VOLUME 112, ISSUE 152
Inflated grades still perturb officials
GRADE INFLATION
UNC undergraduates have been bringing home higher grade point averages since the 19605. The
increase has forced officials to examine grading policies at the University
501
45
I I Spring 1987 Average GPA: 2.75
S — j I E3 Spring 1999 Average GPA: 3.04
S I ■ ■ Spring 2004 Average GPA: 3.13
O Ae C 0 F
GRADE
DTH/MARY JANE KATZ
Uncertainty
lies in future
of fraternity
Members mull implications of lawsuit
BY SHARI FELD
STAFf WRITER
Members of Alpha lota Omega
Christian fraternity remain opti
mistic that they will reach an agree
ment with the University and once
again receive official recognition.
Following Wednesday’s court rul
ing that urged lawyers representing
both parties to
reach a compro
mise regarding
the University’s
nondiscrimina
tion policy, AIO
members said
they hope to find
a conclusion to
their saga.
“We should
be able to reach
some kind of
compromise
which preserves
the University’s
commitment
to diversity and
fully protects the
students’ First
Amendment
rights,” said
Jordan Lorence,
an attorney with
the Alliance
Defense Fund,
the Christian
legal group rep
resenting AIO.
“Universities
house the next
generation of
American lead
ers. I want
them raised
Trevor Hamm
Jonathan Park
Carlon Myrick
The three
members who
comprise Alpha
lota Omega.
with a concept of respecting First
Amendment rights.”
Members of the fraternity
refused to sign the nondiscrimi
nation policy required of all cam
pus student organizations that
receive recognition, which opens
doors to funding and use of cam
pus facilities.
Until the case appeared in federal
court Wednesday, UNC has main
tained that the policy helps protect
students from discrimination.
Local band bridged racial divide
BY MEGHAN DAVIS
STAFF WRITER
The arrival of the University’s
first black undergraduates in 1955
was a controversial landmark in
the struggle for civil rights.
But the year also marked the
beginning of another, more light
hearted era in the South the
reign of Doug Clark and the Hot
Nuts, one of Chapel Hill’s most
beloved music groups.
That year, Doug Clark, a Chapel
Hill native and graduate of the all
black Lincoln High School, started
his first band, The Tops.
Fred Battle, president of the
local chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, said the band,
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“The University tries to be as
open a community as possible,”
said Leslie Strohm, general coun
sel for UNC, during Wednesday’s
hearing.
University officials have been
instructed not to make comments
while the case is in court.
Lorence said the new policy needs
to consider past interpretations
and to make clear that groups can
restrict membership based on inter
est in subject matter and can require
members to pass an objective test.
Tremayne Manson, president of
the fraternity’s board of directors,
said AlO’s mission makes it neces
sary to restrict membership to those
who agree with the group’s beliefs.
“To carry out the ideals of
Christianity and spread those ide
als, then you have to limit your
membership to those who believe
those ideals,” he said.
Beliefs are used as a condi
tion for membership to the UNC
College Republicans and the UNC
Young Democrats, AIO lawyers
told the judge Wednesday.
College Republicans requires
members to be registered
Republicans. Its constitution states
that officers can be impeached if
they have “demonstrated disloyalty
to the Republican Party.”
But Young Democrats has
no such restriction, said Justin
Guillory, former co-president of
Young Democrats. “I don’t think
you should need to be a registered
Democrat or a registered Republican
to join a political organization.”
Several siding with the fraternity
have said they expect the outcome
of the case to open a door of oppor
tunity for similar organizations.
Jonathan Park, AIO vice presi
dent, said other schools will be
affected by the court’s decision. “It
will definitely set a precedent to
other universities with the same
problem.”
University Editor Emily Steel
contributed to this article.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
eventually known as the Hot Nuts,
quickly found local acceptance
something that contrasted with the
tenor of the time.
“The University
always accepted
black entertain
ment, just not
always black stu
dents,” Battle said.
The Hot Nuts
booked shows in
LOCAL
BLACK
HISTORY
Today:
Music
the area and found popularity
in different settings including
black nightclubs such as the Square
Club, then located in Durham, and
predominantly white fraternity
parties, beginning with Phi Delta
SEE MUSIC, PAGE 4
Official calls for college accountability
Students set to put on cabaret show
Find more stories at www.dthonline.com.
www.dthonline.com
IN SPITE OF UNO’S EFFORTS,
MARKS CONTINUE TO RISE
BY DON CAMPBELL
STAFF WRITER
Last semester, students taking
classes in the School of Journalism
and Mass Communication boasted
an average 2.9 grade point average.
Spring semester five years ago,
students brought home the same
grades.
But the average 2.5 GPA stu
dents earned 23 years ago wouldn’t
qualify for admission to the jour
nalism school today.
