VOLUME 113, ISSUE 40
UNC might have to curb growth
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BY ERIC JOHNSON
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
Faced with the possibility of a $29.4
million reduction in state funds for the
coming academic year, UNC-system
leaders have expressed concern about
the cuts’ potential impact on the long
term goal of expanding access for in
state students.
Increasing enrollment to accommo
date a burgeoning population of high
school graduates has been one of the
system’s core initiatives in recent years.
But recent comments by system
UNC-system
President Molly
Broad said
cuts might hurt
enrollment.
Faison fuels
conflict with
bold agenda
Rep. makes waves
with his proposals
BY WHITNEY ISENHOWER
STAFF WRITER
Many first-year legislators come
to the N.C. House and try to blend
in by sneaking in the back door.
Bill Faison thought it better to
barrel through the front.
With his debate-sparking leg
islation, the freshman Caswell
County Democrat hasn’t been
afraid to raise a ruckus or stir
up a few county commissioners.
“Representative Faison has
struck out in a bold new direction
with his first time around,” said
Sen. Elbe Kinnaird, D-Orange.
Faison’s more controversial
pieces of legislation include a redis
tricting bill for Orange County and
two bills that could halt a Carrboro
annexation unpopular with affected
residents.
“He is introducing bills that have
a little more impact than some of
the other first-year legislators,” said
Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange. “It’s
Thrower wants
one more shot
BY DEREK HOWLES
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Find some North Carolina
students who’ve seen Laura
Gerraughty around campus. Show
them her picture and ask if they
know who it is.
Odds are they won’t say she’s a
three-time NCAA shot put cham
pion or one of the youngest shot
putters at the 2004 Olympics.
No, it’s a safe bet that they’ll rec
ognize her as something entirely
different: “the girl with the sling
shot.”
And why not? After all,
Gerraughty’s an expert in launch
ing stuff namely shots, hammers,
discuses and 35-pound weights.
But she doesn’t use the “sling
shot” to fling those things. And
despite joking that she’ll be “the
DTH FILE PHOTO
North Carolina shot putter Laura Gerraughty redshirted the spring season
after suffering from a wrist injury that could end her career in the shot.
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President Molly Broad and Board of
Governors Chairman Brad Wilson sug
gest that the goal could be threatened
if state spending on higher education
does not keep pace with the booming
student population.
“To fail to accommodate that enroll
ment growth would be unprecedent
ed,” Broad said during last Thursday’s
board meeting. “It would be to fail to
fulfill the university’s mission.”
“To have to fulfill that mission out of
the hides of the other students seems
equally unfair,” she added.
not that typical, but it’s certainly
not unusual.”
The newcomer won office
after beating Orange County
Commissioner Barry Jacobs in the
Democratic primary for House
District 50, which includes Caswell
County and parts of northern
Orange County.
In Orange County, Jacobs
the choice of much of the county
establishment won 53 percent
of the vote, while Faison garnered
only 41 percent.
But in the manufacturing
heavy Caswell County, Faison
used his down-home style to his
advantage and ran to a win of 52
percentage points. It gained him
a seat in the House, as he had no
Republican or libertarian-oppo
nents in the general election.
Now, in a county he lost by 12
percentage points, Faison says he
tries to stay involved.
“If you’re under the impression
that I’m at war with the county com
missioners, then that’s just not so.”
But his critics lament his
SEE FAISON, PAGE 4
life of the pool party now that I
can launch water balloons,” it’s not
intended for that, either.
No matter how it appears, the
thing’s not a slingshot or water bal
loon launcher at all it’s a medical
device. Gerraughty wears it to try
to correct a condition that forced
her to quit throwing the shot ear
lier this year. It’s a condition that
could force America’s shot put
queen, at the tender age of 21, to
abdicate her throne forever.
Gerraughty’s rise to shot put roy
alty began when she shattered the
national prep record in the girls’
shot put by almost two feet as a high
school thrower in Nashua, N.H.
Still, a curious stiffness stem
ming from the constant bending
SEE GERRAUGHTY, PAGE 4
www.dthonUne.com
Wilson said continued budget cuts
of the magnitude proposed last week
by the N.C. legislature’s joint education
appropriations subcommittee could
make it increasingly difficult to strike
a balance between access and quality.
“How can we continue to let stu
dents pour in, but yet we’re not able to
deliver to those that are already there
and those that are going to continue to
come?” he said, also during Thursday’s
BOG meeting.
