Newspapers / The Daily Tar Heel. / March 6, 1998, edition 1 / Page 1
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®ltp latlw (Tar Urel p 818 105 yean of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Gold bids farewell, says it’s best to leave wtLj&L _l mn&mk DTH/DAVID SANDLER Recently retired University Police Chief Don Gold holds his daughter, Elizabeth, while talking with a police officer at a reception in Gold's honor. New lights brighten up town streets ■ Six streets in Chapel Hill received lighting upgrades under the Street Scape plan. BY ROBIN CLEMOW STAFF WRITER Projects continue to light things up in Chapd Hill. Complaints of inadequate street lighting around town in the past few years have sparked a visible response from town government in the form of new and improved lights in Chapel Hill Robert Humphreys, executive direc tor of the Downtown Commission, complained to Chapel Hill Town Council on Feb. 9 because four lights on Franklin Street were out. “The street was unsafely lit,” he said. Humphreys said he wanted the town council to know that requested repairs from Duke Power were not getting ade quate attention. But he said he was impressed with the lighting repairs made since his complaint. “Duke Power’s response since I com plained has been excellent,” he said. “Since I made a little noise about it, the repair crew has been active.” Mayor Rosemary Waldorf said plans to improve lighting and sidewalks along Franklin Street were part of a larger pro ject called Street Scape, the goal of which is to improve the overall appear ance of Chapel Hill. Town Council member Julie Andresen said she was glad Humphreys had brought up lighting with the coun cil again. “Our efforts in (lighting) have slipped in recent years," she said. “I think it’s an area council needs to stay aware of.” i Members of student government also brought complaints to town govern ment in September. Executive Assistant Nick Heinke said they were told lights Would be upgraded and installed along Cameron Avenue and Hillsborough Street by the end of the year. Scott Gardner, Duke Power Triangle district manager, said the company completed the lighting improvements in late October. “We met in concert with the public works folks,” he said. “We did the work, and they were satisfied with the work done.” Richard Terrell, field operation Superintendent for Chapel Hill Public Works, said Duke Power upgraded all lights on Cameron Avenue to 250 watts and added 10 new lights and poles. ; Jn addition to Cameron Avenue and Hillsborough Street, four other streets received improvements, Terrell said. Waldorf said the town and student government had decided jointly which areas most needed increased lightning. Last year’s project and one that con tinues along Franklin Street have made improvements, and the power company is working to keep lights under good condition, Humphreys said. “Monday night the repair crews were on Franklin Street, in the rain, working on it.” Student to offer opinions, ideas for University’s laptop initiative ■ A forum about the 2000 laptop requirement has been set for March 19. BY MARISSA DOWNS STAFF WRITER Current students will have a chance to offer opinions and advice about the University’s new laptop requirement, even though it won’t take effect until fall 2000. An open forum about the Carolina Computing Initiative, which will require entering freshmen in the year 2000 to purchase a laptop computer, will be held March 19. And Marian Moore, chief informa tion officer for Information Technology Services, said she hoped to start meeting with a student advisory committee of about 20 volunteers on a bimonthly basis by next year. “We can then brainstorm about how we can make this introduction relatively painless,” Moore said. “This committee has the potential to start an on-going dialogue.” Moore said a student advisory com BY ALEXANDRA MOLAIRE STAFF WRITER J.R. Harrell didn’t used a computer until he was 21 years old, a rarity in this growing tech nological age. But you’d never be able to tell by looking at his resume. The senior journalism and mass communication major from New Bern taught himself how to use computers and set up Web pages. This year, Harrell started working with Residential Networking, Res Net, the project that allows students to connect to the Internet and get cable TV in residence halls. He is the senior resident computer consultant for the South Campus Res Net program, and he helped install about 500 ports on South Campus. People at the Res Net help desk send him information about students having problems connecting to the Web. He then assigns the jobs to his staff. HarTell also serves as the network and com puter support technician for the College of Arts and Sciences. He helps the faculty with com puter