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SJljr flatly (Ear Mrrl ASHLEY STEMIENSON 'The Meese' Must Make Vision Reality I have always equated University Day with pointless pageantry. Faculty wear those strange robes and hats that look like berets (but not raspberry berets), and head honchos make speeches heard by few. Meanwhile, students are celebrating and heralding UNO’s history and greatness while tucked snugly in then beds, taking advantage of that U-Day perk that cancels classes before 2 p.m. This one was different. More people showed up, I think there were more of those white tents, the campus was crawling with news vans, and UNO installed its ninth chancellor. The Big Meese delivered a speech that gave me goosebumps and made me rethink my feelings about U-Day. He spoke about this University with a passion I could not have anticipated. His words tapped into a nostalgia that only strikes occasionally and hits hard. But the speech wasn’t all touchy feely. Meese laid out initiatives and promises so big and bold that it proba bly made some people almost choke on the lumps in their throats. “My pledge ... is to take (UNC’s SSOO million portion of the $3.1 billion bond investment) and triple it in terms of private support to this University through our upcoming campaigning,” he said. It was reminiscent of the late Chancellor Michael Hooker who shook things up from the start and made some people nervous. I’m glad it’s Round 1 and Meese has already taken the gloves off. But by thatsameAoken, he needs to tell us how we are going to achieve these lofty goals. Hooker’s schtick was his charge that UNC could be the best public univer sity in the country. Meese has adopted the mantra, complete with new and improved additions. He’s laid it out, and now I want to see him get it done. U-Day was good and bad news for The Big Meese. It was his first shining moment, and he undoubtedly settled the minds of students, faculty and staff who weren’t sure if they liked him. But it also marked the end of his grace period. Gone will be the sentiments and cute news stories about the Nebraska dude who loves Carolina and plays a mean organ. It’s go time. At the start of his speech, Meese quoted a proverb: “We drink from wells that we did not dig, and we are warmed by fires that we did not build.” Meese has to finish what Hooker started - the Master Plan, the Carolina Computing Initiative, the bond effort. He also has to find a way to weave into those plans his own distinct vision. And it won’t be easy. Let’s check back with him next semester and see if he’s still visiting with students in the Pit. Next year, let’s see if he’s still as tenacious in identify ing UNC’s weaknesses and as eager to fix them. I hope so. I don’t want to see that enthusiasm wane. I don’t want him to fall prey to the fate of his predecessors. I don’t want him to slow down after he hit the ground running. And the pressure has already start ed. Even as Meese was delivering his speech that tugged at the heart strings, housekeepers from UE Local 150 and the Progressive Faculty Network were protesting, their yells competing with his words. Barbara Prear, UE 150 president, told The Daily Tar Heel, “I’d like to see (Moeser) looking at us every Thursday until he finds time to talk with u 5...” And even though I thought the tim ing of their protest was inappropriate, Prear is right. Meese needs to break tradition and deal with these problems and not sweep them under the mg. To his cred it, he promised in his speech to listen to the protesters. He needs to make good on all the promises we heard Thursday. And on University Day 2001, let’s hope his vision is being carried out and that his passion is unchanged. Columnist Ashley Stephenson can be reached at ashley2l@email.unc.edu. ■ i --■Hr x mwp JEBBf ’ ~ £ - .... \ yiZJWI DTH/ARIEL SHUMAKER "Politically Incorrect" host Bill Maher relaxes after his show is taped Saturday night in the Talley Center at N.C. State University. n** *\ ± \ JHT % it DTH/VALERIE BRUCHON Adam Pomerantz, a junior history and psychology major, shares a laugh with his father, Marty Pomerantz, in his father's office. Adam, a Chapel Hill native, often visits his dad, director of campus recreation, to share stories and buy food. Students Find They Can Go Home Again By Crista Whitman Staff Writer Battling long lines in Lenoir Dining Hall, fighting for an open washing machine in residence hall basements and paying for expensive telephone calls home aren’t concerns for UNC students who hail from Chapel Hill. Homemade meals, free laundry facili ties and in-person conversations with fami ly members are all options for local stu dents. Three hundred and ninety-seven under graduates from area high schools are attending a university a hop, skip and a jump away from home. ASG Talks Strategy On Tuition Hike By Faith Ray Staff Writer DURHAM - UNC Association of Student Governments delegates discussed strategies concerning tuition increases and the upcoming $3.1 billion higher educa tion bond referendum during their Friday meeting at N.C. Central University. Delegates from 11 UNC-system schools, including UNC-Chapel Hill, discussed a systemwide 4 percent tuition increase the Board of Governors likely will consider in coming months. The increase would be aimed at offset ting the rising operating costs across the system caused by inflation. Last year, five system schools, includ ing