VOLUME 112, ISSUE 45
House gives final blessing to budget
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DTH/GILLIAN BOLSOVER
N.C. Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, co-chairman of the House Finance
Committee, was the only Democrat to vote against the House budget.
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DTH/GILLIAN BOLSOVER
Keith Cook announced his resignation as Orange County School Board chairman Monday night. Controversy erupted after it was discovered that the graduation
speech he delivered at Orange High School on May 28 was plagiarized. He said the speech, which he found through Google, was unattributed on the Web site.
COOK RESIGNS AS CHAIRMAN
Will keep spot on Orange school hoard
BY CATHERINE SHAROKY
STA,FF WRITER
A collective gasp emanated from the
overcrowded board room as Keith Cook
announced his immediate resignation
as Orange County School Board chair
man Monday night at a Board of
Education meeting in Hillsborough.
Cook’s resignation came as a result
of a plagiarized graduation speech he
delivered on May 28 at the Orange
High School graduation service. The
speech was originally delivered in 1998
by Donna Shalala, then U.S. secretary
of Health and Human Services. Cook
Assistant offers aid to
vice chancellor’s office
BY CAROLINE KORNEGAY
STAFF WRITER
As new vice chancellor for infor
mation technology Daniel Reed
settles into his new position, a
search is already underway to hire
an aide.
The post will be a manager of
daily operations tentatively titled
senior associate vice chancellor for
information technology,” Reed
said.
“One needs another set of hands
to make the work happen,” Reed
said.
The position-holder would
serve as Reed’s deputy who would
be an overall manager of both
Academic Technology and
Networks and Administrative
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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
She latlu ®ar Mrrl
selected the speech after performing a
Google search for “graduation speech.”
Throughout the ordeal, Cook has
maintained that the speech wasn’t
attributed to Shalala on the Web site.
“I have tried very hard in 15 years in
the community to carry myself in an
ethical manner,” Cook said in a prepared
statement. “We are all human beings,
and human beings make mistakes.”
His resignation decision, which he
said he made only minutes before the
meeting, was met with approval from
the six board members.
Cook said he will remain an active
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New VCIT
Daniel Reed
might receive
aid in the form
of anew aide
in the fall
semester.
Information Services. The post
should help integrate the two sub
groups in Information Technology
Services.
While serving as vice chancellor,
Reed will continue to lead the
Institute for Renaissance
Computing, a joint effort that part
ners UNC with Duke University
SEE REED, PAGE 4
INSIDE
THREE STRIKES
The Tar Heels fall to the 'Cocks for
the third consecutive year. PAGE 2
WEEKLY SUMMER ISSUE
www.dailytarheel.com
UNC SYSTEM TO FACE CUTS;
TUITION HIKE STAYS IN PLACE
BY CHRIS COLETTA
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
RALEIGH - The N.C. House
gave final approval to a $15.8 mil
lion spending plan Tuesday, sparing
the UNC system from harsh cuts
while also providing a boon to state
workers and community colleges.
System leaders applauded the
budget, which passed by an unusu
ally large 95-18 margin after
receiving preliminary approval
Monday night. It now goes to the
Senate for approval.
“This is a responsible budget,
and it does promote good govern
ment,” said Rep. Wilma Sherrill, co-
board member and still plans to run for
re-election July 20. “I think that the
children and the district still need a
voice like mine,” Cook said.
The plagiarism incident has received
national attention and created an
uproar in the community. Cook apolo
gized for the embarrassment that his
action caused, especially for the gradu
ating class and their parents.
“Hopefully I did the right thing and
we will be able to move on,” Cook said.
He said that the focus of the school
board should return to the children of
Orange County.
“This is a sad evening for each of us,”
Vice Chairwoman Brenda Stephens
said. Ultimately, the board members
Gas prices expected to stay stagnant
Travelers still expected to hit roads
BY ALEX GRANADOS
STAFF WRITER
After a promise from the
Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries to increase
production, the United States
soon might see the tide of rising
gas prices recede from its shores.
Regardless, experts say, N.C.
drivers will continue to travel,
unfazed by fluctuating prices.
OPEC has promised to increase
its crude oil production by 2 mil
lion barrels per day in July, and if
necessary, by 500,000 barrels per
day in August.
Sarah Davis, spokeswoman for
AAA Carolinas, attributed a recent
relaxation in the rise of gas prices
chairwoman of
the House
Appropriations
Committee.
The bill
includes a 1.7
percent across
the-board budg-
INSIDE
N.C. community
colleges deal
with budget's
intricacies
PAGE 5
et cut to the UNC system totaling
about $27 million. It also maintains
tuition increases passed by the sys
tem’s Board of Governors and allots
about $65 million for full funding of
enrollment growth and s2l million
for need-based financial aid.
House Co-speakers Richard
Morgan, R-Moore, and Jim Black,
had a responsibility to hold him to stan
dards of faith and honesty, she said.
Cook was greeted with hugs and
pats on the back from supporters who
spilled out of the board room as he left
after the announcement. He said that
his supporters had encouraged him not
to step down, saying that one incident
shouldn’t wipe out a decade of service.
