Newspapers / The Daily Tar Heel. / Sept. 10, 2002, edition 1 / Page 1
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(Hie Batlu (Tar Hrrl www.dailytarheel.com Sign up online to receive daily news updates from ■“ The Daily Tar Heel. Volume 110, Issue 69 Plan Spares UNC From Deep Cuts Officials say budget compromise is fair By Elyse Ashburn State & National Editor Legislative budget leaders reached an agreement Monday on a higher educa tion spending plan that embodies the best-case scenario for the UNC system. Budget writers from both chambers agreed on a 2.4 percent systemwide cut -a total of about $42 million. The cut is identical to the one proposed by the Senate and is about $lO million less than that in the House proposal. A conference committee - composed mostly of Democratic leaders from both chambers - has been working to recon pf I\ 4 9 U.S. SENATE: REPUBLICAN ELIZABETH DOLE Dole is expected to run away with the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Local, State Candidates Make Final Push By Elyse Ashburn State & National Editor In the last full day before today’s primaries, U.S. Senate hopefuls scrambled to make last minute appearances across the state while state Senate candidates Ellie Kinnaird and Howard Lee took a more laid-back approach to campaigning. Sens. Kinnaird and Lee, both D-Orange, strolled among throngs of school children and clusters of potential voters Monday at Orange County’s 250th birthday celebration at the cour thouse in Hillsborough. Lee -a keynote speak er- invited Kinnaird to join him at the podium though the two will be fac ing off in the Democratic primary today. View a Full List Of Candidates in Today's Election See Page 6 Lee’s move came only days after the race between the two incumbent senators took a neg ative turn when the “working families” of the State Employees Association of North Carolina began circulating an attack ad claiming Lee had misrepresented his stance on certain issues. “I was so pleased with the graciousness with which Howard Lee invited me to stand with him,” Kinnaird said, reiterating her disapproval of SEANC’s negative campaigning. Lee said he called Kinnaird to his side largely because he was asked to speak at the event before the two were were forced to run against each other in the primary election. “I don’t think any of us thought Senator Kinnaird and I would be competing for the same seat when I was invited to do this,” he said. Last year’s legislative redistricting placed Kinnaird and Lee in the same single-member dis- The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all. John F. Kennedy Vote ToMt cile the differences between the two budgets since the House passed its bud get Aug. 13. The Senate passed its ver sion of the budget June 19. The compromise plan must now head to both houses for a vote, which conference committee members say could happen by the end of the week. Under the compromise proposal, the legislature will provide the necessary $66 million to fully fund enrollment growth at campuses across the state. An additional $4.5 million - excluded from the original Senate budget - is slated for student financial aid. The proposal also provides full fund ing for graduate student tuition remis sions, which essentially allow some out of-state graduate students to pay in-state tuition rates. Higher education officials have argued that tuition remissions make m U.S. SENATE: DEMOCRAT DAN BLUE Blue has run a largely grassroots campaign with few television ads. trict, Senate District 23, which includes Chatham and Orange counties. Kinnaird said that after the anniversary cele bration she was going back to business as usual. “I’m going to work,” she said. “I actually work for a living.” Lee said he was headed for a series of meetings with various groups and an afternoon filled with last-minute phone calls. While Kinnaird and Lee were wrapping up campaign efforts in Orange County, candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by retir ing U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., were busy jet ting around the state. Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Dole traveled by plane, making stops in Asheville, Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville and Wilmington. Dole spokeswoman Janet Bradbury said Dole’s last-ditch effort extended her previous efforts to reach all N.C. citizens. “It’s been a grassroots campaign, and she wants to get out in the state and encourage people to vote,” she said. Bradbury said Dole was planning on meeting briefly with supporters at each stop, fielding ques tions and urging people to cast their ballots. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Erskine Bowles also trekked around the state Monday, making his way by car from Raleigh to Greensboro and then on to Charlotte. “This is just traditional campaigning,” said Bowles spokesman Brad Woodhouse. “Erskine has always thought you have to get out there and do more.” Woodhouse said that to draw attention to the pri maries, Bowles traveled to as many different regions of the state as possible during the course of his pri mary campaign, and Monday was no exception. “It’s important to bring as much attention as Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Tuesday, September 10, 2002 system graduate programs more com petitive with peer institutions’ programs. The agreement reached Monday also allows the system’s research institutions to retain all of their overhead receipts - a total of more than $l2O million. A pro vision in the House budget would have taken $7 million in overhead receipts from UNC-Chapel Hill and redistrib uted the funds to the UNC system’s seven focused-growth institutions. In each case, the UNC system has been granted the best possible option from the two different plans. The generous higher education bud get proposal is largely a result of system officials’ efforts, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Redwine, D-New Hanover. “We were generally persuaded by the (UNC system) that the tuition remission DOWN TO THE WIRE ! hßv U.S. SENATE: DEMOCRAT ERSKINE BOWLES Erskine Bowles has raised more money than any other Democratic candidate. N.C. SENATE: DEMOCRATS HOWARD LEE & ELLIE KINNAIRD Redistricting has forced two long-time allies to compete for one N.C. Senate seat. possible to this election because it’s at a different time than it’s supposed to be,” Woodhouse said. Because of drawn-out legislative redistricting, the state’s primary elections were moved from May 10 to today. “(Bowles) just wants to get everybody to vote,” Woodhouse said. “Of course, he wants them to vote for him, but most importandy he just wants them to vote.” Jim Snyder, Dole’s nearest competitor for the Republican nomination, also made his way around the state by plane, departing Figure Eight Island early Monday morning and making stops in Wilmington, Asheville, Charlotte and Lexington. Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Dan Blue, D- Wake, appeared in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro before returning to Raleigh. Voting booths in Orange County open at 6:30 a.m. today and will remain open until 7:30 p.m. The State & National Editor can be reached atstntdesk@unc.edu. was needed for graduate students and that overhead receipts needed to be retained to encourage research,” he said. The budget proposal reflects not only system officials’ efforts but legislative leaders’ continued support for higher education in the state, said UNC-system President Molly Broad. “Given the situ ation that the state finds itself in fiscally, this is an extraordinarily fair budget for the UNC system,” she said. Broad added that the appropriation of $4.5 million for financial aid is a major victory for the system. “We have a deep commitment to expanding access,” she said. “One of the barriers to that access is inadequate funding for financial aid.” Lawmakers avoided deep systemwide See BUDGET, Page 8 vvj 4k V' DTH FILE PHOTOS U.S. SENATE: DEMOCRAT ELAINE MARSHALL Elaine Marshall is the only candidate who has held elected statewide office. Commissioners Reiterate Key Election Issues By Jon Dougherty City Editor With today being the last day voters can par ticipate in the primaries, candidates for the three seats open on the Orange County Board of Commissioners are mounting their final efforts to avoid elimination. Incumbent Alice Gordon said the campaign ing she did Monday amounted to putting up signs and attending Orange County’s 250th anniver sary celebration. She used the remainder of the day preparing for the board’s work session Monday evening. “Even with the election, life goes on,” Gordon said. Incumbent Stephen Halkiotis said the cam paign won’t interfere with the work he does as director of auxiliary services for Orange County Schools. “I worked today, and I’m working tomorrow,” he said. “I’m glad it’s almost over,” he said. “It’s been a long, arduous process.” Halkiotis said the campaign process is not usu ally this difficult. “I can’t believe we’re having a primary now,” he said. The primaries were originally scheduled See COUNTY PRIMARIES, Page 8 Hkj£t _ . ■a. -al DTH FILE PHOTOS Weather Today: Cloudy; H 84, L 62 Wednesday: Cloudy; H 87, L 55 Thursday: Sunny; H 78, L 54 Campus Officials Could Restore Some Previously Cut Funding By Daniel Thigpen University Editor For months, UNC-Chapel Hill offi cials have been anticipating the worst in budget cuts, but after a move in the N.C. General Assembly on Monday, it seems leaders are breaking into optimistic, albeit hesitant, applause. Appropriations Committee chairmen from both the House and the Senate approved a 2.4 percent cut for the UNC system - significantly less than UNC CH officials had been expecting. A www.dailytarheel.com Asa result, more than two months into the fiscal year, University adminis trators say they might be able to formu late a more flexible spending plan than originally predicted. In May, UNC-CH’s deans and department chairmen began preparing for cuts of up to 5 percent, cutting class sections and positions. Officials were told that the state might withhold the system’s overhead receipts for research expenses, and faculty salaries possibly See UNC-CH, Page 8 Officials To Expand Honors Program UNC plans to add honors faculty By Erin Ganley Staff Writer University officials say expansion of UNC’s Honor Program- one of Chancellor James Moeser’s goals laid out in his State of the University Address on Wednesday - will benefit a greater number of UNC students once the pro gram secures the necessary funding. James Leloudis, associate dean of the Honors Program, said a plan for expanding the program has been in the works for several years. But the University must secure funds before any expan sion can take place. In his speech Wednesday, Moeser said a $25 million endow ment would enable the pro gram to secure “Hopefully it will keep students interested in the Honors Program into their junior year” Kathryn Compton Honors Student faculty lines to support the expansion. “We’re looking out over a five-year horizon,” Leloudis said. The expansion will gradually be phased in as funds are received and faculty become available. The Honors Program invites 200 to 225 incoming freshmen - the top 6 per cent of the incoming class - to join the program, Leloudis said. He said that by the expansion’s com pletion, 10 percent to 11 percent will be allowed to participate. “The idea is to double the number of students invited,” Leloudis said. This will be done by increasing the number of faculty avail able in each department to teach honors classes. By increasing the program’s size, the capacity for students who aren’t in the program to participate will increase as well, Leloudis said. Any undergraduate student can take an honors class, and by expanding, more spaces for non-honors students are created. “This is not a pro gram with a wall around it,” Leloudis said. An expanded Honors Program also will be beneficial to the students already in the program, said Kathryn Compton, co-chairwoman of the Honors Program See HONORS, Page 8
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