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INSIDE
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 19,1997
N.C. House names BOG members
BY ANNE CORBETT
STAFF WRITER
RALEIGH The N.C. House of
Representatives appointed six new
members and re-elected two old mem
bers to the Board of Governors on
Tuesday.
Current BOG members expressed
concern that the BOG now will have a
majority of inexperienced members.
Ellen Newbold, an outgoing BOG mem
ber who chose not to seek re-election,
said 19 of the 32 BOG members have
served two years or less.
“There’s not the continuity that we
used to have,” she said. “Hopefully these
people are fast learners.”
Newbold said the BOG would under-
Legislators say tax
on occupancy likely
■ State legislators might
have to settle a conflict for
the University and town.
BY JONATHAN SESSLER
STAFF WRITER
The fate of a Chapel Hill Town
Council resolution asking the state to
impose an occupancy tax on the
Carolina Inn lies in the hands of local
representatives.
Currently, the university-owned hotel
shuttles none of its revenue back into
the town. Former Canboro mayor, N.
C. Sen. Eleanor
Kinnaird, D-
Orange, said the
town had a good
case for expecting
some type of pay
ment.
“The Carolina
Inn has served the
general public as
much as educa
tional services,"
Kinnaird said.
“The town has a
very strong posi
tion.”
Kinnaird said
the Legislature
followed the rec
ommendations of
*
Sen HOWARD LEE,
D-Orange, said
legislative support
for the occupancy
tax was not
predictable, despite
local support.
the parties directly involved.
“Local bills are usually passed with
out question," she said. “It largely
depends on how much support is
received from local representatives.”
Julia White, director of N.C. Senate
communications, said the level of local
controversy determined the
Legislature’s support.
“If there is local disagreement the
Legislature is reluctant to step in,”
White said. “We would want a unified
recommendation before taking action.”
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Bark
DTH/STEPHANIE SCHILLING
Rosemarie Gulla, a teacher from Chatham County, demonstrated how she educates
young children about racism through literature enhancement at a racism forum Tuesday night.
Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.
Calvin Coolidge
Bring in spring
with a splash
Two area lakes will
open for the season
Saturday. Page 2
go a period of
transition until the
new members
understood their
duties.
“It’s awfully
hard to get on the
board and imme
diately pick things
up,” she said. “It
takes a while to
figure out what
you’re supposed to
do.”
The new at
large members are
Bradley Adcock,
H. Frank Granger,
Henry McCoy, J.
ELLEN NEWBOLD,
a former Board of
Governors member,
said she hoped
inexperience wouldn’t
plague the new
BOG members.
“The Carolina Inn has
served the general public as
much as educational
services. The town has a
very strong position
ELEANOR KINNAIRD
N.C. Senator
Professor of political science Thad
Beyle said the job of passing the tax
belonged to the local delegation.
“The tax must be presented as a local
bill,” Beyle said. “The Legislature will
pass it if the whole delegation agrees
and presents the bill together”
Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, also
said local support was important but did
not believe the Legislature’s reaction
could be predicted.
“There are numerous bills on occu
pancy taxes that have not been voted
on,” Lee said. “You can’t tell the mood
of the Legislature.”
However, Lee said the Legislature
approved local taxes in the past, and
there is a history of support from the
University.
“There has always been a tug of war
between Chapel Hill and the
University,” he said. “There is a prece
dent of the University being responsible
to the town; it has paid money in lieu of
taxes in the past.”
Kinnaird also made reference to this
rocky past. She said problems were sur
facing between the two institutions
because they were never ironed out.
“This a unique situation, not every
university owns a hotel,” she said. “The
relationship never got sorted out as both
the town and university grew.”
Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said
the University should not offer much
resistance.
“The University probably would not
oppose such a bill.”
Little buddy,
you’re the one
Youth United provides
area kids with positive
role models. Page 4
♦
Craig Souza and Robert Franklin
Warwick and Timothy More.
BOG Secretary John F.A.V. Cecil and
D. Wayne Peterson were reappointed.
The two re-appointed members
pledged to continue improving the uni
versity system. “I don’t think anyone
would challenge that we are one of the
finest university systems in the nation,”
Peterson said. “I hope the new board
will make sure there is no complacency
at any level.”
Peterson also praised the BOG’s
efforts to limit the partisan influence on
its decisions.
“My observation has been that once
you’re on the board, partisan politics are
left behind,” he said. “We start looking
at the needs of the university (system)
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DTH/MATT KDHUT
Pat Nesbit, in town for a health care training session with UNC, checks into the Carolina Inn. If Chapel Hill officials
get their wish, guests staying at the Inn on University-related business will soon have to pay an occupancy tax.
Town asks state to review inn tax
BYSARAGRIFFITT
STAFF WRITER
Now that Chapel Hill has decided to
ask state lawmakers for the right to col
lect certain taxes from the Carolina Inn,
town leaders say they expect an eventu
al, positive response.
“This isn’t really an emergency , so
we can’t expect action immediately,”
said council member Joe Capowski.
Chapel Hill Town Council members
unanimously passed a resolution
Monday night requesting that legislators
review a decision made six years ago
that exempts nonprofit organizations
from collecting a 5 percent occupancy
tax that goes to town coffers.
The resolution should come before
Believe it
or not
Urban myths take on a
life of their own with
e-mail. Page 7
and any partisanship disappears.”
Peterson said he also wanted to
expand the positive relationship the
BOG has with the N.C. General
Assembly. “We’ve invited General
Assembly members to visit meetings,”
he said. “We want them to spend time at
meetings to get a better understanding of
what we do.”
