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BOG Passes S6OO Hike; Plan Heads to State
By Kathleen Hunter
Assistant State & National Editor
.A student proposal to limit tuition
increases to two UNC-system schools
caused an uncommon division among
Board of Governors members, who
eventually voted Friday in favor of
tuition increases at five system schools.
The BOG released its final verdict on
the controversial tuition issue during its
meeting at the Carolina Inn, where the
board passed a committee proposal that
will boost tuition S6OO at UNC-Chapel
Hill and N.C. State University.
The plan, which now rests with the
state, marked the crescendo of five
months of student debate as various pro
posals wound their way through the
UNC-system bureaucracy.
The board also voted in favor of
tuition increases at East Carolina
University, UNC-Charlotte and UNC-
Wilmington. ECU and UNC-C were
granted a S3OO tuition increase over the
next two years. At UNC-W tuition will
go up $l2O the first year, slls the sec
ond. The board also passed a 2.1 per
cent systemwide increase.
This ends months of debate among
campus administrators and UNC-sys
tem officials on the controversial tuition
issue, which will now go the N.C.
General Assembly for approval.
The BOG’s decision flew in the face
of significant opposition from students,
who have continually spoken out
against boosting tuition. More than .50
students packed the meeting, many tout
ing signs opposing increased tuition.
Jeff Nieman, a UNC-CH senior and
nonvoting BOG member, caused a rift
among board members when he pro
posed an amendment to the committee
proposal, limiting the increase at UNC
CH and N.C. State to S2OO and exclud
ed the other three schools.
Nieman’s proposal, which mirrored
the recommendation that UNC-system
i j i
DTH/MILLF.R PEARSALL
UNC junior Aisha McGriff from Durham holds up a sign during the silent
protest at Friday's Board of Governors meeting held at the Carolina Inn.
Fliers: Beware of 'Machine'
By Lauren Beal
Assistant University Editor
Mysterious yellow fliers posted
around campus early Sunday morning
have current student government offi
cers furious and this year’s candidates
wondering.
Written by a “concerned student who
is unaffiliated with
any campaign,”
the posters state
that student gov
ernment is run by
a “well-oiled,
transparent
machine.”
“The machine
consists of those
who buy into
keeping the same
types of people in
power so that they
can one day share
For full text
of poster, go
online at
www.unc.
edu/dth
in that power,” the posters stated.
Student body president candidates
Brad Matthews, Erica Smiley, Michael
Harris, Preston Smith, Josh Ray and
Matt Martin denied any connection
with the fliers.
Student Body President Nic Heinke
said the fliers, which were removed
Can anybody remember when the times were not hard, and money not scarce?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
President Molly Broad released in
January, failed, but not without gamer
ing 11 votes from board members.
John Sanders, a board member who
voted for Nieman’s proposal, said it was
unusual for the BOG to remain divided
on an issue by the time it reached the
full BOG. “I was disappointed that
(Nieman’s) push did not prevail,” he
said. “I was surprised and pleased that
we got 11 votes for it. That was the
longest discussion I recall on any subject
in the last year I’ve been on the board.”
In a speech to the board before the
vote on his proposal, Nieman cited two
main flaws in the committee’s plan.
The committee proposal mandates
tuition increases for two years at all five
schools. Nieman said handcuffing the
board to two years of increases violated
a section of the N.C. constitution requir
ing that public higher education remain
“as free as practicable.”
Nieman also said he opposed increas
ing tuition at ECU, UNC-C and UNC-
W. He said the board’s policy on setting
tuition, adopted in 1998, dictated that
tuition requests from individual cam
puses should only be considered under
extraordinary circumstances. In his
opinion, needs outlined in requests from
the trustees at the three schools did not
qualify as extraordinary.
In his plea to board members,
Nieman stressed the historic importance
of the BOG vote, encouraging members
to avoid setting a dangerous precedent
by voting for the committee’s proposal.
“I urge you, when you cast your vote
today, to remember that the way you
vote will not be forgotten,” he said.
But Brad Wilson, chairman of the
Budget and Finance Committee that for
mulated the proposal against which
Nieman spoke, said the political reality
was that state coffers were strained this
year. He urged the board to increase
tuition at all five schools. “No one wants
to raise tuition,” Wilson said. “But (leg-
almost immediate
ly after they were
hung, were unfair.
“I think it’s
spineless and igno
rant for someone
to have a problem,
post that problem
around campus
and not be brave
enough to sign
their name,” Heinke said.
The fliers state “while you think that
student government is serving your
interests, it’s really serving its own” and
draws attention to previous student body
presidents who “gained personal post
graduate benefits” from their position.
