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9MB 104 yean of editorial freedom
Serving the students and the University
community since 1893
Magazine rankings place
UNC 27th among schools
■ U.S. News and World
Report ranked UNC fourth
among public universities.
BYNAHALTOOSI
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
UNC dropped two spots in this year’s
“America’s Best Colleges” rankings
from U.S. News and World Report.
The magazine ranked UNC 27th
among national universities. The
University of California at Berkeley and
Carnegie Mellon University surpassed
UNC and were part of a four-way tie for
23rd.
UNC was ranked fourth overall in a
separate survey for public universities
behind Berkeley, the University of
Virginia and the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor.
In the national university survey,
Harvard and Princeton universities were
ranked first and second respectively,
while Duke and Yale universities tied for
third. U.S. News ranked a total of 1,400
schools.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised,”
Chancellor Michael Hooker said about
Granville residents get
lighted path to campus
BY B. FORREST ANDERSON, 111
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
In response to student government
concerns about off-campus lighting, the
Chapel Hill Department of Public
Works plans to install lights on
Cameron Avenue.
Last week’s closing of the walkway
between the Sigma Nu fraternity house
and Granville Towers brought the safety
of Granville residents to the attention of
the Safety and Security Committee, who
contacted Chapel Hill officials.
The committee was concerned about
the safety of students walking on
Cameron Avenue because it is not well
lit, said Nic Heinke, an executive assis
tant in student government.
The committee has two options to
improve the safety of Granville resi
dents, including increasing the amount
of lights on Cameron or creating a
Granville access closer to campus,
Heinke said.
Richard Terrell, field operations
superintendent at public works depart
ment, said “The Department of Public
Works has authorized Duke Power
Company to install additional lights
along Cameron Avenue between
Columbia Street and Merritt Mill
Road.”
Specifically in the Granville Towers
area, Columbia Street to Mallette Street,
three lights will be installed and four
DTH/MATT KDHUT
Tommy Horton, a University employee, cleans the walkway of the Morehead Building to keep it free from debris.
Horton is one of many dedicated people who work hard to beautify the UNC campus.
UNC’s slip.
Hooker said the reason UNC lagged
behind other universities, including
UVa. (21st) and Berkeley, was its low
faculty salaries.
UNC was ranked 65th in faculty
resources, one of seven main attributes
U.S. News uses to calculate the rank
ings. Faculty resources, which includes
faculty salaries, counts as 20 percent of
the calculation for rankings.
Although the N.C. General Assembly
is considering a 4 percent pay increase
for faculty members, Hooker said that
was not enough to lift UNC above
schools like UVa. or Berkeley.
He said since Virginia recently
approved a 5 percent increase for facul
ty salaries and California is raising fac
ulty salaries almost 7 percent, UNC’s
future rankings could suffer even more.
“We know right now we’re going to
fall behind even further next year,” he
said.
Student Body President Mo Nathan
said it was frustrating when faculty
salaries, which are controlled by the
Legislature, prevent UNC from climbing
in rank.
“There's a lack of institutional com
mitment on a statewide basis,” Nathan
lights will be upgraded, Heinke said.
The lights are a response to the
request by UNC students, Terrell said,
although he did not specify when the
lights might be installed.
“We’re looking at ways to make it
easier and safer for Granville students to
get to campus,” said Mo Nathan, stu
dent body president.
The committee will also consider cre
ating a closer entrance to Granville
along Cameron Avenue, he said.
“We have not yet contacted any of
the property owners this may affect,”
Heinke said.
The committee is looking into
installing a call box along Cameron
Avenue, Heinke said.
The walkway was dosed by the
Sigma Nu House Corporation on Aug.
15 because of liability, said Ron Binder,
director of the Office of Greek Affairs.
After members discovered the fence
torn down twice, the Sigma Nu House
Corportation started contemplating
what they are going to do next.