BOG members are appointed to four
year terms by the General Assembly.
Each house selects eight members every
four years.
Rep. Lyons Gray, chairman of the
House Committee on University Board
of Governors, said prospective BOG
members must be nominated by a sitting
member of either house and submit a
profile for consideration.
the General Assembly some time during
this session, Capowski said.
Locally, this decision did not hit
home until the University-owned
Carolina Inn began implementing the
exemption on Jan. 1.
Guests staying at the hotel on
University-related business do not pay
the occupancy tax.
Council member Julie Andresen said
she thought the situation regarding the
occupancy tax was simple.
“I think it’s really just more of an
administrative problem,” she said.
Andresen said she believed the tax
provided needed money to all parties
involved.
“The proceeds that come from this
tax go to the Visitors Bureau of the
Open forum puts spotlight
on racism in public schools
BY JIM MARTIN
STAFF WRITER
Area residents might differ about
their definition of racism, but parents
who spoke at an open forum Tuesday
night say it certainly exists within the
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
“One of the things I’ve told my chil
dren is to look out for unidentified
racism,” Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of
Education member Elizabeth Carter
said. "Racism is dependent on which
seat you are sitting in, and if you’ve
never experienced it, it doesn’t exist for
you.”
The forum, held by the Orange
County Human Relations Commission
at New Hope Presbyterian Church, was
titled “A Heart to Heart: Unseen
Racism in Our City and County Public
Schools.”
The forum identified racism as being
Today's
Weather
Showers; upper 50s
Thursday: Showers ending:
upper 50s
Out with the old, in with the new...
The N.C. House of Representatives filled eight positions for the Board of Governors
with six new members and two reappointed members.
AM member! Muotinafphsrc
Mark L. Bibbs Bradley Adcock
John F.A.V. Cecil* John FAV. Cecil*
Derick S. Close H. Frank Granger
D. Samuel Neill Henry McCoy
Ellen S. Newbold Timothy More
D. Wayne Peterson* D. Wayne Peterson*
H.D. Reeves Jr. J. Craig Souza
Harold H. Webb Robert Warwick
‘reappointed
DTH/ESSICA GODWIN
Anyone can seek appointment to the
at-large seats. Two seats are reserved for
appointees from the minority political
party. Other seats are reserved to main
tain racial and gender diversity.
Outgoing BOG member D.H. Reeves
expressed regret at his loss, but said he
county, which benefits both the town
and the University,” Andresen said.
“I think that it is a very worthwhile
use of the money.”
Capowski said he believed that the
situation needed to be resolved.
“It’s an opportunity for the
University, the town and the county to
solve this situation,” Capowski said.
“And this is a situation that really has
to be resolved because the amount of
money involved is pretty substantial.”
In an earlier interview, UNC
Executive Vice Chancellor Elson Floyd
said the occupancy tax generated about
$160,000 per year for the town.
Officials at the Carolina Inn could
not be reached for comment at press
time.
any unfair treatment by a person of
power based on color.
Participants discussed personal
accounts of racism as well as how
racism is evident in the public schools of
Orange County.
Tanya Webb, a Carrboro resident,
said black students were slighted in the
public school system.
“Teachers accept less than the best
from minority students,” Webb said. “It
is a challenge to get teachers to place
students in to honors classes.”
Human Relations Commission mem
ber Pat Callair, who facilitated the dis
cussion, said racism had been predicat
ed upon the institution of racism in
schools.
“The white majority sets the exam
ples by which everyone has to live by,”
Callair said. “Black kids are under-rep-
See FORUM, Page 6
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Volume 105, Issue 13
Chapel HiU, North Carolina
© 1997 DTO Publishing Corp.
AH rights reserved.
hoped the board continued to do good
work for the UNC system. “I’m disap
pointed, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed
myself,” he said. “I’m proud to have
been associated with them for the past
four years and I wish them the very
best.”
Students push
for national
involvement
■ Students are being urged
to get involved with federal
issues that hit home.
BY LEAH HANEY
STAFF WRITER
UNC students will soon be sending
postcards from Chapel Hill instead of
the tropics if anew student group is suc
cessful in its campaign.
A group of UNC students has
brought a nationwide campaign to cam
pus that encourages students to send
postcards in support of national issues
to Washington. Many different organi
zations play a role in this campaign
sponsored by the United States Student
Association.
Rebecca Slynn, the organizing direc
tor for USSA in Washington, said stu
dents needed to be concerned with fed
eral issues.
“What happens in Washington, D.C.
affects your doorstep, even though it is
far away,” Slynn said.
The USSA, a national organization
that lobbies Congress for student con
cerns, tries to increase student aware
ness of national issues.
Each year, the USSA focuses its
efforts in Congress on three issues that
affect students. This year’s issues partic
ularly interested the UNC students who
are promoting this campaign.
Joanne Werdel, a senior from
Raleigh and co-president of the
Campus Y said UNC group’s goal was
to have 15 percent of the student body
sign postcards in support of three
national issues that directly concern stu
dents.
They are actively seeking students to
sign the postcards by setting up tables in
the Pit, visiting residence halls and
meeting with various campus groups.
The first issue involves increasing the
number of federally funded grants,
instead of loans, to students. Slynn said
USSA especially wanted to promote the
state student incentive grant, which
gives money to states for education
grants if the states match the grants two
to one.
The campaign also hopes to increase
affirmative action on college campuses
and is working to allow students who
are in school or have work-study jobs to
receive welfare funds.
Werdel said many campus groups
were interested in those issues.
See ACTION, Page 6
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