UNC-CH, raised tuition. UNC-CH tuition will increase S6OO during the next two years to fund faculty salaries. ASG President Andrew Payne said he plans to use the 4 percent tuition increase to fight against future campus initiated increases. “We’re not happy with the (4 percent) increase, but we’re not using our total resources to fight it - we’ll use it as leverage,” he said. “I think we have a Local Relations And students say there are advantages and disadvantages to remaining in town for college. “I have more benefits than other (stu dents),” said sophomore Elizabeth Gottschalk, a Chapel Hill High School graduate. “I go home to do laundry, and my mom cooks for me sometimes. I don’t have to spend money on food, so I spend it on other things, and I’m able to do more.” On top of these perks, the close proxim ity of family and friends provides a strong support system for local students. East Chapel Hill High School graduate and junior Adam Pomerantz has a family relationship that extends to campus, where he often drops in for a visit with his father, ——:- good chance.” Payne said he hopes conceding to the 4 percent increase would give students a bargaining point if individual cam puses once again request tuition increases this year in addition to the inflationary increase. Payne said the association should oppose the BOG’s ASG President Andrew Payne hopes a 4 percent tuition raise will give students "leverage" against future hikes. practice of increasing tuition annually to combat inflation. He said ASG might sue the state if its bargaining efforts fail and campuses ini tiate individual tuition increases. “The last hope may be a lawsuit against the state of North Carolina,” Payne said. “It’s not the best decision, but it might be the last hope.” ASG Vice President Liz Gardner said See ASG, Page 7 News N.C. State Goes 'lncorrect' By Alex Kaplun Assistant State & National Editor RALEIGH ln front of a boisterous crowd Saturday night, ABC’s “Politically Incorrect” host Bill Maher held an often risque forum discussing controversial issues in American politics. The event was held at Stewart Auditorium on the N.C. State University campus. Saturday’s stop was part of the program’s 10-campus college tour. The forum followed the usual show format, but it will probably never air on ABC. Instead, it will be shown through out the fall semester on College Television Network -a television net work reaching more than 1,550 loca tions at colleges and universities. The show kicked off 30 minutes late, but the largely N.C. State student crowd filled time by cheering the Wolfpack’s earlier football victory over UNC. Maher started the show with a mono logue, in which he skewered both major Marty Pomerantz, UNC director of cam pus recreation. “It’s great because if I need something from home, or if I get mail, I can just swing by my dad’s office. My dad’s here to help out, and that’s nice,” Adam said. Having a home nearby provides local students with an escape from the demands and rigors of college life. “There are times when things aren’t going so well. It’s nice to be able to go home, have dinner with my family and get that break,” Adam said. But having grown up in the area, stu dents from local high schools face the See LOCALS, Page 7 BOG Still Reviewing Budget Proposals At a third workshop, the BOG touched on matters such as financial aid and tuition-raising criteria. By Kathleen Hunter State & National Editor DURHAM - The Board of Governors held a third workshop Friday to discuss the system’s budget request for 2001-03, which will likely include new funding for enrollment growth, technology, and faculty salaries. The BOG will vote next month on its 2001-02 budget request. UNC-system President Molly Broad’s preliminary budget also includes a 4 percent sys temwide tuition increase aimed at off setting the system’s rising operating costs. At BOG Chairman Ben Ruffin’s request, part of the workshop was spent reviewing the board’s tuition-setting pol icy, adopted in 1998. The policy, which yielded the proposed 4 percent increase, aims to provide a framework by which tuition levels rise steadily with inflation. Gary Barnes, UNC-system vice presi dent for program assessment, said the pro cedure was meant to ensure that tuition levels rise steadily instead of increasing ''"’Tilv to catch up with inflation. party presidential candidates - Republican George W. Bush and Democrat A1 Gore. Maher said Gore’s campaign focused on distancing himself from President Clinton, and no action was more sym bolic of that than the infamous Gore- Tipper kiss at the Democratic National Convention. “The kiss was (Gore’s) way of saying, ‘l’m not Bill Clinton. I fucked my wife,’” Maher said. Maher added that Bush’s campaign was an effort to tie Gore to Clinton. “The Republican campaign is ail about guilt by association,” Maher said. “They act like Gore was holding Monica’s hair the whole time.” Maher also attacked the Republican National Convention that took place in early August. “The Republican convention disgust ed me because it’s not true, it’s not who they are,” Maher said. “The last time Republicans had that many black peo BSM King; Queen Ascend Throne At Annual Ball Brandon Lofton said he hopes to give the title a more political role, while Kellie Hash said she aims to be a BSM ambassador. By Ben Davidson Staff Writer Amid thunderous applause and joyous outcries, seniors Brandon