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Officials Unveil Curriculum Plans
By Jamie Dougher
Staff Writer
Officials for the first time presented a
tentative proposal Monday for anew
general education curriculum that might
reduce the General College requirement
from 44 to 42 credit hours.
At a Monday forum, the Curriculum
Review Committee presented a draft
proposal for overhauling the General
College curriculum.
The findings came from the research of
16 satellite committees, each of which
focused on a particular area of the cur
riculum. The Curriculum Review
Committee, which is composed of stu
dents and faculty, was formed in fall 2001.
According to the proposal, the gener
Special Election
To Fill Congress
Set for Today
The election, which will be from 8 a.m. to
10 p.m. on Student Central, also will include
a referendum to increase student fees.
By Jordan Bartel
Staff Writer
A special election is being held today to fill empty Student
Congress seats and also to allow students to vote on a refer
endum that, if passed, would raise student activity fees to
$16.50 per semester for all students.
Board of Elections Chairwoman Emily Margolis said voting
is open to all students and will take place
on Student Central from 8 am. to 10 p.m.
The proposed referendum, approved
April 7 by a 20-2 Congress vote, will
increase the present fees, which are
$11.50 for undergraduates and $9.50 for
graduate students. The money gained
from the fee increase will be used to
increase funding for student organizations
and publications that received heavy bud
get cuts from Congress last month.
Congress Speaker Pro Tem Matt
O’Brien said that if passed, the referen
dum will help the student body. “Student
organizations are vital to the University
and add life to the campus,” O’Brien said.
“They are so important but, because of
the budget crisis, severely underfunded.”
O’Brien said the fee increase is long overdue and cited the
student fees of UNC peer institutions as examples that UNC
should follow. O’Brien said the average student fees for
UNC’s peer institutions range from sl9 to $23.
“The organizations and publications that need increased
funding are basic services that students need and deserve,”
O’Brien said. “If the fees had increased with inflation, it would
have made a difference, but instead they have been stagnant.”
In addition to the referendum, Margolis said there are seven
Congress candidates on the ballot and 13 empty seats to fill.
Student Body Presidentjen Daum said she thinks the elec
tion will fill the empty seats. “I hope they will fill up tomor
row,” she said. “Given the incredible response that we’ve had
for the open positions, I am sure they will.”
Daum said that if the election fails to fill all the seats, she
will order another special election within 30 calendar days of
the beginning of the fall semester, as stated in the Student
Code. “Congress has done a great job of publicizing the open
seats and urging people to run,” she said. “I am optimistic that
the seats will be filled."
The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.
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$250,000 $13.75 $165 /
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2000-01 2001-02 2002-03
Tax Hike's
Effects
May Differ
The Chapel Hill town
manager has proposed
a plan that would increase
general fund taxes
by 6.6 cents.
The increase, which
would raise the tax rate
from 46.1 to 52.7 cents,
would affect property
owners to differing
degrees, depending on the
value of their property.
SOURCE: CHAPEL Hill TOWN COUNCIL
Vote for the man who promises least; he'll be the least disappointing.
Bernard Baruch
i
al education curriculum will be com
posed of three new categories of per
spectives: 17 hours in “foundations”
classes, 25 hours in “approaches” cours
es and six “connections” requirements.
Courses that fulfill the connections
requirements also can count toward
majors or minors, elective hours,
approaches requirements or the supple
mental general education requirement
for juniors and seniors in the College of
Arts and Sciences.
Students also would be able to take
courses or use their experiences from
study abroad, service learning or intern
ships to fulfill connections requirements.
Students in the College of Arts and
Sciences would go on to fulfill nine hours
for the supplemental general education
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Student Body
President
Jen Daum
said she will call
another special
election if needed.
DTH/IOSHUA STAI.FORD
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Hot DTH Days
Pick up an application to work for the
summer edition of the DTH.
Applications Available in Union Suite 104
requirement. Students in professional
schools and certain majors - bachelor of
science, bachelor of fine arts and bache
lor of music - will instead take 66 credit
hours and up to 12 elective hours.
The proposed review also would
change the name of the cultural diversi
ty requirement to U.S. diversity, which
falls under the connections require
ments.
Tom Tweed, who sat on the steering
committee, said the name change more
accurately reflects the intent of the stu
dents who initially proposed the require
ment in the 19905.
Other significant changes were pro
posed Monday. A wellness requirement
would combine instruction in concepts
of physical activity, nutrition and life
DTH/BRIAN CASSELLA
Senior Katherine Kinard and 2001 alumnus Charles Gouch pose near the
Old Well while Cliff Nichols films their wedding video. The couple is planning
their wedding for June 29.
Town Manager Calls for 6.6-Cent Tax Hike
By Kellie Dixon
City Editor
The Chapel Hill Town Council is
considering a 6.6-cent property tax
increase that town officials have said
could help alleviate the town’s worst
budget crisis in 10 years.
The town also is considering halting
pay increases to town employees and
some capital improvement projects to
plug a projected $2.9 million budget
shortfall. The town plans to finalize a
budget before July 1.
Town Manager Cal Horton presented
Dynamic Duo
Nick Monroe and Daniel
Pinchbeck rock men's tennis.
