2 MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2003 2 bills tackle college costs BY ALEX GRANADOS STAFF WRITER U.S. House Democrats and Republicans proposed legislation last week that would help more U.S. citizens attend college, although the parties have diver gent views on how that should be accomplished. The GOP’s plan, titled the Affordability in Higher Education Act, “would address the rising cost of post-secondary education by holding institutions accountable for cost increases,” stated a press release on the U.S. House Web site. Ultimately, the act calls for col leges and universities to find ways to decrease their expenses so that more students can afford higher education. The Democrats’ plan, the College Opportunity for All Act, is designed to “increase the access and afford ability of a college education,” according to a press release from the office of Rep. George Miller, D- Calif., the lead author of the bill. One of the main differences between the two parties’ bills is the approach toward Pell Grants and other types of student funding, said Chris Simmons, assistant director Want to succeed in the job market? Stand out from the crowd by earning a Graduate Certificate in International Development wwAvucis.unc.edu/programs offered by the University Center for International Studies i| IF THE VEGGIES j! I 1 "I § ■ lg !j ON OUR SANDWICHES j! I 1 1 1 I 1 *1 I 1 *i Ij WERE ANY FRESHER. ]] g R >g |R *g OUR DELIVERY l* Rg gR Rg gR Rg j VEHICLES WOULD BE |! TRACTORS TASTINC IS BELIEVING lOHjy^ s greatest o|, *Met SANDVJI c * 11IFI JIMMY WL 306 W. FRANKLIN ~ 968.7827 Johns I DELIVER! I ciiT " ILL I .COM DATE TODAY, Monday, October 13 - Friday, October 17 TIME 10:30am - 3:3opm PLACE UNC Student Stores * STUDtnmoi# Local Artcarved Office: 919-968-7894 • Special Payment Plans Available. H SB 22 of government relations for the American Council on Education. The Democrats’ proposal dou bles the maximum amount of Pell Grant scholarships to $11,600 by 2011. The plan also would allow students to refinance high interest rate loans while increasing schol arships for students pursuing careers such as teaching and nurs ing, the press released stated. The Republican plan does not affect Pell Grants or student fund ing, but focuses on curbing tuition increases at colleges and universi ties, said Rep. Buck McKeon, R- Calif., the bill’s author. “The tuition and fees just keep going up,” he said. Because of rising costs, McKeon said many potential students will continue to miss out. “Over the next decade, 2 million people who have trained and want to go to col lege won’t be able,” he said. Miller said the Democrats also are trying to help more students attend college. “Our bill goes in a very different direction,” he said. “It would increase college opportunities for millions of Americans through smart investments and innova tions.” News But McKeon says Democrats simply are throwing money away. “The Democrats’ plan is basical ly just status quo," he said. “They are just putting in more money.” Simmons said both bills already have some roadblocks to get past. “The biggest problem for both par ties is that there is no money,” he said. “Because of lack of money, it is hard to authorize more programs.” But Simmons said the GOP proposal faces a bigger problem than just budgetary constraints. “The Republicans have a real big problem because McKeon wants to have a price control bill,” he said. “Trying to impose price controls isn’t a very Republican idea.” The Democratic proposal avoids controlling prices by focus ing merely on rising tuition as a state budgetary problem and not taking on individual institutions’ spending practices, the press release stated. Despite the problems facing both bills, McKeon said Democrats and Republicans have taken the first step in addressing a major governmental concern. “When they are turning away kids from getting an education, that is a national crisis.” Contact the State £9 National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. |jl 1 IL.'IJ Y—, jA r TOMORROW! How to enter - Wear.your o student membership T-shirt and -40' ye* s • v you come to our table in the Pit Forever. I between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. ■ r if• • • •• - What you can win - We have loads of great prizes including a digital camera, color scanner, handheld organizer, movie and restaurant gift certificates, and Carolina merchandise. Can't make it to the Pit? - You can also enter to win at the W6a r VOUr front desk of the George Watts Hill ■' Alumni Center on Stadium Drive student member '° T f d , 4 , pm Student Membership Advisory "T-churl - t/D \A/in a Board members will also be on I jI 111 L l\J Will and campus looking for student digital camera m “ pT ‘ sh,rts Winner notification - We will Of many Othor send a list of winners to the student membership listserv on Wed., Oct. 15. Q reat Winners will receive additional instructions via e-mail about how to pick up their prize. DE Ar> y Rain date is Wed., Oct. 15. Jzillj E ” mail and, with any questions or comments. General Alumni association Tight budget cuts jobs, services BY LINHDA TRAN STAFF WRITER UNC-system schools have slashed almost 400 positions, cut services, tightened capital outlays and reduced supplies in order to meet the $47-9 million budget reduction required by the state. The N.C. General Assembly passed June 30 a bill that requires the state’s universities to curtail budgets. “(Budget cuts) are the result of the state’s economy not producing the revenues that the state had ear lier anticipated,” said Jeff Davies, UNC-system vice president for finance. The mandatory Management Flexibility Reserve reductions allow system chancellors from each campus to have the final say as to where budget reductions would be applied. The UNC system and its cam puses were required to reduce budgets by 3 percent. Other areas, including UNC Health Care, N.C. Area Health Education Centers and the N.C. School of Science and Math were required to meet a 1.5 percent budget reduction, according to a BOG report released Friday. “The governor is proposing the budget revisions because revenues into the state budget are not meet ing projections, and since North Carolina has a deficit, the governor is prudently making cuts across the budgets as a precautionary plan,” said UNC-system President Molly Broad. Of the $47-9 million budget reductions for the fiscal year 2003- 04, about 45 percent came from job eliminations and 20 percent from service reductions; another 19 percent was taken from capital expenses. The remainder came from a combination of supplies, fixed charges and line-item reduc tions. “The severity (of the budget cuts) is directly related to the fact that we have had cuts in the past several years, and these cuts are in addition to other cuts,” Davies said. Several years of continual budg et reductions have made it more difficult to maintain faculty at each university. For 2003-04, 378 positions were eliminated across the UNC system. Of that, 367 were vacant positions, while 11 were filled. A majority of the cuts 276 posi tions were in instructional areas. “Compared to what has hap pened to universities across the country, North Carolina and other universities have fared exceeding ly well,” Broad said. Faculty cuts result in the reduc tion of the number of courses