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(The iittlu ®ar * News/i J? 088 106 yeais of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1H93 N.C. Gears Up for Round 2 With Old Man Winter The snowstorm is expected to turn into rain by midday, but not before leaving 1 to 3 inches of snow. Staff & Wire Reports Scarcely recovered from the last snowfall. North Carolinians braced for another round of slippery roads and possible power outages this morning. USSA Referendum Hot-Button Issue Bv Katy Nelson Staff Writer Controversy is swirling around a voter referendum that will ask students to decide whether giving the University a stronger voice on Capitol Hill is worth an increase in stu dent fees. Students will vote in the Feb. 8 election on whether UNC will join the lobbyist group United States Student Association as a referendum mem ber. g# In a late-night session Dec. 7, Student Congress voted 12 to 10 to add the refer endum to the ballot. If the student body pass the referendum, the measure would still have to be approved by several com Honor Court Hearing Open to IJNC Students, Public By Geoff Wessel Staff Writer A female student who allegedly lied about being registered with University Career Services is scheduled to hold the second open Honor Court hearing in four years today. The hearing, which is scheduled for fi p.m. in 131 Greenlaw Hall, is open to the public at the student’s request. “(A public hearing) is always a right or privilege given to the defendant,” said Don Appairius, interim judicial pro gramming officer. “We never take away' those rights of privacy.” Privacy concerns prevent officials HANDING DOWN THE LEGACY fi' 1 *ti lip g? Jh irrn |t.i t pot i \\D Interim Chancellor Bill McCoy addresses a crowd at Polk Place on Wednesday who gathered for "Show of Hands," an event celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. See story page 9. In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer. Albert Camus Storm warnings and advisories were posted from the mountains in the west ern part of the state to Goldsboro and Fayetteville beginning after midnight Wednesday, when forecasters said snow would begin falling. The forecast was 3 to 5 inches of accumulation for the mountains, 2 to 4 inches for the northwest Piedmont - for which a winter storm warning was issued -and 1 to 3 inches for the central part of the state. University students can find informa mittees and the Board of Governors. USSA, the nation’s oldest and largest student organization, lobbies the feder al government for campus interests such as financial aid and minority rights, it also teaches students across the country to participate in the lobbying process. The University is now represented in USSA through the Association of Student Governments’ state member ship. which sends a handful of delegates from the UNC system to USSA confer ences each year. Referendum membership in USSA would cost $3 per student per year, totaling approximately $75,000 annual ly in student fees. Referendum membership in USSA would give the University priority con sideration for all USSA activities, more delegates at conferences, a USSA field organizer and other benefits. The group aided in the large student protest at UNC against the proposed from releasing specifics, such as the defendant’s name before the hearing, as the defendant still has the option of clos ing it to the public up until the time of the hearing, said Student Attorney General Drew Haywood. “'Hie court deliberates in private even in open hearings,” he said. “The court understands that it’s very important not to treat a student or case any differently.” An Honor Court hearing operates like a court case, with students acting as defense and prosecution councils, stu dent and faculty witnesses and a set of sanctions that can be applied to students who are found guilty. A November hearing was originally Thursday, January 20, 2000 Volume 107, Issue 137 lion about closings and delays by access ing the UNC Web site at www.unc.edu or by calling 962-8621. Interim Chancellor Bill McCoy or an appointed adviser makes the final deci sion on closings after consulting with UNC Department of Public Safety, offi cials said. Forecaster George Lemons of the National Weather Service’s Raleigh office said snow would initially fall over all but the southeastern part of the state, which would get rain. Student Leaders Clash Over USSA Membership Options “This gives us a voice on a national level, and right now North Carolina issues in Chapel Hill are not being heard. ” Erica Smiley Congresswoman ▼ * 5.. “ There’s something inherently deceitful about showing people only two options when there are three. ” Lee Conner GPSF President $1,500 tuition increase, said Congresswoman Erica Smiley, who sup ports the fees increase. “They provided statistical informa tion for free that our own state wouldn’t provide,” said