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INSIDE
WEDISDff
FEBRUARY 19,1997
Code violations compel re-elections in 8 districts
BYNAHALTOOSI
STAFF WRnER
The race might not be over for some Student
Congress candidates.
Because the Elections Board broke certain
Student Code laws, graduate-student districts 2
through 9 will have a re-election Tuesday, the
same day as run-off elections.
Student Body President Aaron Nelson
issued an executive order Tuesday identifying
two violations missing deadlines for candi
dates’ financial statements and for certification
of elections results —as reasons for a re-elec
tion.
“It was because I needed to act immediate
ly to make sure no elections laws were violat
ed,” Nelson said. “As the chief executive officer
of student government, it is my responsibility to
enforce laws passed by Congress including
Title VI.”
Title VI of the Student Code governs elec
tions laws. If broken, any student can bring a
case before the Student Supreme Court asking
Spangler’s comments spark reaction
BY JULIA WOOD
AND APRIL DEMERT
STAFF WRITERS
In the face of recently mounting crit
icism, UNC-system President C.D.
Spangler defended his active role in
town government as upholding his duty
to the students he serves.
“The UNC system hired me in full
knowledge that I don’t mind doing and
saying what I think is right,” Spangler
said.
Orange Water and Sewer Authority
officials said Spangler stepped over his
bounds last week by suggesting that
OWASA reduce or eliminate sprinkler
fees for fraternity and sorority houses.
Earlier in the week, town officials and
residents criticized Spangler for lifting a
long-standing ban on jet landings at the
Horace Williams Airport.
The Chapel Hill Town Council
learned two weeks ago that Spangler lift
ed the ban last November. The council
drafted a letter to Spangler asking him to
rescind his decision.
Town Council member Julie
Andresen said Spangler’s lifting of the
jet ban was the first such action she had
seen in her years of residence in Chapel
Hill. “I can’t think of an instance where
a university president initiated a direc
tive affecting the UNC campus and
LOOK UP IN THE SKY
DTH'IENNIFER GUTHRIE
Monica Balderas climbed a tree beside the Old Well on Monday with her
sister and cousins. Monica could not climb as high as her older sister.
Helping women
worldwide
Anew student group
aims to help women's
education. Page 2
that a race be nullified.
“The onus is on an individual to call (the
Elections Board) on what happened,” Student
Congress Speaker Jamie Kilboume said.
The board must announce certified results
within 96 hours of the elections, according to
the Code. A single, 72-hour extension is possi
ble if the board approves.
The board never voted to extend the dead
line, Dicks said. It considered the results certi
fied Saturday, even though all financial state
ments had not been verified.
“When we certified we didn’t realize that
there could have been a mistake,” she said.
But Nelson said the board could not certify
results until all financial statements were veri
fied and the information was given to him
“They were headed towards screwing up,
and I stopped them from screwing up,” he said.
At 3 a.m. Tuesday about 16 hours before
the extended deadline for certified results
Nelson wrote the order requiring the board’s
compliance with the laws. “I didn’t realize the
extent of the problem," he said.
UNC-system President
C.D. SPANGLER has
garnered criticism
from town officials for
lifting a jet ban and
making comments
about sprinkler fees.
community.”
Spangler sug
gested that
OWASA should
reduce or elimi
nate fire protec
tion fees, which
include sprinkler
system charges,
for fraternity and
sorority houses.
Barry Jacobs,
chairman of the
Board of Directors
for OWASA, said
he thought
Chancellor
Michael Hooker’s
administration
should have made the suggestion,
instead of Spangler. “It would be better
to do this through the proper channels,”
Jacobs said. “The people in South
Building could be in the discussion and
make substantive changes.”
Spangler disagrees with Jacobs’
analysis that it is not his place to make
suggestions to OWASA. “I’m sorry that
the chairman feels the way he does, but
I think he’s confusing financial income
with student safety,” he said. “If he
thinks that protecting students is not the
president’s job, then he doesn’t under
stand what my job really is.”
