18A
Thursday, April 6, 2000
Concerns or
comments about
our coverage?
Contact the
ombudsman at
or call 605-2790.
Scott Hicks
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Katie Abel
UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Jacob McConnico
CITY EDITOR
Editorial Series
Treat ’Em Right
Luckily for UNC, most staff workers say they like working here
But officials should work harder to give them a good reason to.
UNC officials must do more to improve
working conditions for staff. Workers
deserve better pay, but UNC officials should
work harder to make working here a more
rewarding experience.
Double the Work, but No Pay Raise
Every day for the past few years, there
have been about 500 unfilled
staff jobs at UNC. Despite vari
ation among different depart
ments, empty positions can be
found in nearly every area.
For example, 21 positions
are open for accounting tech-
nicians, 24 for housekeepers and 44 for
office assistants. These jobs are essential to
University needs.
The work still must be done, and other
staff members have to pick up the slack.
Many do essentially two jobs while their
department waits to fill empty positions.
Their reward for the extra work? Paycheck
for job one and a pat on the back for job two.
But this manic work craze comes at its
own costs. It often leads to increased job
stress, which in turn leads to more resigna
tions - compounding the original problem.
The employee shortage is partially a result
of the robust economy and low unemploy
ment in the Triangle, but UNC administra
tors should launch a concerted advertising
effort to attract more potential workers.
Officials also should consider better recruit
ing here on campus, as many graduating stu
dents look for jobs that allow them to stay in
the area. In the meantime, administrators
should publicly thank the hundreds of work
ers who are each filling two people’s roles.
Extra incentives such as increased pat' and
benefits, of course, would attract more peo
pie to UNC ... and keep them here.
Straggling in Benefits
Staff are at a disadvantage because they
often get lower pay and fewer benefits than
their peers in private industry. While some
workers make close to market value, others
- such as high-tech staff - make much less.
On average, UNC’s benefits package rep
resents 19 percent of each employee’s gross
salary. Nationally, that average is 25 percent.
Child care is just one of the benefits where
UNC just doesn’t match the private sector.
When women began to enter the work
place in large numbers 30 years ago, busi
nesses began to offer child care for working
mothers. But UNC straggled, and the care
that it offers is expensive and not enough for
workers who are on call 24 hours a day.
Administrators should take a hint from
former Graduate & Professional Student
Federation President Lee Conner, who has
set in motion a study by the Carolina
Population Center that would put his con
stituents’ needs for child care in hard num
bers. LINC should re-evaluate its child care
programs to make sure they’re up to par.
When it comes time to making changes,
UNC should look to Research Triangle Park,
where many companies boast award-win
ning child care centers on-site.
Likewise, parking - or more accurately,
DTH Handling of Out ‘N’ About, CAA Policy Screwed Readers
My first publisher, a West
Virginia firebrand named Ned
Chilton, was one of journal
ism’s good guys.
His life honored his deeply
ingrained belief that the press has an
ethical responsibility to challenge
politicians and champion the cause of
the disenfranchised. “Screwed” was his
favorite verb for what politicians and
greedy capitalists did to the little guy.
His paper lost hundreds of thou
sands of dollars in advertising because
his staff pursued cash-gouging auto
dealers. “The god-damned First
Amendment is not to guarantee the
advertisers so many sales,” he said.
I idolized Chilton because he stood
for something essential in journalism,
and I share his view of the world to
make a point about two seemingly.
unconnected events here at The Daily
Tar Heel.
The first concerns an advertising
supplement published March 23. The
second involves a student-elected rep
resentative who failed his electorate.
Roth illustrate this paper’s failure to
Rob Nelson
EDITOR
Office Hours Friday 3 p.m. - 4 p.m.
the lack thereof - is a headache for workers.
The primary problem is that each depart
inent has its own parking policy.
In some cases, a secretary who has worked
at UNC for 20 years might still be taking the
bus while 30-year-old professors nab parking
spaces in their first year of teaching. A lack of
close parking has even deterred some staff
applicants from taking jobs at
UNC.
Policies that pit staff against
professors don’t help morale on
either side. Officials should
implement a campuswide park
ing policy that finds a better
The second!
in a 3-part
series
on
way to balance the need to compensate for
low faculty salaries with the need to maintain
staff dignity.
Bureaucratic Run-Around
But the underlying problem that exacer
bates all the others is the unwieldy bureau
cracy workers must deal with to effect
changes. Because staff are state workers, they
don’t have a clear, two-way line of commu
nication with their ultimate superiors.
Only the governor - not the chancellor -
can lobby for their needs to the General
Assembly. UNC employees are lumped into
the same categories as all other state workers.
An office clerk employed at UNC makes
the same amount as one employed at
Fayetteville State University, despite the fact
that a worker making $25,000 in Fayetteville
would need to make $31,147 to enjoy the
same standard of living in Chapel Hill.
The rules that define and govern staff jobs
are often outdated, overly rigid or hopeless
ly complex. UNC employees are classified
under state job codes, but some jobs (such as
animal care technicians, various computer
related positions and research jobs) exist only
in universities. Problem is, these jobs are
wedged into generic categories that don’t
represent what they do and can hinder pay.