Smiley, who served as an scheduled to be open, but the defendant chose to close the hearing at the last minute. “I really don’t know, and I don’t ask for the motives that students might have for opening or closing a hearing,” Haywood said. “I don’t want in any way to influence that decision.” The most recent open hearing came in March 1999 wHfen junior Dewane Dante Gillespie, charged with assaulting a police officer, was found not guilty. Haywood said open hearings were very rare. “I’m a senior now and I’ve been on the staff since the spring of my freshman year, and (Gillespie’s) has been the only open hearing that we’ve had in that lime,” he said. 3 Schools Protest Tuition Plan Administrators at three UNC-system schools are disappointed their tuition requests were denied. By Li ( as Fenske Assistant State & National Editor UNC-system President Molls Broad’s recent plan to raise tuition al two system schools has prompted protests from three L T NC schools that had tuition increase proposals denied. Some members of the Board of Governors expressed similar concerns and have called for a review of the plan. UNC'Wilmington, East Carolina University and UNC-Charlotte were excluded from Broad’s plan, despite requests for tuition increases. Broad’s recommendation to the BOG, released last week, only con tained thd requests ofUNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. She asked for S2OO increases at these schools. Terrel Rhodes, special assistant to the provost at UNC-C, said administrators at the school had hoped for a different result. “It would be dishonest to say there was not disappointment,” Rhodes said. “I would fully expect this issue to come up again.” Broad said the three schools were left out partly because BOG tuition policy He said that as warm air from the Atlantic spread inland, the snow would turn to rain east of Interstate 95. He said little freezing rain and ice would attend the storm, which would probably end with rainfall midday today. As of late Wednesday, officials from the N.C. Department of Transportation said they planned to cover the highways with a mixture of sand and salt through out the night. They also said they would be plowing “I’m a little worried that we didn’t explore joining at $1,500. Students should have all the options. ” Nic Heinke Student Body President “/ think the University can benefit from joining with the USSA, but I am not sure we need to be of the (referendum) membership.” Mark Kleinschmidt Speaker of Student Congress unpaid intern last summer with USSA. Smiley said UNC needed more rep resentation in the USSA conferences. “This gives us a voice on a national level, and right now N.C. issues and our issues in Chapel Hill are not being A 1996 Honor Court hearing sparked debate about whether the press could be present at the Honor Court proceedings. Several campaign supporters of Aaron Nelson, then a candidate for stu dent body president, allegedly stole 1,500 copies of an issue of the Carolina Review picturing Nelson with horns and a pitchfork. Spawning controversy, their Honor Court hearing was dosed to the press and the public. The debate came to the fore fiont in February 1998 when The Daily Tar Heel filed a case with the N.C. Court of Appeals against the Honor Court. The appeals court ruled in favor of the Honor Court and the right of defendants frowns upon creating marked differ ences in tuition among schools of the same institutional category. Because ECU, UNC-C and UNC-VV are master’s level institutions, Broad said she could only support a tuition increase for them if all other masters-level insti tutions in the system also received one. But administrators at the schools said thier tuition requests were crucial. Rhodes said faculty problems at UNC-C would only worsen without the increase, but said he favored Broad’s plan to fund buildings with student fees. He charged that the board sometimes focused on N.C. State and UNC-CH due to their prominence, neglecting schools like UNC-C. “Rather than look al where (the schools) have been, (the board) needs to look at where they plan to go,” he said. “There’s been a lag in that because the board doesn’t pay as close attention as we would hope.” Richard Brown, ECU vice chancellor for administration and finance, said the school proposed a tuition increase in an effort to have students shoulder part of the burden for their education after floodwaters eroded state coffers. Brown said he did not know Broad’s reasons for excluding the school’s pro posal. “Given Floyd and other pressures on the state, our recommendation was an attempt to be good stewards,” he said. “Given the state’s situation right now, 1 don’t see a lot of other options.” the highways throughout the night, deal ing with the major thoroughfares and interstates first. Local officials in the Chapel Hill Carrboro area said Wednesday they would also continue to salt