. DABB STAFF WRITER Lisa Palmer grew up knowing she was adopted. At the age of 19, she decided it was time to find her birth mother, the woman who had given her up for adop tion nearly 20 years before. During her search, however, Palmer found it diffi cult to get any information because the records containing her parents’ identities were dosed. “(My mother) had tried to find me too, and they wouldn’t give her the infor- Better the chill blast of winter than the hot breath of a pursuing elephant. Chinese proverb Pollution solution? Citizens can help the EPA develop pollution standards. Page 2 Q? \£mb Student Body President AARON NELSON said the USSA has dedicated itself to empowering college students. Congress are opposed to Nelson’s bill. Rep. James Hoffman, Dist. 15, said the money raised could be used more effectively somewhere else. “I don’t like sucking money out of the University com munity. We have no control of what USSA does with it,” Hoffman said. But Nelson said the money collected from the fee increase would be well spent and accountable. Hoffman said the bill was not com pletely realistic and was very deceiving to the student population. “(The USSA does) a whole bunch of stuff that not all students necessarily defeated a proposal Tuesday night that would change die method of calculating how Carrboro, Chapel Hill and UNC share the cost of the transit system. “This is one more example of the University dancing around paying its fair share,” Alderman Jacquelyn Gist said. Carrboro Town Manager Bob Morgan said that under the new agree ment, each of the three jurisdictions would pay a share of the cost based on its population. Town staff members in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and UNC recom North Carolina Adoption Connection mation either," recalls Palmer. “It was very frustrat ing.” But when Palmer finally did make contact with her biological mother an experience she characterized as Support group meets the third Saturday of every month 967-5010 .“overwhelming” she turned to the North Carolina Adoption Connection to seek emotional support. “It’s a lot to handle, finding your roots and where you got your eyes and hair,” Palmer said. Located in Chapel Hill, the center holds support meetings on the third Saturday of every month for adopted adults. Palmer said NCAC had been a Traffic fatality Chapel Hill police released the name of the pedestrian killed by a hospital van. Page 3 believe in,” Hoffman said. He said the USSA does not always represent or lobby for student issues or concerns. Hoffman also said the amount of money appropriated was ridiculous. “It’s just crazy. I don’t understand where Nelson is coming from,” Hoffman said. Nelson said some colleges pay the USSA as much as $40,000. Nelson said the more money UNC invests, the bet ter the quality of representation the school receives from the group. Hoffman also said Nelson had a “vested interest” in the USSA since he is a member of their board of directors. Nelson said he did not think it was a conflict of interest. “I’ve seen the good they’ve done on empowering students, and it makes me uniquely qualified to bring this issue before the students,” he said. Hoffman said he believed the bill to put the referendum on the election bal lot would not pass unless it was amend ed. mended the new plan, which would last for five years. He said the method of calculation under the current agreement was com plex and difficult to understand.“ The current method allows for dramatic fluctuations in the budgets of all three entities,” Morgan said. “The new method is easier to understand and will be fairer to the town of Canboro in the long run.” Morgan said the new method would increase the percentage Canboro paid by 1 percent and would translate into an approximate $34,000 increase. Alderman Diana McDuffie said she didn’t think the proposed method would be fair because Canboro’s share oftran sit costs go up while the cost to UNC would go down. “My feelings are that the University is very dependent on the bus system in getting staff and students to campus,” she said. “The cunent form is best because it takes into account both bene fit and population.” Gist said she thought UNC needed to pay its fair share of the costs of the transit system. “Chapel Hill and Canboro would be hard-pressed without a bus system, but UNC couldn’t survive without one,” she said. McDuffie said the transit system was not available to the increasing number of Canboro residents who work outside of Orange County. “They should not have to share in the cost increase.” Morgan said although Chapel Hill has agreed to the new memorandum, officials from the three jurisdictions would have to get together again to dis cuss the matter. vital part of her success and happiness. “The support group is a crucial part of my life now,” Palmer said. “The best thing that ever happened to me was the day I walked into that group.” Lynn Giddens, coordinator at NCAC, said she saw University students and alumni in Palmer’s position every day. Government regulations and the privacy of medical records can make it difficult for children seeking their bio logical parents, she said. “We are currently involved in legal ization and legislation involved in open ing closed adoption records,” Giddens said. NCAC’s main focus, though is on supporting adopted adults and helping them to adapt to their life, either with or without their birth parents. “We also have educational seminars VICTORY AT LAST DTH/EMCPEREL UNC forward Antawn Jamison (33) launches the gamewinning shot Wednesday night vs. N.C. State. See story, page 9. Psychiatrist, co-workers testify about character of suspended law professor BY JON WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER The hearing to determine whether School of Law Professor Barry Nakell will be terminated continued Wednesday, as Nakell’s psychiatrist and colleagues took to the stand. Nakell was suspended in October after he was charged with misdemeanor shoplifting when he admitted to stealing $36 worth of food and merchandise from A Southern Season. Special Attorney General Tom Ziko began the hearing by trying to ascertain Nakell’s state of mind at the time the theft occurred. Nakell’s psychiatrist, Dr. James Weiss, testified Nakell related to him in a session that he had trouble recounting the particulars of the