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BOG to Vote Today on S6OO Tuition Hike
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DTH/EMILY SCHNORK
UNC executive Gary Barnes makes a presentation to the BOG Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the board discussed a tuition increase proposal.
Committee:
UNC Grades
Too High
The Faculty Council meets
today to consider a report
questioning the effects of
inflated grades at UNC.
By Shahrzad Rezvam
AND Karev Wl IKOWSKI
Staff Writers
At a meeting today, Faculty Council
members will discuss a committee
report that concludes UNC is in the
midst of its second major grade inflation
in 30 years.
Economics Professor Boone Turchi
led the committee and wrote its report
after compiling information from the
Carolina Course Review and the
University Registrar’s office.
“11 you look, 77 percent of grades are
‘A’ or ‘B,’ and if you look at the top 44
departments, 91.3 percent of grades are
‘A’ or ‘B,’” Turchi said.
“You have to start asking, what does
an ‘A’ mean? What does a ‘B’ mean?”
Turchi said the reputation of the
University could be undermined as a
result of the inflation. “It lowers the
quality of the institution in others’ eyes.”
Undergraduate grade point averages,
which peaked to a 3.0 average in spring
1999, have steadily risen since 1988
when students began to assess their pro
fessors’ performance through teacher
evaluations.
Turchi speculated about other possi
ble causes for the 11-year increase. “It’s
a possibility that students are getting
better,” he said. “It’s also a possibility
that faculty are being browbeaten by
students into giving higher grades.”
The grade inflation is not consistent
among departments, the report states,
with the highest grades coming from the
social sciences and humanities depart
ments and the lowest from the natural
sciences.
“In the natural sciences, they teach
you the mass of an electron is a certain
amount, and if a student says something
else, it’s wrong,” said Douglas
Crawford-Brown, environmental sci
ence and engineering professor and
member of the committee.
“Other departments are a little fuzzi
er.”
The report states that UNC’s grade
inflation was part of a national trend
affecting such prominent universities as
Harvard and Princeton.
Turchi said an ideal average GPA
would be 2.6 to 2.7. He said anything
lower would create problems, such as a
sluggish progression toward graduation.
The report includes recommenda
tions on how to achieve the targeted
average GPA, including holding depart
ments accountable.
If certain departments do not show a
transition toward a lower GPA after
three years, budgetary penalties could
be implemented.
See INFLATION, Page 2
inheriting
i-. K i
k WSm
life **
If 14.,
As part of our
student elections
coverage, the DTH
will examine the
top five student
issues based upon
the paper's survey
of 300 students.
MONDAY:
Dining services
TUESDAY:
The ttcessibilit}' of
student government
WEDNESDAY;
Race relations
THURSDAY:
Parking
TODAY: Tuition
n
DTH FILE ART
On Oct. 28, the UNC Board of Trustees voted for a $1,500 tuition increase over five years. The Board of Governors'
Budget and Finance Committee passed Thursday a two-year plan calling for the same incremental boost.
By Kim Minigh
Assistant University Editor
The cost of attending UNC could
be determined today by the hand of
the Board of Governors when mem
bers vote on a tuition increase pro
posal put forth by the BOG’s Budget
and Finance Committee on Thursday.
Political Life Moves on After BSM Forum
Despite losing the most
influential forum at UNC,
candidates are still pursuing
the multicultural vote.
By Kate Macek
and Mark Thomas
Staff Writers
Following the Black Student
Movement endorsements Wednesday,
candidates who did not receive the
group’s highly sought support have
mixed opinions about continuing to
lobby for some BSM votes.
BSM President Chris Faison asked, as
the final question Wednesday, if candi
dates would continue to seek political
support from the group after the
endorsement became official.
Money is the barometer of a society's virtue.
Ayn Rand
Friday, February 11, 2000
Volume 107, Issue 151
By Matthew B. Dees &
Kathleen Hunter
State & National Editors
The Board of Governors will vote
today on a controversial committee pro
posal that would raise tuition at UNC-
Chapel Hill
and N.C. State
University by
S6OO in two
years.
In a unani-
BOG Looks
To Up Standards
For Admission
See Page 3
mous vote
Thursday, the BOG Budget and
Finance Committee made two signifi
cant departures from a proposal put on
the table last month by UNC-system
President Molly Broad.
The committee voted for a S3OO
tuition increase for the next two years at
UNC-CH and N.C. State, while Broad’s
plan called for a one-time S2OO increase
And leading the ranks of protesters
outside the Carolina Inn will be the
six candidates for next year’s student
body president.
.Along with the prestige of the posi
tion, the next student body president
will also inherit a leading role in a
struggle that calls into question UNC’s
financial and philsophical mission.
The group
endorsed
Sophomore Erica
Smiley for student
body president,
juniors Jason
Cowley and
Sherilynn Black
for senior class
president and vice
president and
junior Corey Bell for Carolina Athletic
Association President.
But with election day just four days
away, group endorsements can carry
great influence in hotly contested races.
Student body presidential candidate
Preston Smith said he would continue to
vie for the votes despite not getting the
group’s public endorsement.
SBP candidate Brad Matthews, a
BSM member, said he would ullimately
to fund faculty salaries.
