Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 4, 2003, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
VOLUME ill, ISSUE 60 Athletics tackles booster shortfall BADDOUR: UNIVERSITY GEAR REVENUE COULD BE TAPPED BY BROOK R. CORWIN UNIVERSITY EDITOR Students aren’t the only ones at UNC feeling the pinch of tuition increases. Nor are they the only ones look ing for alternate sources of revenue to cover the costs. The UNC Department of A GLIMMER OF HOPE New act could boost states ailing tobacco industry, butfarmers still wary BY STEPHANIE JORDAN STAFF WRITER North Carolina’s tobacco indus try could receive a significant por tion of a proposed sl3 billion gov ernment buyout, but some critics say the vast majority of working tobacco farmers won’t benefit at all. The Tobacco Equity Elimination Act, being considered in the U.S. House, is gaining support from congressmen, including both of North Carolina’s U.S. senators. The state, home to three of the largest tobacco companies in the nation, has a large stake in the tobacco industry. Sara Lang, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., said his office hopes the bill will be in a committee hearing by early October. She said the bill would inject almost $6 billion into North Carolina’s rural industry. “(Tobacco is) the biggest part of the North Carolina economy,” said Mike Briggs, press secretary for U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. But Thomas Payne, executive vice president of external relations for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Cos., said most of that money will not go to working farmers. There are 75,000 people who will benefit from the sl3 billion, Payne said. About 63,000 of those people don’t grow tobacco at all. In fact, Payne added, only about 7,000 state tobacco growers will benefit. The top 1 percent of quota holders will get 26 percent of the sl3 billion, he said. Orange County tobacco growers David Pope and L.S. Holloway are two of the 7,000 N.C. tobacco farm ers who stand to benefit. But, they say, no matter what the results of the pending legislation, their way of life probably is going to change. Pope’s family has a tobacco quota holding, and Holloway per sonally owns one. Holloway said it has been hard for tobacco farmers to make a liv ing since the industry became a pariah in the late 19905. The industry came under fire in 1998 when the health hazards of cigarette smoking were publicized highly. One year later, the industry was forced to funnel $5 billion to quota holders, including N.C. tobacco farmers. The industry also institut ed limits, saying tobacco farmers could sell only a certain amount of their crop to manufacturers. “They’ve cut so much since the 1997 quota,” Holloway said. “Everyone’s against cigarettes and smoking.” Pope added that tobacco is expensive to raise since farmers have to pay for laborers, equipment and land. “We can’t compete with foreign countries like Brazil, where ACC’s growth leaves finances in limbo Lucrative championship likely lost BY BRANDON PARKER ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR It was hard for many fans to understand why North Carolina and Duke officials were against an ACC expansion that seemed des tined for success. The conference stood to gain a financial windfall from a football conference championship, not to INSIDE CUTS' CASUALTY This year's budget cuts spelled the end for Arts Carolina, which integrated campus arts PAGE 5 Serving the students and the University community since 1893 ®l)f Satin 3ar Hrrl Athletics, unable for the first time in years to cover fully the rising costs of athletic scholarships through its booster club, is inves tigating new funding sources to discuss at this month’s UNC Board of TVustees meeting. The Educational Foundation, the department’s booster club r J 1 DTH PHOTOS/ALLISON MONEY Above: David Pope tours his tobacco field in northern Orange County on Wednesday evening. Below: Farmers are uncertain whether they will be able to meet their quotas this year due to the rain this summer. labor is cheaper and they can grow tobacco almost year-round.” Despite the hardships, Pope, who has been tending land for most of his life, said he does not know if he will support a federal tobacco buyout. “It depends on whether they’re going to pay enough,” he said. “It’s a labor-intensive crop, and we still do it by hand.” Tobacco is one of North Carolina’s oldest and most impor tant industries. But the economy is changing, and the state must find a way to cope with this flux, Briggs SEE TOBACCO, PAGE 4 mention revenue generated by increased TV exposure in new media markets. The dollar signs surely influ enced ACC Commissioner John Swoffbrd’s decision to pursue expansion. But he forgot one thing: the conference’s 12th school. Two schools not three www.dailykaih6ei.com responsible for funding all athlet ic scholarships, is facing a several hundred thousand dollar shortfall this year, which is being filled tem porarily by a contingency fund from the athletic department. Most important on the list of permanent funding alternatives up for discussion, said Director of Athletics Dick Baddour, is corpo rate signage in Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center. But with a lack of easily viable funding sources, Baddour said, he ■ .'