and sand roads throughout the night to improve traction. Beginning Thursday morning, tracks would plow and sand roads. “We’ll send people out to survey the roads (in the morning),” said Bill Terry of the Chapel Hill Department of Public Ja heard,” she said. Congress Speaker Mark Kleinschmidt, who did not cast a vote when Congress approved the referen- See CLASH, Page 12 to keep their court proceedings closed. Appairius and Haywood both said they saw the open hearing as a valuable opportunity for students. “It is fairly rare to have open hearings because many students are uncomfort able about having these issues discussed in front of the general public, but it will be a teiA' ifttert;stfhgprocedure to be able to witness,” Appairius said. “If I were a student in the general stu dent body, I’d love to see something like this, if for no other reason than just a learning process.” The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu. Brown said the tuition money would be used to fund faculty salaries. He said the inability to offer competitive pay would harm ECU in the long run. “If we can’t raise salaries, we must struggle to recruit faculty in a less com petitive •environ menK” he said. “We don’t want to harm fhe students who want to attend ECU in the future.” Administrators at UNC-W could not be reached for comment Wednesday on the rejection their proposal that would have gone to fund staff salaries. Robert Warwick, chairman of the BOG Budget and Finance Committee, said Broad rejected the other tuition pro posals because they were not prepared and justified to her guidelines. But Warwick was one of the board members who raised concern about the three schools’ exclusion at a BOG work shop last week. He said other system schools might have proposed tuition increases, given more time. BOG Budget and Finance Secretary Addison Bell also said he believed the three schools should not have been excluded from Broad’s plan. Bell said Broad’s plan was generally received well by the board, but had room for improvement. “We’re tweak ing it now to get a better plan,” he said. “None of it’s cast in stone yet.” The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu. News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina C- 2000 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Works. “If there’s sufficient accumulation, say two to three inches, we’ll send out our plow trucks.” ' Despite the past few winters with lit tle or no snow, Lemons said snow in January wasn’t unusual in North Carolina. He said, “This is the heart of winter time for North Carolina, and it is quite common for us to have snow or some type of precipitation around this time of year.” Group Says It Looks Out For Schools The United States Student Association seeks greater access to higher education through lobbying efforts. By Rachel Leonard Staff Writer If UNC students vote to join the United States Student Association, USSA officials pledge their assistance to students in the fight for an improved education system. A referendum on the Feb. 8 election ballot will ask students to vote on a $3 increase in student fees, which would allow the USSA to represent the University on Capitol Hill. Founded in 1947, the USSA repre sents about 3.5 million students and is the country’s oldest and largest national student organization. The organization focuses on increas ing access to higher education through national lobbying efforts and campus outreach programs. But dissenters in the UNC executive branch said the ballot lacked important information. They claim it leaves off the option for the University to obtain a $1,500 individual campus membership, which could be renewed on an annual basis by student government. UNC would have to pay about $75,000 to receive full benefits included in the referendum membership. But some say it is worth the money. Nationally, the USSA lobbies feder al legislators to increase educational funding, especially for financial aid pro- See USSA, Page 12 Carolina, Speak Out! A weekly DTH online poll What is the most pressing issue facing'our generation? 1 Goto l vj? F 1 www.unc.edu/dth A to cast your vote. iGi'l Thursday Come and Get It Staff applications are now available in the DTH front office. We are seeking applicants for several desks. There will be an interest meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the 2nd floor Union lobby for potential applicants. Contact Editor Rob Nelson at 962-4076 with questions. Constructive Critics The DTH is looking for students to serve on its Student Feedback Board, which meets to discuss issues related to the paper’s coverage. We'll even feed you. Contact Managing Editor Vicky Eckenrode at vickye@email.unc.edu. Today’s Weather MORE SNOW! Low 40s. Friday: Sunny; Mid 40s.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 20, 2000, edition 1
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