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12 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2004 BOARD EDITORIALS FLAWED RESOLUTION State employees should petition state lawmakers for a pay hike, but a percentage-based one would be better than the proposed flat increase. The UNC-Chapel Hill Employee Forum recent ly passed a resolution that will petition the N.C. General Assembly to give all state employees a $2,000 pay increase. The proposal would affect more than a quarter of a million work ers, 7,500 of whom work at the University. Members of the forum have maintained that a flat increase would be more egalitarian than a percent age increase and would help lower-paid state work ers close the gap in salary discrepancy. Underpaid employees here at the University have taken a step forward by realizing that putting extra pressure on Chancellor James Moeser will have no affect on their salaries, save for his lobbying efforts. After all, it takes legislative action with regard to the states fiscal budget in order to change what workers take home in terms of their paychecks. UNC-CH officials can help lobby for pay increas es for UNC-system employees, but they cannot alter the salaries mandated by state lawmakers. However, any protests and pickets need to be moved from outside South Building to outside the General Assembly. State legislation, not the University, sets salaries and wages. It doesn’t really matter whether workers at UNC-CH see University officials as unsympathetic or cruel, because these officials ultimately have little power. Unfortunately, a flat, across-the-board increase is the wrong way to go about getting state employees higher salaries. It gives a much higher raise propor tionately to the employees on the lower end of the pay scale. This leaves more skilled and highly-qualified state workers out in the cold. To be frank, it is much hard er to replace computer technicians who leave UNC CH because of poor pay than it is to find new groundskeepers. A person who does drafting or electrical work for the state should get the same proportion increase as HELPFUL TO A FAULT President Bush’s plan to limit the use of Pell Grants and fund anew aid program is generous but might hinder some students’ education. With the rising costs of higher education, many college students scramble for any sort of financial aid they can find. Securing and maintaining scholarships can be a harrowing task, almost Herculean in scope, and many students matriculate only to spend a daunting portion of their lives repaying a mountain of debt. If costs keep going up, some students might even go to their graves with bills from their college loan officer in their back pockets. Every little bit of funding helps, and many stu dents find relief in the form of federal Pell Grants, need-based grants with a maximum annual award of $4,050 that do not need to be repaid. The federal government awarded more than $9 billion in Pell Grants to help more than 4.8 million students afford college during the 2001-02 academ ic year, according to a report by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling. But despite skyrocketing college costs, the maxi mum annual award for a Pell Grant hasn’t increased in the last two years. In what could be the first major structural change to the process of awarding Pell Grants in recent memory, President Bush has proposed limits on the amount of time individuals can take advantage of Pell funds: eight years for undergraduates in four year programs, and four years for undergraduates in two-year programs. Bush said the money saved will help fund anew program that would provide $5,000 grants to low income students to study science or mathematics in college. On the whole, the program seems reasonable and, to some people’s surprise, rather generous. However, it fails ultimately to consider the needs of nontradi tional students. Guidelines for federal aid currently follow the EDITOR'S NOTE: The above editorials are the opinions of solely The Daily Tar Heel Editorial Board, and were reached after open debate, The board consists of seven board members, the editorial page associate editor, the editorial page editor and the DTH editor. The 2003-04 DTH editor decided not to vote on the board and not to write board editorials. READERS' FORUM Participate in Holocaust remembrance activities TO THE EDITOR: This week at UNC, the Carolina Union Activities Board and N.C. Hillel invite you to participate in the eighth annual Holocaust Remembrance Week, a week of events honoring the victims of the Holocaust and helping the campus community never to forget this great tragedy. At 7 p.m. Wednesday in Carroll 111, keynote speaker Flora Singer will