(Thp Doily ®ar MM
Board might act on redistricting
BY RACHEL ULLRICH
STAFF WRITER
At a meeting Tuesday, county
leaders might bring to a close a
heated debate about how mem
bers of the Orange County Board
of Commissioners are elected.
Since they brought a peti
tion about the issue to the board
in January, rural residents have
argued that their votes go unheard
because the larger precincts near
Chapel Hill and Carrboro domi
nate the current electoral system.
Earlier this year, they called for
new district lines to be drawn to
encourage the election of commis
GPSF
readies
report
Stresses need for
: funds, child care
BY KATHRYN ROWLAND
STAFF WRITER
Basketball tickets to sit with
spouses, money for conference
and research travel and a possible
' rise in teaching assistant stipends
what more could graduate stu
dents ask for?
More say in University tuition
decisions and better transportation
and child care programs in Chapel
Hill, perhaps, according to the
2005 November Report, which the
Graduate and Professional Student
Federation soon will begin printing.
The report documents the prog
ress of GPSF President Mike Brady’s
administration during its first six
months. It originally was set to be
released in October but was delayed
by the illness of Ashley Brown, vice
president of internal affairs.
A major issue for Brady has been
representing graduate and profes
sional students in the tuition advi
sory task force along with Brown,
the report states.
It says the task force supported
a proposal to “increase the mini
mum teaching assistant stipend to
$7,000 per class, per semester .with
an increase of SSOO for stipends that
already are above that minimum.”
But Secretary Theresa
Mcßeynolds said by increasing sti
pends —with money that comes
from raising tuition there is a
potential for departments to decrease
accordingly the number of teaching
assistants they hire.
“By raising graduate student
tuition to pay for those increases,
you’re taking money from (all grad
uate students) to give it back to only
a portion of those people,” she said.
“Three of the four proposals
increase graduate student tuition
at a higher amount than under
graduate,” Mcßeynolds said.
The report also documents the
transition to an online application
for anew travel award that will pay
for conference and research travel
for graduate students.
Mcßeynolds said more than 100
applications for the award had been
received in both semesters of its exis
tence. The deadline was midnight
Friday, she said, and between 12 and
17 applicants will receive the award.
Another new program included
in the report will enable graduate
students to buy basketball tickets
for spouses to accompany their
own free student ticket.
And graduate students with chil
dren continue to look to the GPSF
for “expanding lull-time child care
options around campus,” which the
report states is a long-term goal.
“The next steps for child care
are to try and identify more space
for permanent child care facilities,”
Brady said. The goal came after
plans for a child care center were
dropped from final construction
' plans for the Student and Academic
Services facility, the report says.
Finding space also is the issue
for establishing a permanent
graduate student center, Brady
said, adding that it still is being
discussed in meetings and thus is
not highlighted in the report.
On another front, the report states
that transportation issues have been
very problematic this year. It blames
fuel shortages for increased depen
dency on mass transportation and
the system’s resulting insufficiency.
“We need to start talking to some
local groups within the University
and community to try and figure
out what we need to do to improve
our transit options,” Brady said.
The report states “major reforms
to the transportation system will be
necessary to ensure reliability.”
Mcßeynolds said the GPSF hopes
to resolve many issues by the end of
its term. “We’re just getting into a
lot of stuff that will come out in the
April Report”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
sioners from rural areas.
The commissioners since have
proposed three options, with vari
ables including everything from
the number of commissioners to
the size of proposed districts.
If all goes according to schedule,
a referendum on one of the plans
will be on the ballot next year.
Commissioner Alice Gordon
said she is optimistic about what
the changes could do for the county,
though some might need revision.
“It’s conceivable that we’ll
choose a plan to put to a vote,” she
said ofThesday’s meeting.
“But if we find something comes
up, we have more time through the
end of the year.”
Some community leaders still
are hesitant to support the com
missioners’ plans.
Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, had
put together a plan earlier in the
process that he still thinks would
do a better job.
“I think far and away the plan we
proposed is better,” Faison said of his
Your potential. Our passion.- Organize your notes. And your life.
Microsoft
. ...S&a&fe.K \\
Use OneNote free for an entire semester.
Microsoft® Office OneNote® 2003 is a software program
that gives you one place to store, search, and organize the
info you need. Download your free trial today!
Visit: www.onenotecampus.com
On
Microsoft*Office li-l
OnsNot© 2003
© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, the Office logo, OneNote, and
"Your potential. Our passion." are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
News
plan to enlarge the board to seven,
including mostly geographic-based
members and one at-large spot.
Faison explained that the popu
lation and the number of commis
sioners in each district are almost
exactly equal in his plan, encour
aging more even distribution.
“It fits the demographic better,”
he said of the plan.
Faison introduced a bill that
failed in the General Assembly
earlier this year that would have
put his proposal to a referendum.
Bob Strayhorn, a local farmer
who helped take the issue to the
commissioners in January, has
reservations about plans other
than Faison’s, which he said better
reflects the will of the people.
“It was really a fair plan,” he said
of Faison’s proposal. “It made sure
the areas had the amount they
should have.”
Gordon said that under new
plans, commissioners would be
geographically distributed and
would remain true to the principal
of one person, one vote.
Both Strayhorn and Faison
noted that the commissioners pri
marily have focused their efforts
on schemes involving a five-seat
board, the current size.
Faison said the Chapel Hill
Town Council and Hillsborough
Town Board both have recom
mended larger boards.
Gordon explained that she
personally prefers five-member
boards. “It’s a more efficient, more
effective number.”
“And there’s nothing in the
petition that says (residents) want
seven,” she added.
She noted that a five-seat board
more evenly apportions votes.
“There is almost no deviation from
the population,” she said.
The commissioners will review
the plan at its 7:30 p.m. meeting
at the Southern Human Services
building off Homestead Road.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2005
COMING SOON
’- '’ ’ mm : r Vym^/^f^^sfftßßS f *9
UHNC freshman Aurelia Belfield auditions for the “The
HVagina Monologues” on Monday evening in Gerrard
lHall. Belfield, who is a dramatic arts major, has
wanted to be in the play ever since she first saw it with her
mother two years ago. More auditions will be held today.
9