North Carolina Newspapers

2 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2004 Town continues storm cleanup BY SHANNAN BOWEN ASSISTANT CITY EDITOR Several Orange County services are cancelled or delayed today because of consistent temperatures at or below the freezing point that keep Sunday’s combination of ice, freezing rain and snow masking roadways, officials said. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools have cancelled classes today, with staff reporting at 10 a.m., and Orange County govern ment offices are operating on a one-hour delay, opening at 9 a.m. Chapel Hill town staff are clear ing roads on a priority system, said Bill Terry, acting director for the Chapel Hill Public Works Department. Bridges and major thorough fares are cleared in the first phase, Pell Grant freeze exacerbates tuition burden BYNIRAVVORA STAFF WRITER U.S. Congress’ decision not to increase the maximum Pell Grant award now shifts the burden of soaring tuition costs to state fund ing. The omnibus spending bill that passed the Senate last Thursday did not increase the maximum Pell Grant allocation from its current $4,050 per grant. Federal Pell Grants provide need-based fund ing for undergraduates that does not have to be paid back. Clara Lovett, president of the American Association of Higher Education, said the frozen Pell Grant maximum will hurt college diversity and accessibility. Time! Shadowood Offers: IB* • 1 and 2 Bedroom • Two Tennis Courts • Free Highspeed Internet & Cable* • Basketball Court • Washer & Dryer in Every Apartment • Sparkling Pool • 24 Hour Onsite Fitness • Free A/C Fitness Membership • Only 1.5 Miles from Campus • On 5 Bus Lines 1-888-226-3431 EQUAL HOUSING 1 ■ ****£■ TL opportunity shadowood@aimco.com A**co. SHADOWOOD "==■ <■>*■*— Apartments * Special expires 2/15/04. Lease restrictions apply. Call for details. CARPE CONDO! Spread the w ord to your friends, Cl assmafes, that cute girl or guy in \ our Trig < /ass and SEIZE \ CONDO before the) re nil ri'nted. We have Pome units AVAIL ABLE NOW and we are PRE- LEA SI NO tot next Summer and Fall. Mill Creek, 700 Airport Road ,\ short w.ilk to low ii .ind. ( .tni|ms u ith ,> |>< to! .iijti loivnis < ourlv t(>uw ami Av< m'. Sue mills \\ -\ I] AI >I ; f \OW ai WAvw.miljt i('(A-(.onc!/as 2BR and 2Bajh garden style (one floor) or town house style SBOO per month |BR with sinks and 2Batb garden style Or town house. style SI2OO per month'* {limitedoffer) Chancellor's Square, 211 North Church Street \(*w l\\f:t‘novat<*cl ont-.ldot k tfoni I i.inklin Stiuul 1 2BR and 2Bath tnwnhouse style units SI2OO per month tlnit I)-6 Reduced rent until August. AvAiUßi i. Now!! slooo.per month l nit K 4 Reduced rent until August . Ayaiwbi I .Nuvvi!. SIOOO per month The Overlook, 220-230 Greene Street I, i iva( ■ units riesiled in (he In-vs .1 short \\,ilk In i .impus'. liBR and -IBalh Inwnhqusc style units $270(1 per month I : nil 220 Rncmunaie needed to fill IBR spot. ...A.VAtI.VBI.i: Now!! s4t)() per nionth. University Commons, TO 5 Smith Level Road .Niue unity an Ihe b{-iv''lino, rn ( aifbo.ro! . 4BR and 4Bath garden style SI6OO per month PI Mill House jff properties Lot more information tall 968-7226, or go■ to www.millhouseproperties.com! he said, followed by neighborhood roads and parking lots in the sec ond phase. As of TViesday afternoon, Terry said, primary roads are mostly clear, but work on secondary roads would not begin until early this morning. Terry said the department began the snow-removal process by spreading salt and sand on major roadways and steep hills Sunday morning in preparation for icy weather. But that didn’t prevent the snow from covering streets com pletely. Terry said the department typically begins using its eight snow plows after 2 to 3 inches have fallen, which occurred late Sunday night. “It’s always frustrating. ... “The Pell Grants are so impor tant for middle- and low-income students,” Lovett said. “They should have at least been increased for inflation.” Inflation is low this year, but the cost of higher education is rising rapidly. “It will probably hurt stu dents who go to community colleges and regional schools,” she said. Gretchen Bataille, UNC-system