Slip Uailii (Ear Uppl
Demand
More for
Higher Bill
At the Board of Trustees meeting
Thursday, student government
desperately needed a stronger
argument than accessibility to fight the
S4OO tuition increase.
Rather than examining the reasons
why UNC needs more money and how
it can profit the most students, student
government weakly fought a tired fight
against tuition increases in general.
Although the
trustees knew the
tuition increase
would not have
nearly any
impact compared
to the $1.5 billion
Carolina First
Campaign to
build the endow
ment, the trustees
took advantage
of our weakness.
Student lobby-
KATY NELSON
UNIVERSITY
COLUMNIST
ists focused too narrowly on the credi
ble threat of UNC being too expensive
for lower-income students. Yet with 40
percent of the $9 million raised
through the increase headed to finan
cial aid, the N.C. Constitution argu
ment was pushed aside by the trustees.
Student Body President Justin
Young should have admitted there’s
no question that UNC needs more
money to retain outstanding faculty
and to maintain our tradition of acade
mic excellence. To fight the S4OO
tuition increase, student government
should have focused less on complain
ing about paying more and zeroed in
on how our money will be used to
improve our educations.
Young should have talked with the
BOT more about where UNC’s
expansion is headed and how the leg
islature, students and alumni must
work together to ensure quality educa
tion within this future. All parties must
understand what funds are needed and
how they will be allocated so that the
burden will not be dumped on stu
dents due to lack of discussion.
Young also should have continually
reminded the BOT that this increase
will only provide a fraction of the
amount needed for faculty salary pari
ty with our competitors. For the sake
of doing something relatively small
about our needed improvements,
UNC has shafted students rather than
having a more meaningful discussion
in which alumni and General
Assembly resources were included.
To ensure a uniform vision, all of us
need to consider how UNC can be
improved without radically changing
UNC’s signature style. At the BOT
meeting, Trustee Rusty Carter spoke
about how UNC must focus on retain
ing its unique character.
We need to have more confidence
in our University, and we must put our
heads together to discover how we can
raise a substantial amount of money
and then apply the funds to making a
better, yet still special, Carolina.
It’s not the time for students, alumni
or legislators to deny financial responsi
bility. But because all three groups have
not discussed the most important issues
concerning Carolina’s future, students
are stuck with another meaningless bill.
Students can no longer resist tuition
increases simply because we don’t want
to pay more. What we should be fight
ing for is paying more for a better
Carolina, not a Carolina dial imple
ments tuition increases as Band-Aids to
cover huge problems. And a stronger
Carolina starts with more student-ori
ented administrators. Instead of analyz
ing statistics all day, I want to see
Chancellor James Moeser sitting in your
classes. I want Moeser and Provost
Robert Shelton studying the brilliance
of a UNC education and spending their
quality hours identifying ways to reme
dy our academic weaknesses. I want our
administrators and trustees behaving
like educators rather than businessmen
taking advantage of the little guy.
I want our student government to
behave more professionally and to
address our administrators more
thoughtfully and tactfully. I wish
Young had mobilized a more thought
provoking campaign than “Speak Out
or Pay Up.”
I think Young’s administration
would have been more successful in
raising support had the protests exam
ined the real issues behind the tuition
increase: What does a Carolina educa
tion mean today, and what will we
want it to mean in the future?
Better yet, student government
should have eloquently expressed the
need of unity between legislators, stu
dents and alumni at this pivotal time
in Carolina history - which means we
needed more discussion time to estab
lish a shared vision, a point Young did
hammer home.
If we’re going to pay more, let’s get
more.
Columnist Katy Nelson can be
reached at knelson@email.unc.edu.
ASG Aims to Inform Voters About Funding
Members seek to prevent
further cuts into the state's
higher education budget
and to increase ASG funds.
By Elyse Ashbijrn
Assistant State & National Editor
GREENSBORO - Student leaders
have decided to take a proactive
approach to preventing further tuition
increases across the UNC system.
At its monthly meeting Saturday, the
UNC Association of Student
Governments announced its intention to
J*y WBHiif 1 *! “ ~ jjr '•
mm m ■mlvj H r§r' ZjkA
-. ■ 'VtijSJF V *W: tlllj
■ff jar. - \ a.-
B| | ■ ,k
w
'■■■ ....
DTH/SARA ABRONS
Five members of the SkipSations! jump rope team of Chapel Hill perform at halftime at the women's basketball game against
Virginia on Sunday. The team, composed of children ages Bto 16, recently won first place at the national championship
in Santa Clara, Calif. The team plans to travel to the world championships in Belgium in April.
N.C. Colleges Mull Tuition Increases
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
Staff Writer
Officials at UNC-Charlotte and East
Carolina University recently announced that
they are considering raising tuition at their
respective campuses.
UNC-C Chancellor James Woodward said
Friday that the university’s Board of Trustees
will consider a S4OO campus-initiated tuition
increase at its Feb. 4 meeting.