problems. “If they have problems, I usually trou bleshoot,” he said. “I teach them about how to use different pro grams." About a month ago, Harrell and fellow Res Net employee Garrett Klas, a freshman from Washington, N.C., started their own business. They created Aesthetec, a Web page design company. Corporations and companies can visit their web page at www.aes thetec.com. Besides applying for tax codes and other business-related mat- ters, Klas and Harrell had trouble finding a compa ny name. Life is ours to he spent , not to he saved. D.H. Lawrence Friday, March 6, 1998 Volume 106, Issue 10 BY SHARIF DURHAMS UNIVERSITY EDITOR In his last act as the University’s police chief, Don Gold stood near the door of his farewell reception Thursday, looking much like the security guard he started out as almost 17 years ago. He did not turn away the scores of attendees, decked in police blue and the blazers of administrators, but he let almost no one through without a hand shake, a hug or a warm conversation that ended with a smile. In the years since 1980, Gold climbed the ranks before receiving appointment as interim chief in September 1995 and taking over as police chief later that year. He also led his department through a merger with the Department of Transportation and Parking before tak ing a temporary leave in October. The casual conversations at Gold’s reception did not exclude veiled refer ences to the controversy brewing in his department. Gold left the department days after Lt. C.E. Swain filed a griev ance claiming his supervisors tried to fix a ticket he gave to the Board of Trustees mittee would act as a liaison between students and the administration. “We can’t talk to every student,” Moore said. “If we can get a nice cross-section of the students on campus, it will give us the ability to brainstorm.” Students will be allowed to volunteer for positions on the committee, but the selection process has not yet started. John Oberlin, director of Academic Technology & Networks, said it was rea sonable to have a committee selected by the end of the semester. “We just haven’t had time to pull it together,” said Oberlin. “None of the people on the commit tee would be directly affected by the requirement that’s one of the reasons why we need more time.” Oberlin said some students didn’t understand the implications of the ini tiative. Oberlin said many of the concerns centered around the financial impact on students. But the virtue of requiring stu dents to own a laptop instead of making it an option is that the University could offer students financial aid, Oberlin said. The University is prepared to give financial aid in die form of grants to Well connected HL m DTH/DAVID SANDLER J.R. Harrell, a senior from New Bern, pauses between work under the glow of computer screens in his Craige Residence Hall room. Harrell runs his own Web page design company. They opted to get their own domain name instead of using a UNC account which starts M\ki\V .UWRR - for a company that hasn’t been taken.” Klas said that Harrell worked with others well. “If member Billy Armfield’s daughter. Gold never returned to work after taking his leave, and the University announced his resignation Feb. 12. Despite the accusations, hearings and media coverage following Gold’s leave, he and those at the reception focused on bonds formed during Gold’s tenure as chief and head of the Department of Transportation and Safety. “I’m a community member. I’ve lived here my whole life,” Gold said while manning the door. “I started with the hope we would build a relationship with the community. I’m just as sad to leave as they are to see me leave, but it’s the best thing for me.” Employees shared memories with Gold by flipping through a scrapbook full of pictures of officers and looking at news clippings detailing Gold’s tenure. Gold said only that he was “moving into the private sector.” But Executive Vice Chancellor Elson Floyd might have confirmed rumors that Gold planned to open a local landscaping business. “It’s important that you stay a part of See GOLD, Page 2 about 40 percent of students to defray the costs of the laptops. The University will cut costs further by contracting with a computer compa ny to provide laptops at a lower cost. Moore said students would benefit from lower prices because administra tors could negotiate with a company to offer a package deal at a lower cost. “Students will take advantage of the low pricing,” she said. “It just won’t be a requirement until the year 2000.” The University will open bidding to computer companies for the contract during the next couple of months. Moore said she had received positive feedback from students, including mem bers of student government who met with her before the plan was announced. “At first they were