address the campus communi ty about her experiences as a young girl during the Holocaust. A Jew living in Belgium during the war, Mrs. Singer was hidden in a convent and spared deportation by the Nazis. After her speech, Mrs. Singer will kick off the annual 24-hour Reading of the Names of Holocaust Victims, at 8:15 p.m. in the Pit. If you are interested in reading names during this memorial cere mony, there are still spaces avail able. If interested, contact the Student Union Information Desk, or visit our Web site at http://www.unc.edu/hrw. On Thursday, in collaboration with the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, Professor Christopher Browning, author of “The Origins of the Final Solution,” will lead an open discussion regarding his book, at 7:30 p.m. in any other state employee. It does not send a partic ularly strong message to skilled employees to give a flat increase to all state workers. At a time when North Carolina faces a critical shortage of teachers, it would be bad for morale to tell teachers and other skilled workers that they deserve a smaller raise proportionately than other state employees. The General Assembly would be unwise to lessen the incentive to get a college degree and a job in North Carolina’s underappreciated education sys tem, which is absolutely critical to the economic suc cess of our state. This should not detract from the notion that all state employees need and deserve a pay increase because it’s clear that they do. But the suggested flat increase is simply not the fairest way of implement ing such a change. Even if legislators accept the idea of a pay hike of any kind, no one should expect to see it go into effect this year. Given North Carolina’s current economic slump, it will be difficult for lawmakers to accom modate the Employee Forum’s proposal anytime soon. Even in an election year, help for state employ ees likely will be slow in coming. The proposal still has a long way to travel before seeing the light of day in the General Assembly. Moeser and the UNC-system Board of Governors both could refuse to approve the resolution, sending activists scurrying to develop another plan quickly. University employees have said they will bring the resolution before the General Assembly as private citizens if it doesn’t make its way past UNC-system officials. Calling for N.C. legislators to increase state employees’ pay is a good idea in principle, but the res olution on the table could use work. In any case, the Employee Forum should keep on forging ahead in its fight for the increase that state workers deserve. 1998 Higher Education Act, which requires students to make “satisfactory academic progress” —a C aver age by the end of their second year in college to hold onto their funding. The act also requires colleges to establish a gen eral maximum graduation time-frame, which is usu ally six years for four-year programs and three years for two-year programs. Bush’s proposal goes beyond that and gives stu- an extra one or two years beyond what is stat ed in the act’s recommended guidelines. This provides students in four-year programs a significant amount of padding, and some people could argue that the president’s proposal might be too generous. There are few reasons outside of extreme situations why undergraduates can’t finish a four-year program in twice the expected time. Exceptions could be made in light of extenuating circumstances, but trimming the time-frame down to six years could secure even more money for Bush’s incentive program. The president’s proposal also puts a significant restraint on nontraditional students, particularly those enrolled in two-year programs. These students could have physical handicaps, medical ailments and family or job commitments that prohibit them from enrolling in college full time. It’s not hard to imagine any number of sce narios in which it could take more than four years for nontraditional students to finish their sequences. The current plan could leave these students with out federal funding, potentially curtailing their edu cation. The four-year allowance for undergraduates in two-year programs isn’t completely unreasonable, but federal financial aid officers need to be sensitive to the individual circumstances of nontraditional students. Toy Lounge in Dey Hall. Concluding the event, Memorial Services will be held at N.C. Hillel, located at 210 W. Cameron Ave., 6:15 p.m. Friday. The whole campus community is invited to be a part of Holocaust Remembrance Week. We hope that you will attend and participate in some of the events of the week, even if it is the simple task of stopping by the Union on Wednesday or Thursday to hear the names of Holocaust