“You can be sure that the prospect of
a jump-started political career lurks in
the back of our current SBP’s mind
when he negotiates on behalf of slu
dents,” the fliers state.
Heinke said he was upset and embar
rassed by the fliers’ suggestions.
“The fact that me and about five
other students didn't sleep last week
because we were busy busting our tails
fighting this tuition increase doesn’t
seem very self-serving to me,” he said.
While Smiley said she did not know the
origin of the fliers, she pointed out the
Monday, February 14, 2000
Volume 107, Issue 152
r - y V.7’'V -
||r j 8 . '(■■ XSfe;-
i Mr. Util Mr. Grainger Mrs. O'Kellcy
DTH/VICTORIA ECKEN'RODE
Members of the Board of Governors listen to tuition increase proposals Friday as students silently protest the
increase by holding signs in the background. An increase was approved for several UNC-system schools.
islators) are our bankers. They have
called, and they have said there is not
enough money in the bank.”
Nieman’s proposal was then defeat
ed. A second vote followed, passing the
committee’s plan by a wider margin.
Immediately following the vote,
Broad defended the board’s actions.
“I hope none of you conclude that
this represents a change in the overall
mission to keep tuition low,” she said.
Former Gov. Jim Holshouser, an ex
officio BOG member, also said the board
acted correctly in the face of tough choic
es. “This has been a lesson for everyone
in real-world decision-making.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Students Wage War Once More
By Katie Abel
University Editor
About 50 UNC students found them
selves back in battle Friday, as a hotly
debated tuition proposal once again
forced them to get in the faces of UNC
system administrators.
Armed with signs reading “Keep
UNC Accessible” and “Tuition Increase,
Just Say No,” the protesters crowded the
back two rows of the crammed room
and waited as a critical chapter in their
fight unfolded.
The meeting marked the third round of
student-led protests during the five-month
debate about whether to raise UNC’s
tuition to fund faculty faculty salaries. The
merits of the message. “1 think they made
a lot of good points about student govern
ment’s history over the past few' years.”
Smith said the posters were great but
worried they would discourage students
from voting. “I’m worried that they’ll
see this as a reason for not voting,” he
said. “But it’s exactly the opposite - this
is why they should vote. Become active
and let’s change the system."
Graduate and Professional Student
Federation President lee Conner said the
author should step up and identify him
self or herself. “What it says to me is (the
author) desires to attack and degenerate
but not to be held accountable,” he said.
Conner said the author was obviously
working for or supporting one of the six
student body president candidates. “It
doesn’t take a real genius to figure it out.”
The flier suggests that the “machine”
grooms its “chosen ones” for the posi
tion. “The machine’s candidate always
wins ... Can you spot the machine’s can
didate this year?” the author asks.
“It looks pretty desperate to me,”
Conner said of the flier. “They must be
afraid that their candidate isn’t going to
win, not going to pull the votes.”
The University Editor can be reached
at udesk@unc.edu.
Student Prompts Intense Tuition Debate
Jeff Nieman, a nonvoting student member of the BOG, asked the board to limit tuition increases
to one-year hikes at UNC-CH and N.C. State. The plan was defeated in favor of higher increases.
be rlsed
BOG voted to increase tuition at UNC-
Chapel Hill and N.C. State University by
S6OO during the next two years.
Jeff Nieman, a UNC-CH senior and
the BOG’s only student member, jump
started uncharacteristic debate among
board members after he called for an
amendment to the committee’s plan.
Nieman’s proposal would have limit
ed the tuition increases at UNC-CH and
N.C. State to S2OO next year.
As several board members argued
against Nieman’s plan and stressed the
necessity of a two-year tuition increase in
the wake of a state budget crunch, stu
dent protesters found their own way to
convey their message. Students etched
messages on a dry-erase board in the
Police Seek Suspect,
Motive in Murder
By Jenny Rosser
Staff Writer
Police are investigating the fatal
shooting of a 22-year-old woman
Thursday, marking the second homi
cide of the year in Chapel Hill.
Nehesia Kentae Taylor was found
shot to death Thursday night after offi
cers responded to a 911 center report of
gunshots in the western part of Chapel
Hill at about 10:05 p.m, according to a
police press release.
As officers searched the area around
Sykes and Gomains streets, they were
approached by Chapel Hill resident
Reginald Eugene Farrington, 34. He
then took officers to the 600 block of
Sykes Street, where Taylor’s body was
found.
Farrington, who is not considered a
suspect in the murder, had been shot in
a finger of his right hand.