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DTH/BRANDON SMITH
Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Jen Bushman delivers the State of the GPSF Address on Thursday night in the Hanes Art
Center Auditorium. She focused on giving graduate and professional students an identity at UNC and on forming a community to tackle key issues.
BUSHMAN SEEKS
A SENSE OF UNITY
BY HEATHER ANDREWS
STAFF WRITER
Graduate and Professional Student
Federation President Jen Bushman provided
an optimistic analysis of upper-level students’
impact on the University community during
the first GPSF State of the University address
Thursday night.
To an audience of almost 30 students and
faculty members, Bushman, whose presidency
ends April 5, stressed that students pursuing
advanced degrees are an integral part of the
diverse UNC campus.
“Graduate and professional students are
busy connecting us to our local community,”
she said. “We’re giving back to the community
surrounding Carolina.”
Bushman highlighted areas, ranging from
honorary societies to research endeavors, in
which graduate and professional students
participate.
And she reported that graduate students now
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COURTESY OF THE CHAPEL HILL TOWN HALL
Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts were a popular act at clubs and fraternity
parties in the 19605. The local act found an acceptance rare for the times.
The long-term increase in grade
point averages among all UNC
students has called into question
the consistency and rigidity of
University grading practices.
Since the 19605, the average GPA
of University undergraduates has
improved gradually. Although the
changes from five years ago might
seem insignificant, GPA growth
from more than 15 years ago shows
a noticeable upward trend.
Letter-grade distribution has
STATE OF THE GPSF
teach 50 percent of undergraduate classroom
hours. She also noted that more than 150 gradu
ate students were awarded a total of more than
$2.5 million in outside funding last year.
Using examples, such as a free student-run
health clinic that operates weekly in Carrboro,
Bushman credited professional and graduate
students for their leadership in making vital
connections within UNC and on local and
statewide levels.
But Bushman’s praise was tempered with
her concern about the community’s strength.
“Graduate and professional students are
many things —but unfortunately we are not
yet a cohesive community,” she said.
Preceding her address, Student Body
President Matt Calabria and Seth Dearmin, stu
dent body president-elect, made speeches that
tackled how tuition, student voting and basket
ball tickets relate to the graduate community.
“Asa demographic, graduate and professional
students seem to be often overlooked,” Calabria
SPORTS
CLOSE CALL
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shifted during the years as well. A’s
and B’s made up almost 74 percent
of grades last spring, compared to
about 66 percent in 1987.
For the last several years, the
Faculty Council’s Education
Policy Committee has investigated
issues surrounding grade infla
tion at UNC. In 2000, the “Turchi
Report,” a policy committee report
compiled by economics professor
Boone Turchi, documented grade
increase from 1967 to 1999.
With the arrival of new data, the
committee has continued its evalu
ation of grade inflation and issues a
report to the Faculty Council every
year. Members now are preparing a
said, attributing this to students’ diverse back
grounds and separation from one another.
Calabria reminded the audience that the
tuition elasticity study, which predicted the
impact of tuition increases and helped guide
recommendations for the coming year, did not
cover the effects of hikes on graduate and pro
fessional students. He also acknowledged that
students pursuing advanced degrees often
times see little benefit from activity fees.
Dearmin, who was elected Tuesday, thanked
members of the GPSF for endorsing him dur
ing his campaign. He also encouraged gradu
ate and professional students to contact him
during his term.
“I’m going to be proactive,” he said. “We have
to be in tune to what’s going on in their lives.”
Ted Kaplan, graduate student attorney gen
eral, said that a much stronger graduate stu
dent honor system has been established during
SEE GPSF, PAGE 4
UNC system looks at
draft of health plan
BY LAURA YOUNGS
SENIOR WRITER
The UNC system could be
moving closer to devising its own
health care plan as officials go
forward with blueprints to take
employee coverage out of the
state’s hands.
A system task force has been
researching for months ways to
create a separate health care plan,
which officials say would be more
cost-effective and provide more
choices for their employees.
A preliminary draft revealed
during the UNC-system Board of
Governors’ Budget and Finance
Committee meeting in February
outlines 12 different objectives offi
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2005
report to present this spring.
In its report last April, the policy
committee wrote at length about
the issue:
“It is not controversial that
average grades have gotten higher
over the last 40 years, but there is
strong disagreement about why
this has happened, what it means,
and whether anything should be
done about it,” the report states.
Peter Gordon, chairman of the
Education Policy Committee, said
the group has recognized the trend
and is searching for solutions.
At one point, the committee sug-
SEE GRADES, PAGE 4
rials are exploring for the plan.
The plan is still in its early
stages and, even if approved by
the N.C. General Assembly in
the coming months, might not
see light until 2006, said Victor
Landry, senior vice president of
the system’s Association of Student
Governments and an observing
member of the task force.
He said the main difference
between the university plan and
the state plan is a greater amount
of choice.
Under the state plan, employ
ees pay no monthly premium for
coverage, which is covered by the
SEE HEALTH CARE, PAGE 4
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