The committee also voted for tuition
increases at East Carolina University,
UNC-Charlotte and UNC-Wilmington,
all of which had made earlier requests
that Broad chose to leave out of her rec
ommendation. At UNC-W, the com
mittee proposal would increase tuition
$23.5 in two years for N.C. residents;
S4OO for nonresidents.
The board also agreed Thursday to
postpone discussion of Broad’s proposal
to impose a systemwide capital fee of
$27.5 in three years, pending review by
a conglomeration of business leaders.
The committee’s plan bares striking
resemblance to a plan passed in October
by the UNC-CH Board of Trustees that
called for a $1,500 increase in five years.
The committee proposal did not
come without a great deal of debate
among board members.
At a workshop held before the budget
Student Body President Nic
Heinke, a prominent figure at the
forefront of this year’s wave of student
protests, said his successor must stay
abreast of the debate as it progresses.
“The next president has ! :o con
vince the legislature, the governor and
the people of North Carolina that
UNC- Chapel Hill is a gift to the
leave the decision up to individual vot
ers. “! here are a lot of people on cam
pus and in the BSM who are going to
vote their minds regardless of what the
official endorsement is,” he said.
Some candidates are backing away
from campaigning for BSM votes, and
said they would respect the endorsement.
Co-candidates for the Carolina
Athletic Association presidency Michael
Songer and Adam Walters plan to sub
due their campaign approach toward
the group. “We won’t actively solicit
their members, but we will continue to
push for diversity,” Songer said.
SBP candidate Matt Martin said he
would not fight BSM’s decision. “I’m
definitely not going to undermine the
integrity oßheir endorsement by active
ly campaigning (against it), because it
significantly weakens the endorsement.”
Martin said he recognized the weight
and finance meeting, many advocated
granting the tuition increase proposals
from ECU, UNC-C and UNC-W.
Several board members also suggest
ed a proposal similar to the one ulti
mately drafted by the Budget and
Finance Committee. “I think we do
have the ability to address the faculty
salary needs in some meaningful way,”
said BOG member Jim Phillips, who
then suggested the two-year S6OO plan
for UNC-CH and N.C. State.
He broached his proposal with the
conditions that about one-third of the
increases be used for financial aid and
that each campus be held accountable
for how it spent the additional funds.
Butjeff Nieman, a nonvoting student
BOG member, argued that the propos
al went outside the BOG’s tuition-setting
framework because it would create dis-
See BOG, Page 2
state,” Heinke said.
Candidate Michael Harris hailed
the work of Heinke’s administration
and said he would mirror much of the
philosophy shared by the outoing
president. “You can’t just be yelling at
(officials) and marching ... you have
See TUITION, Page 2
the BSM forum carried but said it was
not pivotal in the outcome of the cam
paign. “Obviously the BSM endorse
ment is important to any campaign, but
... I don’t think it will sink the ship.”
CAA President Tee Pruitt said the
results would affect his campaign but
said he expected his long-time involve
ment in the CAA to wield more influ
ence with BSM constituents.
But Pruitt said he still had support from
some BSM members despite the vote.
Although they might have lost some
footing in the race for their respective
posts, candidates remain largely unde
terred. Harris said, “You don’t stop your
message, quite to the contrary, you try
harder. I’m going after students (as a
whole), not one group.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245
Business/Advertising 962-1163
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
© 2000 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
Today's BOG Vote
The Board or Governors will determine the
fate of a committee proposal that would:
■ Raise tuition S6OO over the next two
years at UNC-Chapei Hill and N.C. State
University.
■ Raise tuition S3OO over the next two
years at UNC-Charlotte and East Carolina
University.
■ Raise UNC-Wilmington's tuition by
$l2O for one year, followed by an addi
tional slls increase the second year.
■ Require individual campuses to remain
accountable to the BOG to ensure that
the money is allocated as specified in
each campus' request to the board.
■ Delay a search for capital funding.
Students
Ready for
Final Fight
Student protesters will
congregate outside of the
Carolina Inn for the 9 a.m.
Board of Governors vote.
By Katie Abel
University Editor
Students will crowd the Carolina Inn
this morning to deliver another punch
in their fight to keep UNC’s tuition low
as a five month debate comes down to
a single vote.
Coalition for Educational Access
members were sending last minute e
mail messages and putting finishing
touches on signs of protest Thursday
night in hopes of gamering a strong stu
dent presence at the Board of
Governor’s 9 a.m meeting today.
The BOG will vote on a Budget and
Finance Committee proposal that calls
See REACTION, Page 2
Carolina, Speak Out!
FINAL RESULTS WILL BE PUBLISHED _
Which student body president
candidate will you vote for?
Goto
& www.unc.edu/dth
A to cast your vote.
'1
Sv * Friday
Meet the Candidate
Thad Woody is
leading a write-in
campaign in
the race for the
presidency of the
Graduate and
Professional
Student
Federation,
See Page 4 .
1
Home Sweep Home
The North Carolina softball team
opened its season with a pair of
shutout victories against Elon on
Thursday afternoon. The Tar Heels got
strong -.itching from Radara McHugh
and Erin Joseph as they posted wins
by scores of 9-0 and 8-0 at home at
Finley Field. See Page S.
Today’s Weather
Chance of rain;
Mid 60s.
Saturday: Rain;
Low 50s.
If