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Tuesday, March 23, 1999
Proposal Aims to Attract,
Assist Child-Care Workers
Gov. Jim Hunt's plan would
provide health-care benefits
and bonuses for workers
continuing their education.
By Elizabeth Prestwood
Staff Writer
Child-care workers now have an
extra incentive to provide the best pos
sible care for N.C. children.
Gov. Jim Hunt has announced anew
initiative, N.C. Cares, which provides
health-care benefits and salary bonuses
for child-care workers who wish to con
tinue their education and stay in the
workforce.
The program is expanding on two
current child-care programs under
Smart Start, theT.E.A.C.H Early
Childhood Health Insurance Program
and Child Care WAGES.
Carrboro to Consider New Technology
A fiberoptic cable would
allow for improved accuracy
and communication among
three downtown buildings.
By Ashue Green
Staff Writer
The days when Carrboro officials
hustle messages on foot from building to
building might be numbered if the
Carrboro Board of Aldermen decides to
fund a fiberoptic “loop” to keep itself
connected.
By electronically linking three main
downtown buildings with the $29,000
system, the fiberoptic cable would
improve communication and accuracy,
saidjakejacobstein of Network Address
Incorporated, the Maryland company
that proposed the project.
The system would also allow for bet
Z A #*l| I TV think that Textbook Request Deadline/
FA% MJLI V arc Unreasonable
# think Buyback Price/are Too Low
▼ Ila IrEli l'<# &* there aren’t enough Used Books
#; H We think these perceptions are related!
Buyback prices are based on whether or not we have
received book requests for next semester We pay students
"nSlry U P to of the new retail price for books that we know will
g be needed. If we don t know that a book will be used, we can
hr w wl%s g only offer the wholesale price, which is always substantially lower
afi im t # And the sooner we know a book is needed, the more
Wyfi C|Uw J r used co P* es we can buy at Buyback and from wholesalers.
\ We are asking all faculty to please submit their
. l Fall Textbook Orders by the suggested deadline of
Friday, March 26.
VQto With just four days left before this deadline, we
have only received requests for 18% of the
courses being offered next semester.
Please help us do better! Get your requests in today to
help us pay students more money at buyback and provide
more used books for future students!
Stodhit Stor#
In North Carolina, approximately
one-third of child-care workers quit their
jobs every year because of low wages
and few benefits. “The purpose of the
program is to attract and keep good
child-care workers in our child-care cen
ters by providing initiatives for them to
stay,” said Sean Walsh, press correspon
dent for Gov. Jim Hunt.
Walsh said the lack of support for
child-care programs had been a prob
lem for years, and the need for a higher
quality of care prompted the initiative.
“There’s always more things thru can
be done, and this is definitely a step in
the right direction,” Walsh said.
Hunt’s officials were unable to give
an estimated cost of the program.
Research indicates that a relationship
exists between the education level of a
child-care worker and the child’s success
intellectually and socially.
Howard Maniloff, clinical associate
professor of educational leadership, said
ter garbage routes, quicker fire and
police response time, broader Internet
accessibility' and even more town jobs,
Jacobstein said.
Alderman Allen Spalt also said the
high-tech hook-up could make some
town services much more efficient
“Public Works could easily plug in all
garbage pickups, for example, and the
updated computer system would be able
to spit out a more efficient route,” he
said. “What we think is good now might
not end up being the best.”
In addition, the system would allow
for rapid transformation of extremely
large financial and information files, as
well as help town employees address
residential concerns more accurately,
such as questions concerning real estate
zoning for example.
At the board meeting March 2, sev
eral aspects of the plan were questioned
and critiqued, including employing
workers to handle the system and
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
the initiative was a good program to
attract more and better health-care
employees to work with children.
“The early years, as we now know,
are a critical part of a child’s develop
ment, and it makes sense to get the best
workers to care for them and if you
don’t pay them well you won’t get the
good workers,” Maniloff said.
Maniloff said he was glad the workers
were finally getting paid better for the
difficult job that they do. “Right on,”
Maniloff said. “We will reap the awards
with healthier and happier children.”
Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird, D-Orange,
introduced a bill last year that provided
SIOO,OOO toward the Day Care Services
Association building, and said she is a
firm supporter of the initiative. She said,
“It will mean we’re attracting top-quali
ty' teachers to our child-care programs.”
The State & National Editors can be
reached atstntdesk@unc.edu.
“We are a small town
with a relatively small
budget. We have
to be cautious. ”
Allen Spalt
Carrboro Alderman
financing the project.
Jacobstein said that if the town
approved the project, a position would
open up for a network manager who
would carry out or coordinate network
training.
The town would then sign a contract
with a computer “hot shot” who would
help work out initial quirks in the sys
tem, but officials said ther person would
be too expensive to hire permanendy.
Jacobstein assured the board March 2
that the electronic loop would not result
Our Earnings Go to Scholarships
http://www.store.unc.edu/
News
To Expand IFC, Town Alters Plan
By Keuee Schreiner
Staff Writer
The Chapel Hill Town Council once
again decided Monday to reject a state
plan for transportation in order to con
sider the expansion of the Inter-Faith
Council shelter.