“He has been in the forefront of edu
cation for children,” said Elvira
Mebane, who has a child in the school
system. “He is for all of the kids.”
At the start of the meeting the board
denied Cook’s request to add public
comment to the agenda. Cook said that
SEE COOK, PAGE 4
to this additional production.
“We have seen gas prices cool
off in the last few days, mainly
because of increased production in
Saudi Arabia,” she said.
Although production benefits
are a month away, Davis said,
prices already have fallen slightly
due to the expectation created by
OPEC’s statements.
But John Tobin, executive
director of The Energy Literacy
Project, said that even if prices
continue to fall as predicted,
increased global demand means
prices might never return to the
low prices of yesteryear.
“The days of $1.20 and $1.30
gasoline are probably not in the
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A director puts his art above his health in
the fry-chomping 'Super-size Me.” PAGE 7
D-Mecklenburg, said that
although the plan isn’t optimal for
universities, budget writers did the
best they could given the state’s
tight economic belt.
“We know it’s a good budget,”
Morgan said.
The plan represents a lessening
of cuts originally called for in the
House’s education appropriations
subcommittee, which had included
an extra 1.7 percent in reductions
in its proposal.
Legislators and system officials
voiced their concern when those
figures came out, and the numbers
were brought back down in the
final proposal.
“It’s very good news that the
deeper cuts have been removed
from the budget,” said Jeff Davies,
UNC-system vice president for
Chancellors
may receive
lift in salary
BOG panel considers move
as part of new salary plan
BY CHRIS COLETTA
STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Chancellors at five UNC-system schools, including
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser, could
see significant raises in a plan approved Monday by
system leaders.
UNC-system President Molly Broad also would get
a pay increase with the plan, passed at a special meet
ing by the Personnel and Tenure Committee of the
system’s Board of Governors. If the full board
approves the plan, Moeser’s salary could increase by
more than $48,700 to $304,392, and Broad would
see a raise to $359,182 from $300,485.
The changes would come as part of a plan to pay
upper-level administrators in the UNC system
salaries that are comparable to those others get at
peer institutions. Under the proposal, chancellors’
minimum salaries would be set at the 25th percentile
of a pay range determined by examining what peer
institutions pay their leaders, and Broad’s salary
would be adjusted based on their pay.
Committee members determined that chancellors’
pay at UNC-CH, N.C. State University, UNC-
Pembroke, the N.C. School of the Arts and UNC-
Asheville all fall below that line.
“It’s real important for us at this point in time to
really bite the bullet and decide we want to pay peo
ple in a competitive manner,” said board member
Peter Keber.
The plan is by no means a done deal. It will have to
be approved in July by the full Board of Governors,
and even then, personnel will not receive raises until
the system can find sufficient funds.
Still, if it were to be implemented, Moeser and
Broad appear poised to benefit greatly. Though they
both receive the use of a university house and car,
their salaries lag far behind those of their peers,
prompting calls for increases amid concerns that the
system will not be able to retain its top officials.
“We have to take care of our stars, and we have to
try to attract more stars,” said board member Jim
Babb.
In April, N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox
announced that she will leave the school this summer
to take a job at the University of Califomia-San Diego,
where she will get a SIOO,OOO raise and live in a
school-owned mansion overlooking the Pacific
Ocean. Her departure, along with board members’
SEE BOG COMMITTEE, PAGE 4
future,” he said.
It was expected that high prices
would put a dent in vacation plans
this summer, but Tobin said travel
remains unscathed.
“We haven’t reached that point
where we have reached a change
in our patterns and consumption
habits,” he said.
AAA estimates that the 'Wangle
had an average price of $1.94 for
regular unleaded gas as of
Tuesday.
And the added cost is leading
some Chapel Hill drivers to adopt
criminal habits to compensate.
Christine Compton witnessed a
surge in people driving off without
paying at the Crown Fast Fare on
Main Street in Carrboro when
prices first shot up.
“When there was the first big
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SATURDAY Cloudy, High 81, Low 66
THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2004
finance.
But even a relatively small cut
will have a palpable effect on the
system’s 16 universities, which have
faced cuts for many consecutive
years and already are operating on
bare-bones budgets.
At UNC-Chapel Hill, the cuts
are likely to force the University to
eliminate teaching assistant and
faculty positions. UNC-CH also
will be faced with slicing the
budgets of on-campus programs
and getting rid of between 30 and
60 class sections.
And on other system campuses,
many of which haven’t seen high
enrollment growth and the funds
that come with it, the problems of
larger class sizes and fewer sections
SEE BUDGET, PAGE 4
jump above $2.00, there was a
definite increase in drive-offs,” she
said.
While many other area stations
remain crime free, they still aren’t
cheap.
McFarling’s Exxon on West
Franklin Street, Petro Mart on
U.S. 15-501 and the Pantry on N.C.
54 are charging $1.99 for regular
unleaded. The Airport Road BP
and the Crown Fast Fare are
charging $1.97 and $1.94, respec
tively, for the same grade.
So weary drivers of gas guzzlers
must wait for high price relief,
Davis said. “We are hoping that
gas prices decrease, but it won’t be
for another few weeks.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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