theft. “I don’t think he was thinking clear ly at the time,” he said. “All he remem bers is doing it. (He stole) without think ing, without impulse; cluelessly." Weiss said stealing was not a charac teristic of the depression Nakell suffers from, but that some of the features of this particular disorder included impul siveness and the difficulty of making decisions, Weiss said. “Jt’s a lot to handle, finding your roots and where you got your eyes and hair. ” USA PALMER Continuing Studies student and meetings for parents of adopted children,” Giddens said. Though Giddens admitted that sup port group participants needed help in dealing with their situations, other adopted students said they felt different ly about their circumstances. Wes Varner, a freshman from Wilmington, also grew up knowing he was adopted. He said, however, that he felt no tie to his birth parents and had It's baaaack Check out the first Diversions of this year, featuring 1996's best of the arts. Page 5 Weiss was asked to give his medical opinion on whether Nakell knew the dif ference between right and wrong. “He is capable of making a distinc tion between the rightfullness and wrongfullness of the action,” he said. Weiss attempted to clarify his client’s admitted feelings of self-reproach. “I think that there is a masochistic need for self-defeat in my patient,” he said. Faculty panel members said they were surprised when law Professor Paul Haskell testified on behalf of Nakell. Haskell testified that a decision to detenure Nakell would be overly harsh. “Barry Nakell’s political views and beliefs are substantially different than mine, but that is neither here nor there,” Haskell said. “This is a question of justice. To dis miss a person’s tenure because of this kind of case is morally indefensible.” John Friedman, Nakell’s rabbi, testi fied on his behalf as well. “Because of Barry’s leadership he has helped make life better for people in the Triangle,” Friedman said. “Through his own model of feeding the hungry, he became a model to us.” made no attempt to locate them. "Obviously they had a good reason for giving me up,” Varner said. “As far as I’m concerned, I feel lucky that they did and that I have the parents that I do.” Palmer also said she was fortunate to have been adopted by a loving family. “My adoptive mother has been very supportive,” Palmer said. “In fact, I am taking her to meet my birth mother for the first time. I have a very close rela tionship with them both.” Though Palmer said the search for her birth mother was often frustrating, she believed her story has a happy end ing. Palmer has met other members of her “new” family and plans to further develop a relation with them. “I now have two families to love,” Palmer said. “And I am grateful for them both." 103 yean of editorial freedom Serving the students and the Univenity community since 1893 News/Feaxune/AsSs/Spotfc: 962-0295 Busmen/Advorrismg: 962-1163 Volume 104, Issue 132 Chapel Hiß, North Carolina C 19971HH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Today's Weather Rain ends, becoming sunny; mid 50s. Friday Sunny lew 40s. Few show interest in elections ■ Only 16 students came to an interest meeting about student body elections. BYMARVA HINTON ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR With student body elections less than a month away, elections officials have a problem —a lack of hopefuls, including only one potential candidate for student body president. Ange Dicks, elections board chairwoman, said only 16 students attended the stu dent body elec tion interest meet ing Jan. 14. Mo Nathan, currently the only potential candi date for student body president, said the interest meeting left him in the dark. “It’s weird because I don’t know what I’m facing,” Nathan said. Student Body President Aaron Nelson said more candidates would give the eventual winners more credi bility. “It is so important to student self governance, to our accountability, that there be multiple candidates, that there be debate,” Nelson said. Nathan said there could be many reasons for the lack of student interest. He said student government’s recent effectiveness was keeping outsiders out of the races. “I think people are happy with the way student government has operated for the last two years,” Nathan said. Nathan also said the rigors of politi cal life kept many other students out of the process. “A lot of people get scared off,” Nathan said. “The decision to run for student body president or any other office is not a decision that should be made lightly, but good people need to make the decision.” Although the interest meeting was not mandatory, Dicks said important information and petitions were distrib uted. But she said it was not too late for anyone who was interested in running. “They can come by and talk to me on an individual basis,” Dicks said. Dicks said students still have a chance to be candidates only if they attend a mandatory meeting Jan. 30. “If they don’t come to the mandato ry meeting, their names won’t be on the ballot.” The Elections Board did not face problems with a lack of candidates last year. Four different candidates ran for student body president. Time is quickly running out So you've been checking out The Daily Tar Heel and thinking, 'Yeah, I'd like to see my name by one of those stories/photos/graph ics." Well, you’d better hurry up. The Daily Tar Heel will be accepting applications for all posi tions until 5 p.m. Friday. That means that you only have about 24 hours to stop by the DTH office in Suite 104 of the Student Union, fill out the application and return it. Writers must include a writing sam ple; copy editors must taking a copy editing test and photographers, designers and graphic artists must contact their respective desk edi tors to find out what they should submit. All decisions will be posted by noon on Tuesday outside the DTH office. Call DTH Editor Jeanne Fugate at 962-4086 if you have any questions or extenuating cir cumstances. Also, applications are now available in the DTH office for the Joanna Howell Fund. They are due by Jan. 24. Elections Board Chairwoman ANGE DICKS said potential candidates should see her to get information about running for office.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 16, 1997, edition 1
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