The announcement comes on the heels of
the UNC-Chapel Hill BOT’s passage of a S4OO
campus-initiated tuition increase. The increase,
approved Thursday, will fund faculty salary
Area Schools Hold
Forum on Growth
By Jon Dougherty
Assistant City Editor
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City
Schools Strategic Planning Task Force
held a public forum Thursday to discuss
the development of the school system.
The school system is creating the
plan so it can respond to an influx in
local growth. The plan is designed to
dictate the expansion and goals of the
school system through 2008.
David Hartzell, task force co-chairman
and a UNC business professor, presented
the proposed development plan for the
school system to about 35 residents.
“When we started in October, we set
ourselves three questions to answer:
What should the ideal school system
look like, how do we get our system
there and what major challenges will we
have to overcome," Hartzell said.
Another defining characteristic of the
strategic plan that was discussed is the con
cept of what an ideal graduating student of
the school system should look like.
Ada Pisano, a mother of four students
in the school system, emphasized the
importance of decreasing the achieve-
take its “Keep North Carolina
Educated” campaign on the road.
ASG leaders said the campaign will
focus on raising awareness of the N.C.
General Assembly’s responsibility to
fund higher education in the state, which
could offset future tuition increases.
ASG leaders said the campaign is espe
cially needed now that the state is facing a
budget shortfall between S4OO million
and S9OO million and the UNC system is
potentially facing greater funding cuts.
Brad Dixon, ASG vice president of
finance, said the campaign is intended to
persuade voters to pressure state legisla
tors for adequate higher education bind
ing or to vote those legislators out of
UMP AROUND
increases and reduce class sizes.
Woodward said UNC-C’s tuition increase
would be targeted toward programs that
improve undergraduate education, such as a
learning facility program to ease the difficult
transition to college work.
Woodward added that the revenue also
would fund the hiring of more full-time faculty
to replace some adjunct professors and also
decrease the student-faculty ratio.
“Just like the trustees at Chapel Hill, our
trustees recognized the problems associated
with funding," Woodward said. “We are espe
cially concerned about those departments that
are dependent on adjunct faculty - replacing
ment disparity between white and
minority students.
“Reducing the minority achievement
gap is the key to our development,”
Pisano said. “To do this successfully, we
need to set specific outcome expecta
tions for our program.”
Because of an exponential increase of
Hispanic residents in recent years, minor
ity issues are being brought to the fore
front in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.
Ashley Osment, the mother of a rising
kindergartner, had concerns about the stu
dents’ exposure to other cultures. “There
have been studies done that prove that
kids who begin bilingual education early
do better in all subjects,” Osment said.
Osment detailed the example the
school system should take from Carrboro
and Glenwood elementary schools. “1
hope the district will expand the pilot pro
gram of dual-language kindergarten edu
cation at these two schools," Osment said.
In that program, students learn in
English for half of the day and spend the
other half learning in another language.
The Carrboro program offers Spanish,
See FORUM, Page 5
News
office.
“(The cam
paign) is about get
ting out awareness
to a lot of people
who are footing
the bill," he said.
Dixon said
North Carolinians
must demand that
state legislators
stop shirking their
responsibility to
the UNC system.
“We can’t allow
them to press
through the para-
ASG President
Andrew Payne
said he hopes
to increase ASG's
budget from $2,500
to $165,000.
adjunct faculty with full-time faculty.”
N.C. State University trustees also will con
sider an increase at their February meeting.
More than half the schools in the UNC sys
tem either have approved a tuition increase or
are in the process of determining if one is nec
essary for their campus.
Jeff Huskamp, ECU’s chief information offi
cer, said administrators are considering a tuition
increase but declined to give any additional
details.
“I certainly think (a tuition increase) has been
a topic of discussion as the state’s fiscal position
See UNC-C, Page 5
Officials Still Debating Sale of Tract
By Lizzie Breyer
University Editor
The fate of a piece of University
owned land is coming under debate as
officials struggle with the idea of selling
it to local developers.
Although UNC officials said they are
intrigued by the idea of creating more
affordable housing for faculty and staff,
discussions late last week revealed
reluctance about selling the 62-acre
Horace Williams satellite tract to devel
opers Phil Szostak and Bob Chapman.
The tract, located in Carrboro, could
become part of the proposed Winmore
mixed-use development - developed
by Szostak and Chapman - which
could include housing that would be
available for UNC faculty and staff.
“In preliminary discussions with
Winmore, it appears that the homes
would sell for less than the median price
in Carrboro," said Nancy Suttenfield,
vice chancellor for finance and admin
istration, at Thursday’s UNC Board of
Trustees meeting. “We have talked
many times about the lack of housing
within Carrboro for young faculty and
staff members, so we were intrigued.”
Sue Estroff, chairwoman of the
Faculty Council, said housing in Chapel
Hill is unaffordable for faculty members.
Estroff said many faculty members,
digm that the state doesn’t have to sup
port the university system,” he said.
Dixon said the General Assembly’s
higher education budget cuts force sys
tem officials to implement tuition hikes
to compensate for a lack of state funding.