■g ■njfWt _ -I§B§ were added to the ACC. Miami and Virginia Tech brought the total number of teams in the conference to 11, leaving the ACC one short of a lucrative football title game. “Right now, a football confer ence championship is not in the mix,” said Martina Ballen, North Carolina’s senior associate athlet- isn’t ruling out any other revenue possibilities, including a contro versial proposal first introduced last fall to modify the percentage of revenue the department receives from UNC merchandise sales. “You (look at new sources) every day," Baddour said. “There really aren’t any significant or new ways of funding. There just aren’t many of those out there.” The issue of merchandising rev enue first was raised last fall in the Faculty Committee on ic director for business and finance. “If that could become a reality again, that should boost the overall revenues.” Conferences such as the SEC and Big 12 bring in an average of sl2 million each year from their conference championship games. But for now, many financial questions remain unanswered in the soap opera that marred the SEE ACC, PAGE 4 SPORTS SHE'S GOT POTENTIAL Freshman Rachel Dawson had a stellar debut performance this weekend in field hockey PAGE 9 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2003 Scholarships and Student Aid. Committee members said a pro posal was introduced to increase the percentage of merchandising rev enue allocated to the athletic department. The Office of Scholarships and Student Aid now receives 75 percent of those rev enues, with the athletic department getting the remaining 25 percent. The proposal was rejected soundly, committee members said. “The committee feels strongly that the current situation is the Student pushes on with lawsuit BY JENNIFER IMMEL ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR Despite losing an injunction request Aug. 21 that would have forced UNC officials to allow- him to start classes on time, Mark Edmonson is continuing his law suit against the University. Edmonson, who was admitted to UNC in April, filed a lawsuit against the University on Aug. 15 after his admission was rescinded. Barbara Edmonson, his mother, said she and her son are going for ward with the breach of contract lawsuit and are appealing his admission decision. “I really can’t believe that he’s not in college at this point,” she said. Before hearing of the recision from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions on Aug. 1, Mark Edmonson had paid his tuition, received a roommate assignment and registered for classes. According to a memorandum filed by the N.C. Attorney General’s Office on Aug. 19, Mark Edmonson, who scored a 1600 on his SAT, failed to complete his senior year with the same level of achievement he had reached during his first three years of high school. Mark Edmonson’s unw-eighted grade point average fell from 3.22 to 2.75 after his senior year. That year he earned three C’s, two D’s Graduation rates down for athletes UNCfootball rate ACC’s worst BY BRIAN MACPHERSON SPORTS EDITOR Six-year graduation rates for student athletes across the nation increased to their highest levels since 1984, but an NCAA report released Tuesday told a different story about the situation at UNC- Chapel Hill. Among the student athletes nationwide entering school in 1996, a record 62 percent graduat ed within six years, according to the report. Football players graduated at a rate of 54 percent, while the rate for men’s basketball w-as 42 per cent. Both numbers indicate encouraging upward trends. At UNC-CH, though, rates moved in the opposite direction. A total of 64 percent of student ath DTH FILE PHOTO/BRIAN CASSELIA UNC Director of Athletics Dick Baddour doesn't know how ACC expansion will affect finances. WEATHER TODAY T-storms, H 82, L 66 FRIDAY T-storms, H 83, L 58 SATURDAY Partly Cloudy, H 81, L 57 Provost Robert Shelton expects the BOT to take a long look at the department's financial woes. L ■ —" jn way they’d like it to be,” said Jerry Lucido, director of undergraduate admissions and an ex officio mem- SEE ATHLETICS, PAGE 4 and one F. As stated in the admissions let ter from Jerry Lucido, director of undergraduate admissions, admis sion to the University is contingent on a student’s senior year perform ance. It is a University policy not to comment on pending litigation. The Edmonson family met with admissions officials in July after Mark Edmonson’s admission was suspended and again in August after the recision. “I don’t know if they really thought we’d take it to court,” Barbara Edmonson said. Mark Edmonson has been vol unteering at a rock-wall climbing center and working on his own computer and Web design busi ness, which he started when he was 15. rather than attending class es. His mother added that he will begin looking at other universities for next semester contingent upon the court’s decision regarding his admission to UNC. “He’ll definitely be some place (next semester),” she said, but added that UNC remains his No. 1 choice. “After all this, Mark is still just absolutely enthralled with going (to UNC).” Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.ediu letes entering in 1996 graduated within six years, but that number includes a disappointing rate of 35 percent for football players the worst in the ACC. The drop did not take UNC-CH Director of Athletics Dick Baddour by surprise. “We reported this information to the (UNC-system) Board of Governors a year ago," he said. “This is information about a class that we’ve known about and ana lyzed.” He indicated that the low rate can be attributed in part to players lost as transfers or to the profes sional ranks, and he expressed confidence that future classes will reverse the trend. A constant goal of school and NCAA officials is for student ath letes to graduate at a rate equal to or better than that of the student body. On a national level, 63 per- SEE NCAA, PAGE 4 “Were optimistic and were a partner in it, so we are going to go forward DICK BADDOUR, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 4, 2003, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75