“The house corporation is exploring
what their going to do at this point to
possibly restrict walking through the
Sigma Nu parking lot,” Sigma Nu
House Manager Laurie Norman said.
Karen Schuller, safety and security
coordinator for student government,
said “We don’t know what Sigma Nu is
going to do about the fence but are
assuming they’ll put it back up."
MERRILY WE BLOW ALONG
There usually is an answer to any problem: simple , clean and wrong.
H.L. Mencken
Friday, August 22,1997
Volume 105, Issue 54
said. “I’m not ignoring these rankings
none of us should. But the key is to
learn from these rankings on where we
need to improve.
“I don’t believe our self-worth as an
institution should be based on the year
ly rankings from U.S. News and World
Report.”
The public university ranking was a
first for U.S. News.
Bob Morse, director of research for
“America’s Best Colleges,” said several
public universities had requested that
they be a ranked separately.
“We figured it was useful information
to students,” Morse said. “A lot of stu
dents want to go to the flagship school in
their state.”
UNC tied for ninth with five other
schools in a ranking measuring “high
quality education at reasonable cost.”
Last week, Money magazine ranked
UNC first in value for education among
public universities and third among
national universities.
Hooker said rankings could not mea
sure the quality of education a universi
ty offers.
“On the other hand the public puts a
lot of stock in these things,” Hooker
said. “It makes a difference.”
Welcome
wagon
BY TRISHA L.DABB
ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR
For many students, Fall Fest signaled the start of
anew school year, but for three UNC students it
was a celebration after months of work
As Orientation Leader Coordinators (OLC) for
C-TOPS, LaTasha Britt, Shannon Okerblom, and
Ashley Queen spent their summer preparing new
students for their first year at UNC.
“Many new students don’t know what Carolina
is like,” said senior
Okerblom, from Soto
Hampton, Va. “Even if j//_r
they think they know " ' 5
about college, we help them make the transition.”
After their own experiences, the three women
wanted to continue with C-TOPS. Before becoming
OLCs, they were counselors and leaders for the pro
gram. In January, after two interviews, they were
appointed to their current positions.
“I attended C-TOPS in 1994 and had a great
experience,” said Britt, a senior from Wilson. “This
year I was a coordinator and leader, so I was carry
ing double duty.”
But she said she would never regret her choice. “I
would do it the rest of my life if I could,” Britt said.
The OLCs were in charge of recruiting and
selecting the orientation leaders and counselors.
Together the three groups helped execute C-TOPS
and launch the first Fall Fest.
“The OLCs trained us as orientation leaders,
since they had been there before,” said Butch Garris,
a C-TOPS orientation leader. “They didn’t act above
1991 'America's Best Colleges"
UNC was ranked 27th among national
universities and fourth among public
universities.
Last
Rank School year's rank
1. Harvard University (3)
1. Princeton University (2)
3. Duke University (4)
3. Yale University (1)
5. Stanford University (6)
6. Massachusetts institute of Technology (6)
7. Dartmouth College (7)
7. University of Pennsylvania (13)
9. Brown University (8)
9. California Institute of Technology (9)
9. Columbia University (11)
9. Emory University (19)
9. Northwestern University (9)
14. Cornell University (14)
14. Johns Hopkins University (15)
14. University of Chicago (12)
17. Rice University (16)
17. Washington University (17)
19. University of Notre Dame (17)
19. Vanderbilt University (20)
21. Georgetown University (23)
21. University of Virginia (21)
23. Carnegie Mellon University (28)
23. Tufts University (22)
23. Univ. of California-Berkeley (27)
23. Univ. of Michigan Ann Arbor (24)
27. Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (25)
28. Brandeis University (29)
28 Univ. of California-Los Angeles (31)
28. Wake Forest University (25)
SOURCE: U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
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DTH/DAVID SANDLER
Ashley Queen (left), LaTasha Britt and Shannon Okerblom stop in front of the Old Well en route to
various activities. The trio served as orientation leader coordinators for 1997 C-TOPS.
us, but they were our friends and mentors.”
