VOLUME ill, ISSUE 61
Report blasts college spending
HOUSE COMMITTEE SAYS LAVISH EXPENSES DRIVE UP TUITION
BY LAURA YOUNGS
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Continually increasing tuition
costs have sparked debate about
who’s to blame for the hikes, with
some U.S. representatives pointing
the finger at colleges and universi
ties in a report released Thursday.
“The College Cost Crisis,”
released by the U.S. House
Committee on Education and the
Work Force, states that higher edu
cation tuition increases are out
pacing inflation rates, family
6 schools
to fight
diseases
Grant taps campus
to research biodefenses
BY EMILY STEEL
ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Biodefense research at UNC was recog
nized nationally Thursday with the
University’s inclusion in a $45 million proj
ect created to prevent bioterrorism and to
treat infectious diseases.
The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services has established the
Southeast Regional Centers of Excellence
for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious
Diseases.
UNC becomes one of six universities in
the Southeast to participate in the project,
which aims to combine resources to protect
people against diseases often used in bio
logical warfare.
“We are usually trying to uncover new
knowledge, but this is an attempt to pull it all
together," said Jeffrey Houpt, dean of UNC’s
School of Medicine. “Several very outstand
ing universities are getting together to work
on this very important public policy.”
Researchers from UNC, Duke University,
Emory University, the University of
Alabama-Birmingham, the University of
Florida and Vanderbilt University are join
ing forces to create drugs and vaccines to
combat emerging infections.
Dr. Barton Haynes, director of the Duke
Human Vaccine Institute, is leading the ini
tiative, centered at Duke and funded by the
National Institutes of Health and the
Department of Homeland Security.
Haynes said the program’s innovative
organization will help the country prepare
for biological warfare.
“The real benefit of this connection is
this synergistic team research that crosses
universities and connects discoveries,” he
said.
The beginning projects will focus on
developing vaccines and treatments for
smallpox, monkeypox, anthrax and the bac
teria that causes the plague.
One of the project leaders is Robert
Johnston, UNC professor of microbiology
and immunology and the director of the
Carolina Vaccine Institute, a group that
focuses primarily on diseases in developing
countries.
He is leading a research project to devel-
SEE BIODEFENSE, PAGE 5
i?i 1 1 'Ml
DTH/GREG LOGAN
Alderman Joal Broun plays with her daughter, Rachel, in their home.
Broun must juggle many tasks beyond working for the board.
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income and state and federal
financial aid.
These exploding college costs
are preventing students from
attending higher education insti
tutions, according to the report.
Though college administrators
often blame the poor economy and
state budget cuts for tuition hikes,
the report charges that the econo
my is not the main culprits.
In the 2002-03 school year, 38
states increased or froze higher
education spending. At the same
£.■' ; / 1 b . V
DTH FILE PHOTO
This weekend's La Fiesta del Pueblo, sponsored by Hispanic advocacy group El Pueblo, is the state's largest Hispanic cultural
celebration. Below: Marisol Jimenez and Andres Crowley prepare to register voters by pretending to register each other.
FESTIVAL OUTGROWS
ITS LOCAL ROOTS
BY KATHRYN GRIM
CITY EDITOR
RALEIGH Visitors to El Pueblo squeezed past tape-plastered boxes
stacked high along the interior hallway Thursday, the last day of prepa
ration before volunteers began moving supplies out to the State
Fairgrounds for La Fiesta del Pueblo.
One could hear a steady stream of papers stuttering from printers and
one-ended phone conversations in English and Spanish from the bottom
of the stairs.
“Have you registered to vote?” Andres Crowley asked fellow volunteer
Marisol Jimenez in a practice run for El Pueblo’s first major voter regis
tration drive. In other rooms, volunteers spoke with organizations
requesting last-minute booth space and picked through color choices for
fluorescent poster board for directional signs.
El Pueblo’s 17 paid staff members and multitudes of volunteers will see
the results of their months of work this weekend at the 10th annual La
Fiesta del Pueblo.
What began in 1994 as a nine-member board and a few dozen volun
teers holding a small festival at Chapel Hill High School has expanded
into an incorporated nonprofit organization and the largest Hispanic fes-
SEE FIESTA, PAGE 5
INSIDE
SAVING SERVICE
Hundreds of AmeriCorps
supporters protest in D.C. PAGE 6
www.dailytafheel.com
time, tuition rose at public four
year schools in all 50 states.
Tuition hikes have continued
despite the state of the economy,
the report states, and Americans
think the skyrocketing costs have
to do with wasteful spending.
The rising cost of tuition is not
an isolated problem and has been
going on for years, said Dave
Schnittger, spokesman for the
House’s education committee.
He said that though budget cuts
and a faltering economy have
LA FIESTA DEL PUEBLO
Local officials juggle work, family, office
Time hampers diversity of candidates
BY JENNY HUANG
ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR
There’s not enough time to lead a
town meeting when you need to
attend a meeting with the PTA.