victims. With your support, we can ensure that the memories of these people will never fade. Geri Borger Co-coordinator Holocaust Remembrance Week Ned Kelly Co-coordinator Holocaust Remembrance Week DTH wrong to single out IFC fraternities in hazing pieces TO THE EDITOR: In response to a recent round of articles and editorials in The Daily Tar Heel on hazing at Carolina, it is unfortunate that the entire focus singles out one group of organiza tions lnterfratemity Council fra ternities. Hazing can (and does) occur in many places in the University, including athletics, clubs and other Greek organizations. Opinion However, hazing is only dis cussed in the context of IFC frater nities. It is very telling that Attorney General Carolina Chavez’s “proac tive” stance on hazing only focus es on IFC fraternities. Why is hazing not targeted else where at this university? This discrimination and target ing of IFC fraternities goes against everything that our allegedly pro gressive University is supposed to embrace. The hypocrisy of this type of selective fairness is just another example of a long-standing bias at Carolina. The bottom line is that Greek organizations, including IFC fra ternities, are positive influences on campus: We perform community service, raise money for charity and are involved on campus. Maybe the University and The Daily Tar Heel need to consider a “culture change” of their own. Mark Pederson President Alpha Tau Omega Ashburn's defense of ad for Playboy is insufficient TO THE EDITOR: In April 7th’s issue of The Daily Tar Heel, Editor Elyse Ashburn defended her decision to include an ad for Playboys “Girls of the ACC” by stating that advertise- ON THE DAY’S NEWS “In hard times, no less than in prosperity, preserve equanimity PROVERBS EDITORIAL CARTOON By Fitz Holladay, wfhollad@email.unc.edu . f-'HtHWAMY CH ■ COMMENTARY Some odds and ends in the state and national spectrum Here are some odds and ends as we approach the end of the semester. They’re short blurbs, so you can read at least one before returning to the crossword. South keeps growing More and more people are learning what we’ve known for a long time: The South is a great place to live. According to U.S. Census sta tistics released last week, 60 of the nation’s fastest-growing coun ties are located in the South. The West claims 20, the Midwest 18, while only two of these counties are in the Northeast. The bureau studied population changes from April 1,2000 to July 1,2003. Most of those Southern coun ties growing in population are in Georgia, which continues to attract new residents. What’s the most interesting story out of North Carolina? The state can claim the 24th fastest growing county in the union, and— you guessed it it’s Union County. Union, east of the state’s most populous county, Mecklenburg, is getting much of the spillover from Charlotte and its outlying areas. The state’s top five most popu lous counties, from largest to smallest, are still Mecklenburg, Wake, Guilford, Forsyth and Cumberland, each remaining in the same rank as 2000. And the sparsest? That title remains with Tyrrell County, which picked up seven residents to grow to 4,156 for the recent count Wouldn't it be nice? John McCain said Sunday that ments serve the DTH’s mission of “upholding free speech and pro moting dialogue.” The DTH did maintain freedom of speech and freedom of the press by running the ad. However, freedom of the press includes the freedom to make responsible choices. Having to accept every ad is not having freedom at all. An article by Emily Steel in the April 12th issue of the DTH claims that the paper’s policies “dictate that anyone with suffi cient funds can advertise a serv ice, sell a commodity or express a viewpoint in the paper’s advertis ing space.” Ashburn also stated that the DTH’s ad staff and editor have the right to refuse any ad, but that they rarely do so unless the ad “contains blatantly false or obscene material.” So what if an organization came to the DTH to run an ad for a rally held by the Ku Klux Klan that did not feature any obscene images such as the white hood? Would the DTH run the ad? We certainly hope not The DTH needs to make responsible decisions by looking at the potential harm of the material they advertise. Playboy doesn’t cause men to rape women. However, it fosters a culture that legitimates and increases the likelihood of its occurrence. Ashburn is right in that the ad promoted dialogue. On the other fbj#|, MICHAEL DAVIS COUNTRY FEEDBACK he will not run with his friend, Sen. John Kerry, on the Democratic ticket to face President Bush in November. According to CNN’s Web site, McCain, a Republican senator who ran against Bush in 2000, first sparked curiosity