“One way to moderate resource
allocation is to narrow that front
“We need to make sure were dealing with facts
not just allegations, hut with truth james moeser, CHANCELLOR
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DTH/NICK CLARKE
Chancellor James Moeser addresses issues about Aramark Corp. posed by employees and their supporting students at a forum held Tuesday.
WORKERS
GET MOESER’S EAR
BY KATHERINE EVANS
STAFF WRITER
By the time everyone settled into their seats at Chancellor James
Moeser’s student forum Tuesday, it was clear that no one wanted to
discuss Tom Wolfe’s novel “I am Charlotte Simmons.”
Instead, Moeser who said he hoped to discuss the novel as well
as proposed UNC-system budget cuts fielded questions and complaints from
frustrated Aramark Corp. workers and the students who support them.
While Student Body Vice President Adrian Johnston prefaced the meet
ing by describing it as a way for students to open a general dialogue with
Moeser, Aramark employees used it as a chance to voice concerns about their
employer.
The controversy surrounding Aramark, the
private contractor hired by the University in
2001 to provide food services, reached a head
earlier this semester when pro-union employ
ee Vel Dowdy was arrested and charged with
embezzlement for allegedly giving away meals.
During Tuesday’s forum, many work
ers shared stories of workplace negligence,
unfairness and sexual harassment.
“Aramark treats these people like cattle,”
said Lezlie Sumpter, a union advocate and
former Aramark employee.
“They move you around like cattle. These
people deserve better.”
As the meeting wore on, it became clear that
UNC officials will not intervene until Associate
University Counsel Joanna Carey Smith finishes
her investigation of the allegations.
“We need to make sure we’re dealing with
facts not just allegations, but with truth,”
Moeser said.
Moeser encouraged employees to contact
Aramark directly through the corporation’s
24-hour hotline.
“You are all employees of Aramark,” he said.
“You are going to have to go to Aramark.”
Although Moeser said he has told Aramark
officials that administrators expect the cor
poration to adhere to its contract with UNC,
student advocates said the University should
door.”
Broad said any move to curtail
enrollment growth would be wrong
for the state and for the university, but
campus officials said the combina
tion of increasing enrollment and flat
appropriations is severely stretching
resources.
“There comes a point where you
cannot protect access any longer," said
Mark Lanier, assistant to the chancel
lor at UNC-Wilmington.
“With the severity of the cuts that
are being discussed right now, it’s
go beyond the contractual agreement and
take swift and immediate action in safeguard
ing the rights of Aramark employees.
Vocal students, many of them members of
Student Action with Workers, want Moeser
to support unionization by card-check voting.
That process would allow workers personally
to solicit signatures in support of collective
bargaining.
But Aramark officials said they prefer a
secret ballot process for unionization.
Moeser maintained that taking any stance on
unionization would violate the University's neu
trality. “We are not in the position to do that.”
The results of Smith’s investigation,
administrators say, will determine their plan
of action.
“Our role is to help facilitate conversation
among everyone,” Margaret Jablonski, vice
chancellor for student affairs, said earlier
Hiesday.
Dowdy, who is on paid leave pending trial,
was present at the forum and said the meet
ing was successful and went better than she
had expected.
“It’s a big step for us,” she said. “My next
step is to get my job back. We’re going to keep
on making steps till this gets done.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
SPORTS
SNEAKING UP FROM BEHIND
Four-run inning clinches North Carolina's win against
Wilmington in season's largest comeback PAGE 9
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005
something we have to take a look
at.”
UNC-W grew by 4.5 percent
between the 2003-04 academic year
and the fall 2004 semester, adding
495 students to reach a total popula
tion of 11,574.
“I think the reality throughout
the state is that no one wants access
to be diminished in any way,” Lanier
said. “(But) given the low level of state
appropriations that we receive, we may
SEE ENROLLMENT, PAGE 4
Students
mixed on
officials’
openness
BY GREG STEEN
STAFF WRITER
Campus administrators pride them
selves on their efforts to reach out to
students, saying that they strive to
make themselves available to hear
concerns.
But in a University community filled
with more than 20,000 student voices,
some say they have found the only way
to make themselves heard is through a
demonstration of force.
A rally held Wednesday in support
of Carolina Dining Services employees
culminated with participants storm
ing South Building and demanding to
meet with administrators.
A week earlier, representatives of
Student Action with Workers said it
was Chancellor James Moeser’s refusal
to meet with the group that led them to
stage a sit-in at South Building.
But Christopher Payne, associate
vice chancellor for student affairs,
said all student groups have ample
opportunities to meet with University
officials.
Student affairs is available “if they
SEE OFFICIALS, PAGE 4
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