Local residents already know that
all too well.
As candidates gear up for the fall
municipal elections, local officials
and incumbents say the extensive
time required to campaign and
serve in town leadership positions
might have kept potential candi
dates from running.
Because of the time commitment
factor, officials say, local govern
ment lacks a diverse representation
■
played a part in tuition hikes, the
problem is much more compre
hensive despite educational lobby
ists’ and the general public’s ten
dency to fault budget cuts.
“Simply blaming higher educa
tion cuts is not addressing the
problem,” Schnittger said.
But not everyone agrees with
the committee’s findings, including
Timothy McDonough, director of
public affairs for the American
Council on Education.
“The report is inaccurate,
;®f§i .
of economic interests, particularly
those of working-class residents
with children at home and full-time
jobs.
“Generally, the level of time com
mitment is a discouragement to
people,” said Carrboro Alderman
Mark Dorosin. “That’s why you see
a fairly homogenous candidate pool;
you get the predominantly white,
upper-middle-class economic level
where they have the luxury and
leisure to participate.”
Among Carrboro’s seven aider
men, six have full-time jobs, three
have young children at home and
two have both.
SPORTS
ON THEIR FEET AGAIN
UNC football hopes to clinch a home win
against Syracuse on Saturday PAGE 7
incomplete and unfortunate,”
McDonough said, adding that the
economy and tuition rates are
inversely related and that a difficult
economy and budget cuts are big
reasons for tuition problems.
“If you look at all the evidence, it
points to the state budget as one of
the main drivers,” he said.
Though the total amount of aid
has increased, McDonough said,
state support has fallen because aid
has not kept up with increased
enrollment. He added that in many
areas, tuition is increasing only
SSOO to SI,OOO per year.
Shirley Ort, UNC’s director of
DTH/GILLIAN BOLSOVER
Of eight Chapel Hill Town
Council members, five have full
time jobs, three have children living
at home and two manage both
responsibilities.
At least five of the 12 Town
Council candidates and one of the
four alderman candidates have both
children and a job.
Local officials agree that these
numbers don’t add up to an accu
rate representation of their towns’
economic interests.
“If you look at our faces and look
at our background and look at our
creed, it doesn’t (match the
town’s)," said council member Jim
Ward.
But when you combine a full
time job, children at home and 10 to
WEATHER
TODAY Partly cloudy H 81, L 62
SATURDAY Partly cloudy, H 81, L 57
SUNDAY Mostly sunny, H 81, L 56
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2003
scholarships and student aid, said
she thinks that the report is a bit of
an exaggeration but that it has an
element of truth.
Many students are deterred
from four-year schools by rising
costs, which is a problem, Ort said.
But the cost of educating stu
dents is more than just the con
sumer price, which many do not
realize, she added.
The full cost of educating a stu
dent at a public institution is paid
for through state funding and
tuition, and when state support fal-
SEE SPENDING, PAGE 5
Academics
not likely
to be hurt
by growth
BY BRIAN MACPHERSON
SPORTS EDITOR
As long as there has been college
football, there has been a circus of
fan interest and media coverage sur
rounding college football.
And often lost in the hoopla sur-
rounding bowl
games and con
ference champi
onships is one
minor detail:
College athletes
still have to go to
class.
As ACC expansion scenarios
swirled throughout the summer,
much was made of the potential rev
enue from a football conference
championship game and the
increased national exposure Miami,
Syracuse and Boston College would
bring.
Seven ACC schools openly sup
ported expansion, eager to tap the
financial windfall. But North
Carolina and Duke consistently
voted against the proposal, citing
uncertainties about scheduling,
finances and— perhaps most impor
tant academics.
Concerns were mitigated slightly
when the ACC settled on Miami and
Virginia Tech as new conference
members, but UNC resisted expan
sion until the final vote made it offi
cial.
“The concerns about student wel
fare were centered on travel and
missed class,” said Dick Baddour,
UNC’s director of athletics. “(Teams)
would be taking more of an extended
trip, getting back later, being more
tired.”
For North Carolina, a school that
prides itself on the success of its ath
letes both in the classroom and on
the playing field, this concern was
serious.
The concern was just as serious for
the Coalition on Intercollegiate
Athletics, a national group of univer
sity faculty dedicated to reform in
college sports.
COIA urged ACC leaders to recon
sider the expansion proposal in a
statement released June 18.
SEE ACADEMICS, PAGE 5
20 hours spent on town business
each week, officials say, juggling the
responsibilities becomes a major
challenge.
“You need to have a flexible job to
serve or you need to be retired,” said
Alderman Joal Broun, who is seek
ing re-election.
Dorosin said he’s not surprised
that there aren't more working-class
parents running for office.
“Working-class people are alienated
from this community."
Alderman John Herrera said the
lack of diverse economic interests
represented in town leadership is a
detriment to the town itself.
“It limits the diversity of the val-
SEE CANDIDATES. PAGE 5
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