about this unusual alliance when he said that, if asked, he would consider running with Kerry. It’s a shame, because pundits have since claimed that a Kerry- McCain ticket would be unstop pable against Bush. McCain’s policy stances might be a tad too conservative for many Democrats, but this pairing would have encapsulated Bush’s alienation of many middle-of-the road Republicans, who likely would have voted for a ticket with the moderate McCain. On the other hand, such an alliance might have sent some lib eral Democrats running to inde pendent spoiler Ralph Nader, whose small chunk of support in early polls suggests he also could make the difference in this year’s election. Vote Saturday Our state primary schedule is in a real mess, but you can still vote in the Democratic presiden tial primary Saturday, in the form of a caucus. If you’re registered in North Carolina, no matter what county hand, discussion would have hap pened as well if the DTH had turned down the ad. Emily Wiegand Senior Psychology Attention Applications are now available for columnists, cartoonists and members of The Daily Tar Heel Editorial Board. The forms, which can be found at the DTH front desk in Suite 104 of the Student Union, are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday. All of these positions provide opportunities for dedicated stu dents to present their views and opinions to the newspaper’s read ers. If you have any questions, con tact editorial page editor-select Elliott Dube at dubee@email.unc.edu. TO SUBMIT A LETTER: The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments. Letters to the editor should be no longer than 300 words and must be typed, double-spaced, dated and signed by no more than two people. Students should include their year, major and phone number. Faculty and staff should include their title, department and phone num ber. The DTH reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity and vulgarity. Publication is not guaranteed. Bring let ters to the DTH office at Suite 104, Carolina Union, mail them to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 or e-mail them to editdesk@unc.edu. utyr flatly (Bor MM it is, you can vote from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Chapel Hill Town Hall. So all you Dennis Kucinich devotees, here’s your day. Along with the feisty Ohio congressman, voters can choose from Howard Dean, John Edwards,’John Kerry and A1 Sharpton. Regardless of your preference, just vote. It’s a great and very important thing to do. Janet's political exposure Just months after her Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction" with singer Justin Timberlake, entertainer Janet Jackson jumped back into the limelight last week end, clearly eager to get on with her life. But sometimes the easiest way to move on is to first poke a little fun at your own mishaps, and the pop princess did just that. In the opening sketch on Saturday Night Live, host Jackson portrayed White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, complete with tooth gap and timed sneers. Darrell Hammond’s Dick Cheney coached “Rice” on appro priate reactions to members of the 9-11 commission, playing on the adviser’s oft-forced facial expressions. He also urged her to flash the commission, to which she first expresses slight hesitation. Moments later the segment featured “footage” from the com mission panels, with Rice baring her right breast when questioned by members. But it didn’t get past network censors: This time around, NBC blurred Janet’s escapade. Contact Michael Davis at davismt@email.unc.edu. Established 1893 111 years of editorialfreedom ulfj? Haily (Tar Msd www.dailytatheel.com ELYSE ASHBURN EDITOR, 962-4086 OFFICE HOURS 2:15-3:15 PM MON., WED. DANIEL THIGPEN MANAGING EDITOR, 962-0750 JENNIFER SAMUELS PROJECTS MANAGING EDITOR, 962-0750 NATHAN DENNY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR, 962-0750 BROOK R. CORWIN UNIVERSITY EDITOR, 962-0372 EMMA BURGIN CITY EDITOR, 962-4209 CLEVER. WOOTSON JR. STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR, 962-4103 BRIAN MACPHERSON SPORTS EDITOR, 962-4710 MICHELLE JARBOE FEATURES EDITOR, 962-4214 NICK PARKER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, 962-4214 ALEX OBREGON COPY EDITOR, 962-4103 BRIAN CASSELLA EDITOR, 962-0750 MICHELLE KUTTNER DESIGN EDITOR, 962-0750 KRISTEN OLIVER ONLINE EDITOR, 962-0750 JOHN FRANK PROJECTS TEAM LEADER, 962-0246 ERIC GAUTSCHI OMBUDSMAN If you have any concerns or comments about our coverage, please contact Ombudsman Eric Gautschi at gautschi@email.unc.edu or 918-1311.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 14, 2004, edition 1
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