What’s more, rigid classifications often pre
vent staff from moving up the staff ladder
from, say, a maintenance job to a tech job.
On issues like these, state lawmakers need
to do a better job representing their con
stituents. Lawmakers should relax their iron
grip on staff and classify them with a smarter
policy that encourages promotion and pro
vides fair pay that takes into account local
cost of living and private sector pay.
But UNC officials shouldn’t kick back and
wait for that to happen. Administrators
should work now to take care of the little
things that make or break what staff think of
working at UNC.
For the Record
The Monday editorial “Workin' 9 to 5” should
have attributed the following quotations toAimee
Gevedon, main office assistant in the Department
of Psychology:'“The staff here is the most under
standing staff I've ever worked with.' She said fac
ulty treated her with a degree of respect that she
had not seen in previous years.'The staff, students
and faculty treat me as one of their own, not
someone who does a lot of grunt work for the
department.’"
The Daily Tar Heel regrets the error.
■
TERRY WIMMER
OMBUDSMAN
responsibly serve its constituents.
“Out ‘N’ About” is the supplement
touted as the paper’s 4th annual issue
“chosen by YOU the readers of the
DTH.” The DTH logo appeared on
every page. Inside, between the adver
tising, are dozens of “best of’ category
winners, selected by readers who either
completed a form in the paper or
answered an online ballot.
One of those categories - Best Class
to Do Crossword In - upset Professor
Charles Mitchell. He teaches Drama
16, the winner listed in the paper.
His questions focused on responsi
bility: How was the choice made? How
ah' Daily dar
Established 1893 • 107 Years of Editorial Freedom
www.unc.edu/dth
Matthew B. Dees
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
T. Nolan Hayes
SPORTS EDITOR
Leigh Davis
FEATURES EDITOR
many students voted? Did the DTH
investigate whether it was true that his
class was crossword-puzzle heaven? (It
didn’t.)
What he didn’t know, and could not
have known from the publication, is
that the DTH editorial staff had noth
ing to do with the contest. It was the
work of the paper’s advertising staff.
Such advertising product is not uncom
mon in daily newspapers. It produces
badly needed income.
What is common in real world
newspapers is that editors insist such
publications be labeled plainly
throughout as “advertising copy.”
It is a widely held belief that readers
have a right to know the difference,
and it is the responsibility of the news
paper staff to be certain they do.
It didn’t happen in “Out ‘N’ About”
because neither the advertising direc
tor, nor the general manager, nor the
editor thought of it.
They also didn’t think to explain
how the poll was taken, how many
readers responded (about 500) and that
as a poll it was as scientifically sound as
Opinions
Robin Clentow
ARTS N ENTERTAINMENT EDtTOR
Carolyn Haynes
copy de.sk editor
Miller Pearsall
photography editor
Racism Not a Word to Use Lightly
The past week’s exchange of letters to
The Daily Tar Heel editor hotly debat
ing whether Amol Naik’s critic was a
“racist” because she told him to “meditate”
highlights the University community’s
attempts to resolve a problem plaguing
American society: the ease with which accusa
tions of racism are leveled against individuals
and organizations.
Racism is a serious issue, and charging
someone with racism is equally serious.
In a recent case, a bar owner in
Massachusetts found himself facing the loss of
his license to serve alcohol in light of charges
of racism ... brought apparently by no one at
all.
Tom English, bar owner, regularly dis
played stuffed cartoon characters, clowns, fish
and other animals in his bar. The Boston
Herald published a story claiming that a bar
tender employed by English had joked with a
patron that the monkeys currently on display
were put in place in mockery of Black History
Month.
According to the Herald, the bartender sug
gested that the monkey wearing a crown rep
resented Martin Luther Kingjr.
After the story appeared, the Massachusetts
Anti-Discrimination Commission got
involved.
On learning about the claims of the Herald
reporter, the commission sent an undercover
agent to English’s bar to listen for racist com
ments.
The agent heard some discussion of the
Herald stoiy but was unable to overhear
enough to discern whether the story itself was
accurate. The commission nonetheless
brought charges against English to the licens
ing board, arguing that English’s liquor
license should be revoked.
In the ensuing hearing, the bartender
claimed that he had not made the racist state
ments attributed to him. The Herald reporter
did not testify. Tom English’s attorney argued
vigorously for his client, whose livelihood and
life’s work was at stake.
Three patrons, including one black woman,
testified th’at the display was not racist. The
creationism.
In hindsight, they wish they had,
and the general manager promises to
do so in future years.
Eittle good that does Mitchell. He’s
in his second semester of teaching at
UNC and took control of Drama 16 to
erase the perception that it provided
the way to an A.
(He said out of 294 students in the
first semester, only 27 As were given.
In my opinion, that doesn’t make the
class a cakewalk.)
After the publication, his boss sent
him a critical note. Not a good thing if
you’re seeking tenure. What bothers
him more, however, is that the DTH is
perpetuating a myth. How, he asked, is
that responsible journalism?
It isn’t. He got screwed.