The press are good guys. They are helpful with
Richard Nixon
A fireman’s
farewell
Joe Robertson retires
after serving the town
for 30 years. Page 3
Dicks said, “We didn’t find out until
Monday afternoon that there was a problem.”
With Nelson’s executive order, the deadline
for results was informally extended to 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday.
Nelson stated that computer problems neces
sitated re-elections in select graduate districts.
Changes in those districts last year were not
updated in the computer databases used to
identify voters at poll sites. So some graduate
students could have voted in the wrong district,
violating general election laws.
Only District 1, the School of Law, which
used a printed out roll of students, avoided the
problems and will not face a re-election.
Nelson also reversed a decision made last
week to extend the candidates’ financial state
ment submission deadline until 5 p.m. today.
He stated that the board must disqualify stu
dents who had failed to meet the Code’s dead
line of 5 p.m. the day after the elections.
“Ange made a good decision but one that
See ELECTIONS, Page 4
OWASA attorney Bob Epting said he
thought Spangler had every right to
express his opinions about the
University and community, but that his
remarks, as they have been reported,
overlooked the fact that OWASA is a
nonprofit public agency operating on a
balanced budget. “If rates are decreased
for sprinklers, they must be increased
somewhere to make up the shortfall,” he
said.
Spangler said it has always been his
job to look out for the students of all 16
system schools, and he takes that role
very seriously.
He cited his involvement in a broken
water main in Elizabeth City several
years ago, which sent Elizabeth City
State University students home for
almost a week, as an example of his
relationship as a student advocate to
state and local government. “When stu
dents at Elizabeth City were inconve
nienced, I went to the mayor there, and
in conjunction with the state legislature,
we worked together to install a water
tank which could supply the campus
with water for a week if pipes ever burst
again,” he said.
Andresen said she had heard some
speculation that Spangler had become
more vocal recently, in part because of
See SPANGLER, Page 4
Sophomores gain vote
in rating UNC system
■ The Board of Governors
will distribute surveys to
sophomores and seniors.
BYVALERIE BREZINA
STAFF WRITER
UNC-system students with com
plaints against their schools now have
another opportunity to voice their opin
ions.
This year, the UNC Board of
Governors plans to distribute its annual
survey to sophomores, as well as
seniors.
The survey
allows students at
each school to
rank their institu
tion’s services.
Gary Barnes,
UNC-system vice
president for program assessment and
public service, praised the program as an
excellent way for universities to gauge
student reaction to the services available
through the university.
“The survey is part of university insti
tutional assessment effort,” he said.
“The administration system can look at
the results and determine where they
can have the maximum effect on what
needs improvement.”
Last year, only a little over half of the
students completed and returned their
surveys. Because of the relatively low
rate of return, administrators plan to
Education
speculation
The State of Education
address drew mixed
reviews. Page 5
Q?
1 step over the deadline
According to the Student Code, the Elections Board must
meet deadlines. They did not meet two of them, resulting
in an executive order overruling the board's decisions.
By Student Before By executive
Code executive order order
Financial 5 p.m. Feb. 12 5 p.m. Disqualifies
statement or 5 p.m. Feb. Feb. 19 candidates
due 13 with special failing to
approval meet Code
deadline
Final 8:30 p.m. After 6 p.m. 830 p m
rwuto Feb. 15 Feb. 19* Feb. 18
posted or 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 18 if the
board approves
‘Races cannot be verified without financial statement
SOURCE: STUDENT GOVERNMENT DTH STAFF GRAPHIC
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Julius Nyang'oro addresses those who attended his discussion held
Tuesday in the Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center. See story, page 2.
devise a way to involve more students in
the survey.
John Dervin, president of the UNC
Association of Student Governments,
said low response rates were unaccept
able because the survey helped the uni
versities improve for the general good of
all students.
“This is definitely helping students
see how campuses compare to one
another,” he said. “Our goal is to all be
above 75 percent in terms of student sat
isfaction.”
Many suggestions were made to raise
the response rate. Those ideas range
from free parking pass incentives to
withholding pin numbers until the sur
veys have been received.