fairly skeptical,” Moore said. “But after they learned of the amount of financial aid and facilities for hardware support, I think they were fairly pleased.” Student Body President Mo Nathan said he was pleased with the adminis tration’s willingness to listen to student opinion on the initiative. “I myself have concerns but if it’s done right, it’ll be a good thing,” Nathan said. “Let’s make sure it’s done right.” www.unc.edu/~(name). “Seventeen thousand (domain) names are registered a day,” Harrell said. “It was pretty tough to come up with a name Inside problems, inside answers The University has a four-step grievance process in which employees can participate. But many cases are resolved before the final step. Grievances! numbers and outcomes CnWMM ! ” e .V 1 / ** ( wilPWfiiiGG iwwUvS Issue Number * ■ Discrimination 21 Written warning ■ xB Ruled in favor of Termination 7 M wf* respondent Misleading information 7 Policy complaint 6 Ruled in favor of grievant Promotion 5 Pay inequity 3 B Reduction in force 2 Grievance modified Retaliation 2 Interpersonal skills 2 Suspended without pay 2 I Case pending Trans,ef 1 Demotion 1 SOURCE: UNC-SYSTEM GENERAL ADMINISTRATION DTH/JAKEZARNEGAR ‘Perceived’ grievance problems face review ■ A task force met Thursday to evaluate UNC’s grievance process. BY MARISSA DOWNS STAFF WRITER Employees might find themselves dealing with anew process for filing grievances against the University in the future, if a review of the current process results in significant changes. Beginning last month, the current process underwent scrutiny as part of a biannual examination. Members of the Grievance Policy Review Task Force met Thursday to dis cuss the discrepancy between grievances settled in favor of the employee and those settled in favor of the respondent, which is typically an entity within the University. Last year, 42 out of 77 grievances were settled in favor of the respondent. Laurie Charest, chairwoman of the task force, said a discrepancy should be expected if the respondents were doing their jobs right. “It’s not a situation where you would necessarily expect half the decisions in one-half and half in the other,” she said. However, task force member Peter Schledom, a computer consultant for Research Services, said administrators responsible for resolving grievances could have a conflict of interest. “The employee might be in charge of he doesn’t like your idea, he’ll let you know in a pos itive way.” Harrell tries to find another way to do it, Klas said. “He’ll say, ‘Well, what if we do it this way?’ ” Klas also enjoys working with Harrell. “He’s a great guy to work with,” Klas said. “It’s just amazing how it flows. His ideas are my See HARRELL Page 2 News/Feansres/Arts/Spara: 962-0245 Bonnes,/AOveransf; 9(2-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carotins © 1998 DTH Publishm* Corpi All rights reserved. “...the outcome (of the grievance) is in the hands of someone else who is not necessarily an objective third party.” KTnSCfILBOU Task Force member the process,” he said. “But the outcome is in the hands of someone else who is not necessarily an objective third party.” The grievance procedure is currently a four-step process in which an employ ee’s complaint is heard by increasingly higher levels of authority. An employee can pursue a grievance to each successive step if he or she is unsatisfied with the settlement offered. Some members of the task force pointed out potential problems with the similarity of the first and second steps, which are handled by two supervisors of the grievant. Schledom said that struc ture could prevent employees from con tinuing their grievance beyond the sec ond step. Even if the employee is offered an acceptable settlement, he might feel its terms will not be wholeheartedly imple mented by supervisors, he said. Task force members also said the mediators could be perceived by griev ants to be associated with the University. See GRIEVANCE, Page 2 INSIDE ’Pack ousts Seminoles Ishua Benjamin (left) scored 25 points to lead N.C. State to a 65-63 win against Florida State in the ACC Tournament on Thursday. Page 7 Racism runs rampant North Carolina ranked fourth in the nation behind California, Illinois and Florida for the large number of hate groups. Page 2 Today's weather Cloudy; Low 50s This weekend: Showers, mid 60s Time off The Daily Tar Heel is taking a break. We will resume publishing March 16, the first day of classes. While you're enjoying the sun and the beach, think about applying to be the next DTH editor or about being on the editor selection board. Applications for both positions are avail able in the DTH office, Carolina Union Suite 104. Applications are due March 20.
March 6, 1998, edition 1
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