senior vice president for academic affairs, said students who rely on Pell Grants and other forms of stu dent aid for college will not be affected negatively. “Students in North Carolina have been able to continue to afford higher educa tion,” she said. Bataille said there is a percep Mother Nature is a fierce opponent sometimes,” he said. Chris Peterson, Carrboro Public Works director, said the town’s staff follows the same type of pro cedure, but he said staff did not salt roadways before the wintry mix began. Peterson said the town hired a private contractor, Mellott Contractors & Supply, to assist its three snow-blade trucks, three motor graters and three back-hoes that have been working since Sunday afternoon. He said most of the town’s major roadways are clear and the department expects secondary roads cleared by midday Thursday. “When you have this kind of ice, it takes this long,” he said. tion that tuition increases will make college less affordable and that there are students who do not attempt to apply because of their income bracket. She added that the state is try ing to counter that perception with billboards and advertisements for the College Foundation of North Carolina, a nonprofit, state-run consortium of organizations that helps state residents find ways to pay for college. The amount of state funding for financial aid has to increase, since schools consider it a priority. But that means that other things, such as faculty salary increases, will have to suffer, Bataille said. Vince Amoroso, deputy director FREE TAX HELP Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) provides FREE TAX HELP to the University Community (Assistance with calculation of taxes ,and preparation of tax forms) Note: Volunteers are trained to assist those with Gross Household incomes of $50,000 or less, who do NOT itemize deductions and who are not self-employed. In addition, we are sony that we do not have appropriate training to assist those holding international visas. Two locations on campus: for appointment, call 1-888-265-1721. Appointments are encouraged, but not required. CHEEK-CLARK BUILDING - 505 West Cameron Avenue Mondays: February 2, 16, 23 (5:00-7:00 pm) March 1, 15, 22, 29 (1:00-4:00) Saturdays: February 7, 14, 28 (1:00-4:00) March 20 (1:00-4:00) April 3 (1:00-4:00) GILES-HORNEY BUILDING - 103 Airport Drive (off Airport Road) Mondays: February 9,23 (5:30-8:30) March 15,29 (5:30-8:30) April 5 (5:30-8:30) Tuesdays: February 3, 10, 17 (5:30-8:30) March 16, 23, 30 (5:30-8:30) Wednesdays: February 4, 18 (5:30-8:30) Thursdays: February 12, 19 (5:30-8:30) March 18,25 (5:30-8:30) Saturdays: February 7 (5:30-8:30) April 3 (10:00-1:00) Assistance provided free of charge by Master of Accounting Students and Law Students. Advertising for this project paid for by: UNC-CH Parents Fund: Student Opportunities Fund Award News Nick Waters, director for Orange County Emergency Management, said there were 150 wrecks reported in Orange County on Sunday, 26 Monday and 15 Tuesday afternoon, not including three reported to the Highway Patrol. In addition to wrecks, Waters said there were eight sledding acci dents in Orange County and very few health incidents, mostly relat ed to breathing problems. “Most weather-related accidents are the result of driving too fast or stopping too fast,” he said. “Sledders need to watch for cars, and cars need to watch for sled ders, because that’s not a pleasant mix.” . Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu. of scholarships and student aid at UNC-Chapel Hill, said Pell Grants are important to financial aid. “We’d like to see that amount increase whenever possible, since the cost of college tuition rises each year,” he said. But students relying on financial aid to attend UNC-CH will not be affected by rising tuition costs, Amoroso said, because 35 percent of the funds gained from UNC CH’s proposed tuition hikes are set to fund more financial aid. Money for Pell Grants is not determined by costs but by avail able funding in federal budgets. During the 2002-03 school year, the number of students at UNC CH with Pell Grants was 2,199- The average award was $2,572. Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu. (Bfyr Hatty (Ear Bppl P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 Elyse Ashbum, Editor, 962-4086 Advertising & Business, 962-1163 News, Features, Sports, 962-0245 One copy per person; additional copies may be purchased at The Daily Tar Heel for $.25 each. © 2004 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved I* Mill Creek $ CONDOS Great Location Popular Student Rentals 4 & 2 Bedroom Units Pool & Tennis Courts Walk to Franklin/Downtown/Campus Parking Space with Each Bedroom www.millcreek-condos.com Petitions disclose merger opposition More than 1,500 against school plan BY ERIN GIBSON STAFF WRITER A recent petition to gauge opin ions about the possible school merger shows an overwhelming opposition among town residents. The petition gathered 1,520 sig natures against the merger of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools, with only 50 in favor of it. Two versions of the petition were available online at http://www.4schools.us. Residents were encouraged to print out both copies and ask people to sign one. Susan Payne and Pang Yao, steering committee members of http://NoMerger.org, developed the petition. The petition does not show offi cial numbers, but it does give a general estimate of widespread sentiments regarding the merger. Yao said the next step will be to present the results to the Orange County Board of Commissioners. “This is not a scientific (study), but I think it represents the coun ty well,” he said. “They need to know how the majority of the peo ple feel about it.” Orange County Board of Commissioners made several pro posals for improving the school system. County Commissioner Moses Carey’s proposal was the only one to suggest a merger. The other three proposals called for more equitable funding for county schools and a possible collabora tion in the near future. The main issue with schools is funding. Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools receive more funding than CORRECTION A page 3 article in Tuesday’s paper incorrectly stated that University officials had approved a smoking ban proposed by the Residence Hall Association. The ban has not yet been approved. To report an error contact Managing Editor Daniel Thigpen at dthigpen@email.unc.edu HATS OFF hat^ff hatßm Efr TS 0 ■ m (Bljr Hatty (Bar Jirri county schools. “My personal view is to address the issue directly,” said Yao. “If funding is the issue, we need to address funding, and we don’t think a merger is the solution.” Residents also had the option of signing another petition online. Jay Brenman, steering committee member, created the Web site http: //www.petitiononline.com/27 5 99 when talk of a merger first surfaced to get a feel for residents’ opinions. “I didn’t know how unpopular the merger was when I started the petition,” Brenman said. “Everything just seemed to be moving too fast, and the commis sioners weren’t listening.” His petition also showed a majority of people were opposed to the merger. The number of sig natures is constantly changing but more than 1,100 people have signed. “It became crystal clear that 75 (percent) to 80 percent do not want the schools merged,” Brenman said. But Fair Funding In County Schools, a pro-merger group in Orange County, has been working for many years to get better fund ing in county schools in the best possible way. “No one was jumping for merger, but we did want more money,” said Jack Nestor, FFICS member. “Merger looked like the only way to get it. But we’ll fight for it either way.” Nestor said FFICS is meeting with people in the community and regrouping now, but will come out with their position soon. “We will consider the merger and fair fund ing to find a pragmatic way of how to achieve that (funding),” Nestor said. Only three commissioners need to vote in favor of the merger for it to pass, although no vote is sched uled anytime soon. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu. lA4katc)o / knoue alout rue? ... t'luious one ocaj / (l us ant to zta/t t a v tut not ye t. • Sirtb Control • Pregnancy Testing • Abortion By Pill • Surgical Abortion • Conscious Sedation '^ (optional) M • STP/HIV Testing® I www.plannedparenthood.org/ppcnc