Garris, a sophomore from Wilson, plans to
become an OLC, partially due to his relationship
with Britt, Okerblom, and Queen.
Budget deadline extended
by N.C. General Assembly
■ N.C. legislators pass
their fourth stopgap budget
with a resolution in sight.
BY VICKY ECKENRODE
ASSISTANT STATE Er NATIONAL EDITOR
Students are not the only ones guilty
of procrastination, N.C. General
Assembly legislators proved during
Thursday’s session.
They passed the fourth stopgap mea
sure of the year to keep the state from
shutting down without a completed
budget.
“This has been the most bizarre ses
sion with regards to number of contin
uing resolutions,” said Sen. Howard
Lee, D-Orange.
Theoretically, the General Assembly
should have passed a final budget by
July 30 the end of their fiscal year.
Violent crime reports
drop in all categories
BY SHARIF DURHAMS
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Reported violent crimes at UNC fol
lowed a national trend by dropping in
every category in 1996, but University
police dealt with more reported burglar
ies and substance abuse crimes.
■ Reports of forced sexual offenses
dropped to five last year, down from
nine in 1995 and from 21 in 1994.
■ Four robberies were reported,
down from six in 1995 and from 13 in
1994.
■ Aggravated assault reports
dropped to 58 incidents from 89 in 1995.
Burglaries and breaking and entering
reports jumped to 53 from 37 in 1995.
Police also made 109 arrests for alcohol
violations and 50 arrests for drug-relat
ed crimes. There were only 28 alcohol
and 34 drug-related arrests in 1995.
UNC Police Chief Don Gold said the
national drop in crime probably influ
enced the drop on campus, but that
efforts to put better lighting on campus
and teach people safety tips helped.
“One of the goals of the department
is to give people information so that they
have alternatives,” Gold said.
The department worked with student
government last year to inform the cam
pus quickly when any violent crime was
With all the responsibilities involved in being an
OLC, the year was not with out problems.
See COORDINATORS, Page 2
Each stopgap budget allowed the
state budget director to continue writing
checks out of last session’s operating
base budget.
However, operating in the continuing
budgets meant the state could not hire
new employees or start new programs,
Lee said.
“The harm done by continuing reso
lutions are that they restrict the state
from moving ahead with plans to be
implemented," he said.
“For example, some schools systems
are still uncertain about hiring new
teachers because there’s still no budget.”
Legislators cited this year’s massive
welfare reform bill as the primary issue
keeping them in session for so long.
"The biggest policy change that has
ever been in the budget has been this
welfare bill,” said Rep. Ruth Easterling,
D-Mecklenburg.
See GENERAL ASSEMBLY, Page 2
News/Feamres/Am/Sports:
Business/Advertising:
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C 1997 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
reported, such as in the case of two
assaults and one rape reported in April.
Police also went on lighting tours
with members of student government
and town officials to find out what areas
could use more help.
“The University seems to be doing all
it can and is aware of the need for safe
ty and security on campus,” said
Student Body Vice President Chris
Yates.
The University added lighting near
the School of Law last school year and
plans to add more.
Crime prevention and safety officer
Lt. Angela Carmon said the increase in
substance abuse arrests shows the
University’s emphasis on stamping out
the irresponsible use of alcohol and
drugs has worked. “The officers are out
there and looking for the violations.”
She said most of the drug arrests
were due to students calling the police
about their roommates or friends.
Gold said a series of burglaries in
University parking lots last spring
caused the jump in reports. Several
stereos were stolen out of Honda
Accords parked in satellite lots.
“You have to look at the statistics
with a very critical eye,” he said. “You
can have an incident or rash of incidents
that can drive your statistics up.”
msm
Late summer night's drama
three plays during the next two week
ends at the Forest Theatre. Page 4
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