Rita Gray, a member of the IFC
Board of Directors, went before the
council to seek a modified
Thoroughfare Plan that would remove
the Pittsboro Road extension from the
state’s current plan.
She also wanted to acquire a 25-year,
long-term lease for both the Old
Municipal Building, where the IFC
kitchen and shelter are currently locat
ed, and the property west of the build
ing.
“We have enjoyed a public-private
partnership with the town,” she said
“We hope to continue this.”
Town Manager Cal Horton said
Monday that he supported a change in
the Thoroughfare Plan, which would
make Pittsboro and Columbia streets a
one-way pair of roads.
This traffic route would run through
Walker’s Funeral Home, Granville
Towers and the Phi Gamma Delta fra-
in any Carrboro employment losses or
dismissals. “This system is not a mecha
nization that would put people out of
work,” Spalt said.
Town Manager Robert Morgan is
expected to present a budget proposal
for next year to the board by May. The
board should adopt a finalized budget
by June.
Spalt said he predicted few problems
with fitting the fiberoptic plan into the
town’s budget, especially considering
the strength of the economy. But he did
not completely rule out a tax increase.
“We are a small town with a relatively
small budget We have to be cautious.”
But if the town does construct the
loop, it could eventually be expanded to
a network with Carrboro schools, state
and national government and even
countries around the world.
The City Editor can be reached at
citydesk@unc.edu.
temity house.
The Town
Council has
already vetoed the
state’s plan.
“I proposed to
do away with (the
Pittsboro exten
sion) years ago,”
Horton said.
The estimated
$1 million IFC
addition would
combine the shel
ter and its admin
istrative offices
into one center.
Chapel Hill Town
Council Member
ioe Capowski
said he would not
immediately approve
the expansion.
The IFC must relocate by the spring
of 2000 because the United Church of
Christ recently bought the land on
Wilson Street, which the IFC is current
ly leasing. “We need to move and we
have to come up with what we hope
you, the council, might find acceptable,”
Gray said.
Council member Joe Capowski said
he was not immediately approving or
disapproving of the petition, but that he
was concerned with financial arrange
ments of the expansion.
“I would like the town staff to work
Campus Calendar
Tuesday
3:30 p.m. - “Schoolgirls: Women,
Girls and Non-Sexist Education,” a
discussion led by students Jessica Fields
and Jenni Reklis, will be held in the
Bull’s Head Bookshop.
5 p.m. - UNC-CH Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship will have its
worship service in Union 208.
5 p.m. - The Student
Environmental Action Coalition will
hold a general meeting in Union 206.
5 p.m - Students for Economic
Justice will sponsor a discussion on
“Women in Sweatshops: Perceptions,
Myths and Connections” in Union 212.
5 p.m. - The Campus Crusade for
Christ and the Muslim Student
Association will hold an interfaith dia
logue in Gerrard Hall.
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. - The Women’s
Issues Network and the Carolina
Women’s Center will sponsor an
awards ceremony honoring outstanding
female students, staff, faculty and alum
nae in Carmichael Ballroom.
7 p.m. - Donate Life, an organiza
tion dedicated to educating the campus
£Ehp Sailg (Tar Uppl
with the IFC and to the best of its abili
ty answer the financial questions,” he
said.
Capowski said Monday that he want
ed the town staff to determine the mar
ket value of the existing building and
council member Julie McClintock said
she would like the council to take a clos
er look at the responsibility of IFC’s
maintenance costs, which the board cur
rently assumes.
“I would like to know what the cur
rent expenses are,” McClintock said.
Gray said the convenient location of
the addition would have many advan
tages, such as easing overcrowding and
providing more social services.
“We realize we are asking for some
thing different than what we currently
have,” she said.
She said the town of Chapel Hill had
always been supportive of the all of the
clients, employees and 1,000 volunteers
that are involved with the IFC
Community House.
“The town’s support has strength
ened relationships and provide services
to low income people.”
The City Editor can be reached at
citydesk@unc.edu.
about bone marrow registration and
donation, meets every Tuesday in 108
Hanes Hall. Contact Kate Hanlon at
newt@email.unc.edu for information.
8 p.m. - The Queer Network for
Change will sponsor a drag show,
“Night of the Divas.” It will take place
in the Carolina Union Auditorium.
Admission is $5.
For the Record
Monday’s brief "Professor to Speak on
Oxford Study Abroad” should have
stated that Christopher Armitage,
director of the Oxford Study Abroad
Program, will speak about this year’s
trip at 4 p.m. March 29 in 305 Greenlaw
Hall.
Monday’s story “Gymnasts Set
Records in Victory" should have stated
jennifer Deluca won the vault with a
score of 9.875 and Brooke Wilson fin
ished second with a 9.800. Wilson won
the beam with a mark of 9 900.
Friday’s article “New Social Work
Class Offered to Undergraduates"
should have said the a.p.p.l.e.s. program
called “SOWO 150: Public Service and
Social Change" was the first social work
class offered to undergraduates. The
course was offered for spring semester.
The DTH regrets the errors.