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Page Two
THE DATT.Y TAR HEEL
Wednesday, October 5, ICC3
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Cfje i&mlv tar Heel
The official student publication of the Publications
Board of the University of North Carolina, where it is
published daily except Monday, examination periods and
summer terms. Entered as second-class matter in the post
office in Chapel Hill, N. C. under the act of March 8,
1870. Subscription rates: $4.00 per semester, $7.00 per
year.
The Daily Tar Heel is printed by Colonial Press,
Chapel Hill, N. C.
Editor Jonathan Yardley
Associate Editor Wayne King, Mary Stewart Baker
Assistant. Editor Ron Shumate
Managing Editors .. Bob IIasketx, Margaret Ann Rhymes
News Editors Henry Mayer, Lloyd Little
Feature Editors Susan Lewis, Adelaide Cromartie
Photography Editor Bill Brinkhous
Sports Editor Ken Friedman
Asst. Sports Editor Frank W. Slusser
Contributing Editors John Justice, Davis B. Young
Business Manager Tim Burnett
Advertising Manager - Richard Weiner
Subscription Manager - Charles Whedbee
Circulation Manager John Jester
Bill Hobbs
The Spoils Of War
Victory Village's two housing sections present a
striking contrast of old and new.
In the one case, the decadent, thin-walled, converted
army barracks existing on their present site for over
13 years and at various army camps around the country
even longer stand packed together along poorly paved
roads.
However, the new section includes 208 fireproof
brick units constructed only last year.
And these modern homes soon will be surrounded by
an equally new and attractive landscape, intended to
help provide residents with a pleasant living environ--ment
inside and out.
Housing Problem In 1947
World War II's termination found Carolina and
other universities and colleges across the country with
a severe housing problem.
G.I. students returning to school with wives had no
place to live.
Fortunately, the United States happened to have a
great deal of excess, temporary housing on her hands.
And this is what the U.S. made available to schools
on the conditoin that they construct the road, sewage,
plumbing and electrical systems necessary to make the
units liveable.
Carolina did this; the Army gave her an assorted
collection of unwanted barracks, and in 1947 Victory Vil
lage came into being.
"Unfit" For Occupancy 5 Years Ago
The housing units were installed as an emergency
measure and were expected to be fit for occupancy no
longer than eight years. .
Thirteen have passed.
Not all of the housing in the old section of the Vil
lage had seen service in 1947.
The "UK" buildings are single residences, so named
because they were new, prefabricated, temporary build
ings, intended for use in Great Britain but shunted to
UNC when the war ended their trip to England.
Each cream-colored home has two bedrooms, a liv
ing room, kitchen and a single heating unit.
The long, one-story multiple units with one central
heating unit for every two buildings were transported
here from the army camp at Laurinburg.
Each contains three apartments on concrete founda
tions with from one to three bedrooms.
Wilmington's base provided the two-story houses
which bear its name each with a single heating unit.
But, Quick Repair Service Today
Today, residents report that the Victory Village man
agement gives "excellent" and quick repair service for
all matters concerning the buildings themselves.
But, one of the most unalluring features is the land
scape around the old housing.
Bare, eroded gullies run through backyards.
Tiny gravel-like stones cover everything except
roads and a few patches' of high, weed-ridden, uncut
grass; and large boulders sit among garbage cans and
clotheslines.
Complaints about the grounds rather than the build
ings are far more numerous.
Most of the mothers interviewed would like to see
places for their children to play "some place for swings,
slides, sidewalks."
Husbands mentioned that, although the management
provided lawnmowers for them, these usually proved to
be hopelessly inadequate because of rust or lack of parts.
Rain Brings Muddy Rivers Across Lawns
Residents mentioned the lack of gutters f or the
roads and regretted that any rain usually brought muddy
rivers down across the houses and lawns.
Many of the barracks lie below the level of the
roads and are always covered with a muddy brown dis
coloration from their foundations to the level of their
porches.
Perhaps the appealing feature of these barracks to
most of their present residents is the rent $15 to $35
per month.
Comments such as "I can't gripe for $27 a month,"
or "The only reason we came back to school was this
low rent," were heard from most occupants interviewed
by the Daily Tar Heel.
Wayne King
After The Village
Victory Village came into being in 1947. Since that
time it has been the residence of thousands of students
and their wives.
It has weathered thirteen years of storms, snows and
hails, not to mention some winds of hurricane velocity.
The squat, ugly, architect's nightmares have" been
nailed up, rewired, painted, repainted, moved, shuffled,
reset on their foundations, underpinned and shored up.
. They have been renovated, renewed and rejuvenat
ed countless .times.
All this has been done in thirteen years to wood and
fiber-board structures that were designed to last for a
maximum of eight years. .
Some of the units have a history of longer than the
thirteen years mentioned. !
World War II was over in 1945, fifteen years ago.
Some of the units saw. service prior to the end of that
war.
In short, these units are standing today, long after
they should have been replaced. Most of the European
countries which were ravaged by WW II have been re
built. Entire cities have been reconstructed, complete
But just as France has some remnants of the Maginot
Line, and Japan has Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Carolina
still has Victory Village.
Desparately Outmoded
The mass of army barracks and "temporary" gov
ernment housing which comprise the older section of the
village are desparately outmoded.