Lofton and Kellie Hash were announced as Mr. and Ms. BSM at the Black Student Movement Coronation Ball on Saturday. The two will fill the traditional roles of ambassadors on behalf of UNC’s black community and are the probable prospects for Mr. and Ms. UNC, to be crowned at the cam puswide Homecoming ceremony. Ms. BSM has been crowned Homecoming Queen for 10 consecutive years. “Mr. and Ms. BSM are very qualified to represent the BSM as well as the campus community as a whole,” said Jokena Smith, BSM vice president. Jones said the BSM doesn’t force anyone to vote in a cer tain way during Homecoming elections, even though the group has a membership of more than 550. Lofton beat out one other Mr. BSM candidate, and Hash competed against four other contenders. Lofton said he wants to redefine the role of Mr. BSM. “I plan on promoting Mr. BSM as a political position rather than a tide,” he said. “That’s going to be my main objective.” Hash said she hopes to speak out for the black communi ty and to be an ambassador for members of the BSM. Candidates campaigned last week on campus. Prospective candidates for Mr. and Ms. BSM submitted an application and went through an interview process. The candidates then pre sented a proposed service project and answered questions in a BSM forum. Most in attendance at the ball held at the Sheraton Hotel vocalized their support for Hash and Lofton. “It’s not every day you get to see everyone getting together for such a posi tive cause for the black community,” said junior Jason Capel. This year’s race differed from those in the past due to the candidates’ involvement in the elections process. “I was surprised by the scale of the campaigning,” Smith said. “This is more than I’ve seen in the past” Organizers said they were pleased with this year’s corona tion ball. The Harmonyx performed twice during the evening, and Lofton and Hash shared the ceremonial royal dance. “Everything has gone off without a hitch,” said Cenita Dobson, a member of the special projects committee that arranged the ball. “We’ve had a great turnout." The University Editor can be reachedatudesk@unc.edu. / ' ’ •- •*. HM Bames also reviewed the process by which individual cam puses are allowed to request tuition increases. Last year, the BOG approved campus-initiated tuition increases at five system schools - including UNC- Chapel Hill - which were largely aimed at funding faculty salaries. UNC-system President Molly Broad has proposed a 4 percent tuition hike to offset inflation. System policy states that campus-ini tiated tuition increases should only be allowed under extraordinary circum stances - circumstances that Broad said existed last year after Hurricane Floyd and two costly court rulings combined to drain the state’s available resources. Broad said after the meeting she had no idea whether campuses would request tuition increases this year. But she said fis cal constraints facing the state last year constituted extraordinary circumstances. “(‘Extraordinary’) means something you don’t find every year,” Broad said. “I think the burden of this policy fall on the campuses to prove that they are sustain ing an extraordinary circumstance." But Broad could not outline any cri- Monday, October 16, 2000 pie on stage, they were selling them.” After the 20-minute stand-up routine, the show moved to its usual panel for mat. The four guest panelists were actor Jay Thomas; Doug Mcßumey, founder of shadowgov.com, a Web site that focuses on justice issues; John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank in Raleigh; and N.C. State student Natalie Duggins. The hourlong discussion touched on many issues in American politics, including legalization of drugs, gun con trol and gay rights. Almost from the outset, Mcßumey’s often controversial views were under attack from both the panelists and mem bers of the audience. At one point, Mcßumey said democ racy as a form of government was a fail ure, and we should instead move to a constitutional monarchy. “I think we should have a king who is See INCORRECT, Page 7 teria the board would use to determine if campuses meet that burden of proof. The BOG will vote on any campus initiated tuition increases in March at the same time that it sets student fees. The preliminary two-year budget request also includes $113.7 million in new' spending for programs aimed at increas ing access to system schools, including enrollment growth and a need-based financial aid plan partially funded by the N.C. General Assembly this summer. An additional $41.8 million would be appropriated to increase the effective ness of technology across the system. In addition to discussing the system’s long-range budget priorities, BOG members also used Friday’s meetings to examine the progress of the campaign to ensure passage of the $3.1 billion bond referendum that would fund capital improvements on the state’s university and community college campuses. When the BOG reconvenes in November, N.C. voters will have deter mined the bond package’s fate. Public Affairs Committee Chairman Jim Phillips urged BOG members to continue working to inform voters about the bond until the Nov. 7 referendum. He urged board members, “Just keep on keepin’ for the next three weeks.” . The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu. 3
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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