Chapel Hill police spokeswoman
Jane Cousins said police had no suspects
or motives in the case.
Police were not providing the
addresses of either Taylor or Farrington
but did confirm that both were Chapel
Budget and Finance
Committee Proposal Passed
■ S6OO tuition increase over two
years at UNC-CH and N.C. State
P* tuition increase oveitoo
years at UNC-C and ECUjßfe^
Byuo tuition |
■Psryear and slls forthe .
fjpcond y>?tr at UNC-W/
kl An jnfi .tjonary increase of 2.1
front of the room with phrases such as, “If
the State Can’t Pay, Neither Can We.”
Applause filled the room after Nieman
passionately told the board that a tuition
increase would limit access to UNC-svs
tem schools. He cited the system’s histo
ry' of low tuition as the reason the board’s
own chairman, Ben Ruffin, was able to
complete his own college career.
And after BOG members cast their
votes, the students immediately fol
lowed Nieman out of the room for a
press conference on the Inn’s front lawn.
The roar of passing cars could not
drown out the voices of students crowd
ed around a mass of television cameras.
See STUDENT PROTEST, Page 4
Hill residents.
Cousins said police were not releas
ing any information surrounding the
shooting but were working vigorously to
bring the case to a close.
“Police are interviewing witnesses
and people in the neighborhood and
urging anyone who has information to
call Crime Stoppers,” she said.
The first homicide in town this year
occurred at the Orange Water and
Sewer Authority plant on Mason Farm
Road. Michael Gregory Crosby of
Raleigh was found shot to death Jan. 1.
Michael Jordan Cruz, also of Raleigh,
was arrested Jan. 11 and charged with
first-degree murder in connection with
Crosby's death.
Anyone with information about the
Taylor homicide should call the Chapel
Hill Police Department at 968-2870 or
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Crime Stoppers
at 942-7515.
Crime Stoppers is offering cash
rewards for information about the mur
der, and all calls are confidential.
The City Editor can be reached
at citydesk@unc.edu.
News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245
Business/Advertising 962-1163
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
C 2000 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
Legislators
Back Board's
Tuition Plan
Students remain hopeful
that lawmakers will heed
students' pleas when the
plan reaches Raleigh in May.
By Matthew B. Dees
State & National Editor
Bite the bullet
Webster’s dictionary defines the say
ing as “entering with resignation upon a
difficult or distressing course of action.”
N.C. legislators probably would say
that Noah Webster was right on the
money.
More than one used the term to
describe the actions they will likely be
forced to take as they face the task of
addressing the UNC system’s urgent
needs with very limited resources avail
able in state coffers.
And on the heels of a Board of
Governors vote to raise tuition signifi
candy at five state institutions largely to
address low faculty salaries, lawmakers
say students probably will have to chew
some ammo right along with them.
“I think (the vote) was the proper
decision,” said Sen. Tony Rand, D-
Cumberland, who is co-chairman of a
joint legislative committee that will
meet in two weeks to discuss ways to
fund capital improvements at all 16
UNC-system campuses. “We need to go
ahead and bite the bullet on faculty
salaries. Chat is, it we want to keep the
quality university system we have now.”
Sen. John Garwood, R-Avery, a for
mer BOG member who also sits on
Rand’s committee, expressed a similar
sentiment. “People are not going to sit
by and watch this state lose its reputa
tion as a leader in higher education.”
Both Rand and Garwood said that
while it was unfortunate students would
have to bear some of the burden, the
state budget that has been plagued by
lawsuits and Mother Nature simply left
no other alternative.
BOG members also said their deci
sion was made in the context of the
state’s fiscal constraints, not out of a
desire to overburden students.
“(Legislators) have said there is no
money left in the bank,” said Bradley
Wilson, chairman of the BOG Budget
and Finance Committee, which drafted
the tuition proposals.
See LEGISLATORS, Page 4
#ll % Monday
Competition Grows
n
A write-in
candidate has
joined the race
for student body
president,
increasing the
number of
candidates to
seven.
See Page 7.
Artsy Leader
The Board of Governors announced
the installation of Wilson native Wade
Hobgood as the new chancellor at the
N.C. School of the Arts. Hobgood will
officially begin July I. See Page 6.
Talk About Town
The Daily Tar Heel is currently
accepting applications for the Resident
Feedback Board. The group of Chapel
Hill and Carrboro residents will engage
in an open discussion about local area
issues with DTH editors. See Page 2.
Today’s Weather
Thunderstorms;
High 70s.
Tuesday Sunny;
Mid 60s.