See Page 9
Volume 110, Issue 36
long health and would be worth one
academic credit hour.
The wellness class would replace the
requirement of two one-hour nonacade
mic credit physical education courses.
But biochemistry Professor Pierre
Morell, who also is a teaching assistant for
the physical education department, was
one voice of dissent toward that proposal.
“We need to direct students to a
healthy life, and giving a lecture on
body fat is not going to do it,” he said.
At the forum, faculty members raised
concerns about the removal of a require
ment in non-Westem history. The pro
posal states that one history course must
include historical analysis, one must
See CURRICULUM, Page 4
"I DO?"
his recommended budget for 2002-03 to
the council Monday night. The propos
al calls for an increase in property taxes
of 6.6 cents per SIOO of assessed value.
Jim Baker, the town’s budget and
finance director, said the revenue that
would be raised from the property tax
increase is nearly equal to the amount the
state is looking to withhold from the town
to ease its S9OO million budget shortfall.
Earlier this year, the state predicted
withholding si.4 million, which Baker
said means the town expects to come in
about $2.9 million short in revenue
when that withholding is compounded
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UNC linguistics Professor Craig Melchert discusses the proposed
course requirements with faculty members Monday afternoon.
Student Leaders
To Discuss Conflicts
By Lizzie Breyer
University Editor
Student government leaders from the
executive and legislative branches will
hold a meeting before tonight’s Student
Congress session to address issues of
internal communication.
Dan Herman, chairman of Student
Congress’ Ethics Committee, said the
chairmen of all Congress committees,
Student Body President Jen Daum,
Student Body Vice President Aaron
Hiller and Congress Speaker Tony
Larson will get together briefly before
the full Congress meeting to address
some concerns in the relationship
between student government members.
“At this point, what’s really planned is
to try to improve the working relation
ship with all the people in student gov
ernment,” Herman said. “We want to try
and strengthen the working relationship
now, as soon as we can.”
Transportation Officials Trim
Budget to Lessen UNC's Costs
By Colin Sltker
Staff Writer
The Chapel Hill Transportation
Department has cut spending within its
budget, which means lower busing costs
for UNC’s Department of Public Safety.
In preliminary discussions, town offi
cials said these savings in cost will lead
to a lower compensation figure paid by
DPS for service, said Rick Hannegan,
assistant director for Chapel Hill
Transportation.
“We’ve just reduced the cost of pro
viding service,” Hannegan said.
DPS expects the reduction in costs to
help it solve the $2 million budget short
fall projected for the 2002-03 fiscal year,
said DPS Director Derek Poarch.
Hannegan said Transportation
Director Mary Lou Kuschatka started
trimming off fat from the department’s
budget when she was hired a year and
with other shortfalls.
The situation is further complicated
because Chapel Hill experienced a 2.3-
cent decrease in its general fund tax rate
during the 2001-02 fiscal year.
But for the 2002-03 fiscal year, officials
are projecting a need to increase the gen
eral fund rate, of which the property tax is
a component, by 6.6 cents to 52.7 cents.
The potential increase brings with it the
elimination of pay raises for employees,
but officials say a pay freeze is necessary.
“Obviously we regret that we aren’t
able to include pay raises for employees,
but that was done in order to hold the tax
Weather
Today: Sunny; H 68, L 42
Wednesday: Sunny; H 74, L 41
Thursday: Mostly Cloudy; H 76, L 44
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Herman said
that he was not
sure exacdy what
would be discussed
at the meeting but
that he expected
no type of formal
action to be taken.
Blair Sweeney,
chairman of the
Rules andjudiciary
Committee, said he
hopes to see the
meeting resolve
issues between
members of
Student Congress
and the executive branch.
“It’s just so the (executive) branch
and Congress can do their jobs better -
we’ve had some issues where we’ve got
ten on each other’s nerves, and we need
See MEETING, Page 4
a half ago.
“It’s something that she initiated
when she came here,” he said. “It’s real
ly a coincidence that this has come with
the budget crisis at the same time.”
The University is projected to pay
$3.6 million in return for fare-free busing,
which is up sl.l million from this year
but still $369,582 less than was expected,
according to the department’s proposed
budget for the next fiscal year.
While the department’s total costs are
expected to increase, new cost-saving
policies have helped the town reduce
the price of hourly busing service from
roughly S6O to SSO.
The new policies include reducing
the number of report drivers, who act as
a reserve force should a driver who is
scheduled to work a certain day call in
sick or have to be relieved from work.
See TRANSIT, Page 4
rate to the 6.6-cent total increase,” he said.
In earlier discussions, the original
projected tax increase reached as high as
8 cents to 10 cents, Baker said.
Bill Stockard, assistant to the town
manager, said that by eliminating pay
increases, the town will be able to keep
the property tax rate from ballooning at
an even more disproportionate rate.
“There’s the possibility of no pay
increases in the real near future, so that’s
never a good thing for employees to
have to cope with,” he said. “But at the
See TAX, Page 4
mk
Speaker
Tony Larson
said problems arose
during Congress'
approval of SACC
appointees.