Editor Rob Nelson said he doesn’t
believe it is the paper’s duty to correct
perceptions. But it is this paper’s
responsibility to be fair, in both its edi
torial and advertising content, and that
“best of” category certainly wasn’t.
It was a case of responsibility
shirked. And that’s the connection to
Vicky Eckenrode k Cate Doty
MANAGING EDITORS
Thomas Ausman
DESIGN EDITOR
Megan Sharkey
graphics editor
William Hill
ONLINE EDITOR
■
TARA ROBBINS
SMALL PRINT
licensing board exonerated English of the
charges but could not undo the damage to his
reputation. English fired the bartender.
Racism is a bad thing, but the handling of
these accusations was worse than bad. The
stated aim of the Massachusetts Anti
Discrimination Commission is “to ensure
equality of opportunity,” a noble objective.
But its strategies are questionable. It sends
undercover agents to places of business to loi
ter, listen to conversations and report poten
tially racist comments. If an agent hears some
thing objectionable, the commission pursues
any possible avenues for redress.
In other words, working men and women
of Massachusetts pay people (and presumably
provide them with expense accounts) to sit in
bars and coffee shops listening to other peo
ple’s conversations.
Not only does this strategy seem wasteful of
the state’s power and financial resources; it
also seems like a poorly designed way to com
bat racism.
Leaders of the multicultural movement
need to use their influence responsibly and
attack racism strategically.
Last fall, a school board in Decatur
expelled six students for provoking a fight at a
sporting event in which other students were
injured.
Prior to the incident, the school board had
established a zero-tolerance policy mandating
that any students provoking violence would
be expelled, and videotapes of the event
proved these students’ participation unequivo
cally.
In the aftermath of the event, however, the
the NCAA ticket flap.
When Tee Pruitt was running to
return as Carolina Athletic Association
president this year, he pledged a fair
and equitable ticket distribution policy
for all students. So what did he do
when the Tar Heels made the Final
Four? He let his staff send out limited
e mail about how to snare the tickets to
Indy. He did not send out a mass e
mail to all of the student body.
He says he didn’t have time. I say
the DTH staff had the responsibility of
demanding he explain why he didn’t
make time.
Last Thursday, more than two days
after the tickets were handed out,
Nelson interviewed Pruitt about the
issue. He failed to demand that Pruitt
answer the hardest of questions: Why?
Why did he not live up to his pledge
and spread the word to all?
As an elected official, Pruitt deserves
hard challenge from reporters. His
excuse that time constraints limited
publicity was buried at the bottom of
the DTH story.
The reporting by this paper let him
(Thr Hally (Tar Urri
Terry Wimmer
OMBUDSMAN
Rev. Jesse Jackson denounced the school
board’s expulsion of the six students, who
were black, as racist - even though the point
of a zero-tolerance policy is that it is enforced
without considerations such as the identity of
the perpetrators.
Particularly when a child’s life is in ques
tion and color weighs down on one side of a
delicate balance, such an accusation must be
treated seriously.
Ifjackson really believed that certain
school board members had acted out of racist
motives, he should have called publicly for
their resignations because those school board
members should not have been permitted to
make decisions about the welfare of students.
But Jackson did not call for any resigna
tions or name any names. One cannot help
but wonder why a moral crusader like
Jackson, if he knew names, would not divulge
them publicly. Certainly he would not have
refrained because of his respect for these
racist individuals or their practices.
It seems instead that Jackson was accusing
the school board of the problem of racism
afflicting all of society, rather than a particular
act of racial discrimination. But such broad
based accusations are absolutely unaccept
able; accusations should be made based on
specific evidence and communities should fol
low through with relevant social sanctions.
Racism is one of the most destructive ills
that has plagued American society, and purg
ing it from our culture is not easy. But even
when making any headway at all seems
impossible, we continue to struggle against
racism because the alternative - to ignore the
problem - is equally impossible if we are to
continue to call ourselves civilized.
The word racism should immediately com
mand the attention of all honorable people.
Trumpeting it around indiscriminately dulls
the ears of listeners and, even more destruc
tively, creates an atmosphere of distrust
among racial groups.
Tara Robbins is a graduate student in the
Department of English from Millville, N.J.You
can reach her at trobbins@unc.edu.
skate, and in so doing the DTH failed
to serve the John and Jane Does of
UNC who depend on the DTH to
serve their interests.
Nelson said he believed the focus of
the story needed to be that students
were upset, and that Pruitt’s alleged
failure was best addressed on the edito
rial page. I disagree. It was a time for
hard reporting and hard questions.
The more amazing failure, however,
is greater than Pruitt’s transgression or
the after-the-fact story in the paper.
The evening after North Carolina
made the Final Four, it never even
crossed Nelson’s mind to push for a
story about how tickets would be dis
tributed.
That’s a basic question. It was more
than a failure of practicing responsible
journalism. It was shabby work.
This paper ignored the little guy.
And he got screwed.
Ombudsman Terry Wimmer, a
doctoral candidate in the School of
Journalism and Mass Communication,
can be reached at budman@unc.edu.