The roads and landscaping (both terms are used
loosely) that surround the living units are eyesores on
what is otherwise a beautiful campus.
Some of the wooden frame structures could easily
fall prey to a ravaging fire that only prompt action could
prevent from becoming a holocaust.
But, admittedly, this is only one side of the picture.
On the other side is the low-budget married couple who
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THE NEW HOUSING in Victory Village is made
up of 208 units of modern, fireproof brick.
need adequate housing at a price he and his family can
afford.
Rental costs in the old section of the Village are
more than reasonable, so reasonable in fact, that many
married students are able to continue at Carolina only
because of the low housing costs he can maintain by liv
ing in one of the units."
The housing itself is obviously outmoded, but it can,
and is, being lived in with some degree of comfort.
..... Surveillance Necessary
Constant surveillance on the part of maintenance
men keep the water out and the heat in, Repainting
serves to keep the appearance of the houses from being
downright revolting.
The student's own ingenuity and hard work can
make the fiber board walls presentable and sometimes
even attractive with pictures and other decorative de
vices. Money taken from an already pinched budget will
buy swings and slides for the children if the family
wants to make the sacrifice.
Besides,, if anyone desires, he could probably get a
place to live elsewhere. Other housing does exist in
Chapel Hill. If you can afford it.
The 208 new units just built last year are the best
bet for. a Carolina student. They are the ultimate in
modern brick housing for college students. But they cost
at least twice as much per month as the old housing. And
they cannot accommodate everyone who needs living
space without the help of the old structures.
Obviously this poses a problem for the prospective
seeker of an apartment.
-With a wife and children, many cannot afford to pay
the costs of an education and provide housing for his
family as well. Herein the Village provides a service
that cannot be over-estimated.
Unfortunately, the units cannot stand forever, al
though it would appear that some in our administration
feel they will outlast the Rock of Gibraltar.
After the older houses are torn down, what then?
We must assume that they will eventually fall prey to
the bulldozers, and go to their long-overdue end.
Then Carolina will be faced with a housing prob
lem of immense proportions unless some action is
taken soon towards supplying some substitute for the
housing which must ultimately go.
At present, no concrete plans have been made to
ward replacement of those units which now comprise
a large portion of our married-student housing.
When They Are Gone
When they are gone (and we hope that they will go
soon), more housing will have to be constructed to re
place them. Will the administration erect more of the
modern brick structures that now stand adjacent to the
old apartments? And if they do, what about the rental
rates? Will they remain the same or will they be re
duced to a level commensurate with what the families
can afford to pay?
If the rates are not reduced, much of the purpose of
L : 3
THE OLD UNITS were designed as 'temporary
living units. That was in 1947.
the improvements will be lost, purely and simply be
cause not much benefit can be derived from improve
ments that few can afford.
The importance of this factor cannot be over-emphasized.
Excessive costs will drive many a capable stu
dent away from Carolina.
The answer, then, lies in an immediate project to
continue construction at a steady pace, while at the
same time the worst of the housing is being torn down.
Then, as the older units become unusable, they can bo
removed to make room for the new apartments. Rental
costs should then be lowered by means of longer mort
gages, which, though they are more expensive in the
long run seem to provide the only feasible method of
keeping rents within a reasonable range, one which can
be met from a limited budget.
Like The One-Horse Shay
The issue of greatest importance is to do something,
and start doing it now, before the Village begins to fall
apart like the Wonderful One Horse Shay all at once
and too late to do anything about it.
The housing already constructed is a step in the
right direction. But if it becomes an excuse for resting
on our laurels, then it can only be construed as a halting
half -step. It should be followed by successive strides
toward the same goal.
Removing only half of Victory Village is much like
cutting away half a cancer and trying to convert the re
maining half into healthy tissue.
Of course, a program of this nature cannot be ac
complished in a short time. It will take time and a great
deal of it. It will also take a lot of money.
And until this money is scraped together, plans laid
and executed, the old barracks and temporary houses
will still stand.
Need Attention Now
Most of these need attention now. They cannot wait
until some other moves are made. Cracked underpinnings
and fallen fences are serious offenders insofar as they
detract to a' great measure from the livability of the
houses themselves.
Neither do boulders in backyards or garbage cans
too close to houses. These things won't get a residence
condemned as unsafe. Neither will lack of play areas for
children or roads that are in need of repair.
But they will make things mighty uncomfortable.
The majority of the eyesores could be remedied with a
minimum capital outlay. Of course, it may seem silly to
put money into improvement of buildings and grounds
that should, in the future, be torn down. The point here,
however, is that the tearing down and rebuilding pro
cess will take some time, even if the administration has
the foresight to start immediately.
Meanwhile these improvements should be made.
Apparently "we will have to live with these World
War II monuments for a while yet.
At present we should be planning to get rid of them
fatten them up for the slaughter by making them at
least presentable now.
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A FALLEN, BROKEN CHICKEN-WIRE fence
represents the many eyesores that are to be found
in the village.
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PLAY AREAS FOR CHILDREN are a much need
ed addition to the construction that is to provide
married students with adequate living facilities.
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HUGE BOULDERS left in back-yards are mute
testimony to the hurry with which the housing was
erected in 1947.
GULLIES AND DITCHES which spew rivers of
mud into yards and onto wails are to be found
throughout the development.