“Conditions vary from campus to
campus,” Dervin said. “What this
comes down to is whether institutions
will use the carrot or the stick."
Robert Thompson, director of plan
ning and research at East Carolina
University, agreed that the survey
helped institutions recognize any prob
lems the students might have with the
system.
“We have used the survey results to
focus on areas that needed help,” he
said. “For example, our registration sys
tem rated low, so now we are in the
process of instituting a better system of
online or telephone registration.”
Thompson said sophomore input
was useful to judge how the university
meets general college needs.
“The Board of Governors decided to
do the sophomore survey because the
Today's
Weather
Sunny; low 70s.
Thursday: partly sunny;
low 70s.
[lf m could just ask you a few questions...
Administrators will use the Institutional Evaluation Form for Sophomores,
which arrives at UNCsystem schools this week, to determine whether
programs serve students' needs.
Ftoaso svahote tho extent to which the faculty membors at this
campus do each of tha following:
B • Set high expectations for you to learn
• Respect your diverse talents and learning styles
• Care about your overall academic success and welfare
Do you fool that the school provides has adequate provisions in
the following areas:
• Do you feel safe on this campus?
• How many of your classes, if any, do you feel have
been too large for you to leam effectively?
• In how many classes have you had difficulty
understanding the spoken English of a graduate
teaching assistant or a regular faculty member?
How satisfied have you ben with each of the
following:
• Registration process
• Campus food services
• Campus health services
Plaaaa state your opinions about tha school's
educational environment in the following areas:
• How would you characterize the intellectual
environment on this campus?
• How satisfied have you been with the overall quality
of instruction?
• If you could start over again, would you still choose to
attend this institution?
SOURCE: UNC-SYSTEM GENERAL ADMINISTRATION DTH STAFF GRAPHIC
second year is the breaking point." he
said.
“Many sophomores have not yet
decided on a major, and the aspects of
the university that are most pressing on
their minds would be different than the
problems seniors would be interested
their questions.
103 yean of editorial freedom
Serving the students and the University
community since 1893
News/Features/Aits/Sports 962-0245
Buaness/Advemsmg: 962-1163
Volume 104, Issue 155
Chapel Hrli, North Carolina
© 1997 DTH Publishing Corp.
AH rights reserved.
Court affirms
community
service hours
■ The class of 1997 will
have to complete 50 hours
of service to graduate,
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
Schools’ graduation requirement man
dating all students to complete 50 hours
of community service before receiving
their diploma was upheld by the United
States Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The court, without comment, reject
ed Chapel Hill High School student
John Reinhard m and his family’s
appeal that said such mandatory com
munity service violates the rights of stu
dents and parents.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
Board of Education requires, starting
with the graduating class of 1997, that
all high school students complete 50
hours of community service before
receiving a graduation diploma.
In response to the Court’s decision,
John Reinhard, father of John Reinhard
111, said the Court missed the heart of
the issue by upholding community ser
vice.
“This was not just about mandatory
community service,” he said.
“Unfortunately the Supreme Court did
not deal with the issue of whose chil
dren are these anyway. This is about
parental rights and respect.”
Reinhard said the board believes par
ents have no fundamental rights when it
comes to their children’s education.
He said he thought the school system
WQIA teyvtvft to take o too mawv dotien
by trying to teach moral education as
well as traditional education.
“The schools are faced with an
incredible plate that is one of their own
choosing,” he said. “They have loaded
more things on their plate than they are
prepared to handle.”
CHHS Principal Butch Patteson said
he was glad to hear the Court’s decision.
“Anytime you’re going to require some
thing, students tend to question it, but
people are doing their service learning
and doing quality service work,” he
said. “I’m hoping from this ruling we
can build a better service program.”
Reinhard said his son would not
attend CHHS next year. “Our son has
See SERVICE, Page 4
in,” Thompson said.
Dervin agreed that sophomores
should be surveyed as well.
He said, “It’s good to survey students
while they are still using the services,
rather than when they are ready to grad
uate.”