James Haltom, ASG vice president of
public affairs, emphasized student lead
ers’ responsibility to ensure that tuition
is kept low and UNC-system schools
remain accessible.
“Millions of North Carolinians go to
work every day at mills, farms and in
cities across the state to provide for us to
go to college,” Haltom said. “It’s our
responsibility to keep those universities
affordable.”
Easley Seeks More
Federal Funds for
State Medicaid
North Carolina received a 1 percent cut in
federal funding for Medicaid last year,
which meant $65 million less for this year.
By Rachel Leonard
Staff Writer
Gov. Mike Easley sent a letter last week urging the N.C.
congressional delegation to provide additional funding for the
state’s Medicaid program, which is facing a SIOB million bud
get shortfall this fiscal year.
In the letter, Easley stated that increased federal aid is cru
cial to protect the state’s “most vulnerable citizens.” Medicaid
provides health care for the poor, elderly and disabled.
“Maintaining and increasing federal participation in the
Medicaid program not only helps North Carolina but also our
counties that are struggling to meet their own budget needs,”
Easley stated. The Medicaid shortfall adds to the state’s bud
get woes. The state already faces an estimated S4OO million to
S9OO million budget deficit before the fiscal year ends injune.
Rising program costs, cuts in funding and the recent econom
ic downturn all contributed to the Medicaid budget shortfall.
A 1 percent cut in federal Medicaid funding last year left
North Carolina with $65 million less for the current fiscal year
than in 2001. The federal government continues to provide
about 61 percent of the state Medicaid budget.
North Carolina’s annual expenditures of about $2 billion
provide another 33 percent of Medicaid funding, and counties
pick up the rest.
At the same time, the number of people seeking Medicaid has
risen, said Daphne Lyon, deputy director for the Division of
Medical Assistance, which oversees the state’s Medicaid program.
More than 1 million people in North Carolina receive
Medicaid benefits.
Last year, Lyon said, the state cut costs by changing reim
bursement amounts and placing limits on the hours of per
sonal care patients can receive per day. More limits could be
placed on services in the case of another shortfall, she said.
Lois Nilsen, spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of Health
and Human Services, also said the state might need to look at sev
eral options when closing the budget gap. “Lots of things are on
the table,” she said. Lyon said she is hopeful that federal funding
will be increased. “(But) we cannot depend on that,” she added.
In his letter, Easley cited proposals to return the federal match
ing rate to the 2001 levels, to increase Medicaid funding for all
states and to provide relief to states with high unemployment
“All of these various provisions would help North
Carolina," he stated in the letter.
No relief has yet to come from the federal government, but
provisions for Medicaid assistance to the states are being consid
ered under the economic stimulus package currently in Congress.
Michael Briggs, press secretary for Sen. John Edwards, D-
N.C., said many states are experiencing similar budget prob
lems. “It’s not unique to North Carolina,” he said.
Edwards had proposed increases in Medicaid distribution
for the states before Easley’s letter, Briggs said.
Although Briggs said Edwards sees a chance of the economic
stimulus package passing, Briggs said it depends on what kind of
priority' the president put on it. “It’s high on everyone’s agenda."
The State & National Editor can be reached at
stntdesk@unc.edu.
Adding More to Winmore
Developers have Satellite
approached UNC about r—. Homestead Road
purchasing the satellite ___
Horace Williams tract, a
62-acre area of land in j 11
Carrboro. The tract L~—*
could become part Winmore 1 "S
--of the Winmore mixed- J I I I o
use development, which \ \ j -A
opens up on to , r-'-O \ I \ 5
Homestead Road. I „ ....... . . S-
Horace Williams tract
m ,IFF,Fii,.'. I Mrui,i'.l‘,ru, ' ,
herself included, have made decisions
about whether to accept an offer from a
university based on the availability of
affordable housing in the area. She said
the cost-of-living price of housing can be
as important in attracting faculty as fac
ulty salary and benefit packages.
“(Housing) is a very important part of
the total recruitment and retention pack
age that would help boost us up to
where we want to be,” Estroff said.
But Suttenfield stopped short of rec
ommending the sale of the tract, saying
Monday, January 28, 2002
To complement the long-range voter
awareness campaign, the ASG approved
a proposal for tuition guidelines to be
presented at the UNC-system Board of
Governors meeting in February.
The proposal includes a recommen
dation to approve campus-initiated
tuition increases on campuses that have
not increased tuition in the last two years
but to deny the requests of universities
that have already implemented increases.
The document also recommends that
the BOG revamp its tuition policy -a
move it is already poised to make.
ASG President Andrew Payne said
See ASG, Page 5
that BOT members first need to decide
whether they consider the development
of affordable homes an appropriate use.
The tract was appraised at slightly less
than $ 1 million more than a year ago,
although Suttenfield said the proposed
development at Winmore would proba
bly increase the value of UNC’s land.
Trusteejim Hynes said Thursday he
is in favor of using the land to create
new housing in Carrboro. “1 think
See SATELLITE, Page 5
3