Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 2, 1975, edition 1 / Page 1
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Vol f y ri (T kv f J f Vol. 83, No. 25 ; LLJlMiMLlll fclgMfriy H Q Sir " - k by Art Eisenstadt Staff Writer Student Body Treasurer Mike O'Neal said Wednesday he is willing to work out a compromise concerning his job status with Student Body President Bill Bates. But O'Neal said Bates did not seem eager to compromise for fear of appearing weak. "The president is trying to prove he has a backbone at the expense of the student body," O'Neal said. Bates said later he is willing to compromise with O'Neal but has not yet been offered a satisfactory solution by the treasurer. Told of O'Neal's charge, Bates said, "There's nothing I would want to say about that. Whatever Mike wants to say, he can say as far as I'm concerned." Bates also said he no longer recognizes O'Neal as treasurer and has asked a first year law student to study the possibility of bringing Student Supreme Court action against O'Neal. Charging that O'Neal had overstepped his authority as treasurer, Bates fired him Tuesday. O'Neal has refused to leave office, saying Bates has no constitutional authority to fire him. Bates said he asked Student Activities Fund Office Director Frances W. Sparrow to approve all checks and requisitions signed . by Sue Cobb Staff Writer Carrboro Mayor Robert Wells will meet with various Chapel Hill administrators Monday to discuss mass transportation and possibly to propose extending the Chapel Hill bus system into Carrboro. Although Wells refused to reveal the specific purpose of the meeting, Carrboro Alderman George Beswick said he was told that Wells intended to make the proposal. Beswick said he did not know how extensively the matter would be discussed. Chapel Hill Alderman Gerry Cohen, who has been invited to Monday's luncheon meeting, said, "There are not enough buses at present to extend service to Carrboro, unless service to Chapel Hill riders is reduced." If new buses were ordered, it would be a long time before Chapel Hill received them, he said. Before buses could even be ordered, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen would have to consult with Chapel Hill and Carrboro administrators, planners and transporation officials to determine the most feasible method of providing and funding Carrboro public transportation. Beswick said it is virtually impossible for Carrboro to establish a separate bus system. "It's not economically feasible for Carrboro to have its own system because the federal government will not subsidize contiguous bus systems' with capital monies," he said. "But I think, we're going to have a bus system. How it's going to come about, though, I don't know." Wells and some Carrboro aldermen have been criticized recently by the Carrboro Community Coalition for failing to consider the bus issue adequately. The coalition, a non-partisan political action group, was formed primarily to advocate Carrboro by Vernon Loeb Staff Writer The Campus Governing Council passed a bill Tuesday night to limit the powers of the student body treasurer and the CGC Finance Committee chairperson to freeze student organizations funds. The bill was introduced to prevent future financial problems like the recent Black Student Movement controversy in which vagueness in the student treasury laws led to uncertainty concerning the right of student government officials to freeze and release frozen funds. - According to the bill, when an organization's funds have been frozen by the Q g g by O'Neal until the treasurer's status is clarified. Sparrow also serves as assistant stydent body treasurer. O'Neal said he has offered to resign Jan. 1 and then take over as Bates' executive assistant. "I want to stay on my job because of the support I've received from students," O'Neal said. "But I was willing to give up three-and-a-half months of my term." He also said he offered to issue a public statement accepting full blame for any controversies raised by his actions as treasurer. "A compromise was my idea," O'Neal said. "I offered the president at least two, and the president's compromise, if you can call it that, was not to compromise at all." Bates said he would be willing to give O'Neal another position in his administration but wants the treasurer out of office by November. "We have talked about compromises," Bates said. "1 want him to leave office within four or five weeks, which would give Graham (Bullard, Bates's nominee to succeed O'Neal) a chance to become completely acclimated to the office of student body treasurer." Bates said he respects O'Neal's abilities as treasurer but wants him to move to an administrative position. He said O'Neal had overstepped his authority by lobbying against Bates on such issues as student legal public transportation. Coalition member Doug Sharer said, "The people in the Carrboro administration have done no studies whatsoever" regarding the desirability and feasibility of a Carrboro bus system. "Chapel Hill is waiting for Carrboro to decide, and Carrboro is doing nothing," he said. Sharer also cited a survey of 250 Carrboro adults taken by the UNC biostatistics department last spring as evidence that most Carrboro residents want public transportation. According to the survey, 86 per cent of the eligible voters wanted a referendum to decide on a bus system, while 62 per cent listed a bus system as their first priority in improving Carrboro transportation. Despite apparent public support for a bus system of some sort, Sharer said, the current town administration refuses to take any action. Sharer and Cohen said action could not be taken on the bus issue until after the November municipal elections. Sharer said he expects enough Carrboro aldermen seats will be filled then by pro-bus candidates to ensure full consideration of the issue. If a majority of the aldermen favor a Carrboro bus system, a referendum must then be held to determine if Carrboro residents want a system and if they will support the funding method chosen by the board. Carrboro citizens defeated such a bus system referendum several years ago. A referendum takes at least 75 days to organize, Cohen said. He said mid-February is the earliest possible time a referendum vote could be organized. Should a referendum be passed then, and buses ordered soon thereafter, Cohen said it would be possible to have public transportation in Carrboro by next fall,' depending on how soon the new buses are received. student body treasurer or the finance committee chairperson, CGC should, at its first meeting after the Finance Committee's formal hearing on the matter, vote to either freeze or release the funds of the organization in question. Once CGC has released an organization's funds, the student body treasurer or the Finance Committee chairperson cannot refreeze those funds for the same violation. At its second meeting last month, CGC defeated two bills, one to release the BSM's funds, and another to continue the freeze already imposed upon BSM's funds. Because of CGCs inaction, the BSM's funds remained frozen. Had the hew law been in effect at that Serving the students and the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Thursday, October 2, 1975 t - f f I - " "W'''''"W'' Ill- lmi mil ii.iitiiii : I ? , if aid and the Black Student Movement (BSM) funding controversy. O'Neal said he was only expressing disagreement with Bates on the legal aid issue and gave his opinion on the BSM funds at the request of Campus Governing Council representatives. O'Neal said recently that he and Bates probably agree on most issues before Student Government. "The reasons he's given to fire me aren't sufficient to wash with me or the student body," O'Neal said. Bates suggested O'Neal's resignation Sept. 11 after the treasurer refused to carry out Bates' order to release most of the then frozen BSM budget. After O'Neal rejected Bates' suggestion, the president sent O'Neal a more strongly worded request for his resignation and finally fired him outright. , O'Neal has refused to leave office, saying only CGC could force him to leave. Bates nominated Bullard, currently O'Neal's assistant, to be treasurer last Friday. However, the CGC Administration Committee tabled the nomination Sunday pending further clarification of Bates' power to fire O'Neal. The student constitution states that the president can appoint the treasurer with two thirds approval of CGC. It does not mention dismissal powers, except for impeachment by CGC. Bates contends that the power to appoint implies the power to fire, but O'Neal said constitutionally designated officials must be protected against presidential whims. Although no suit has yet been filed, the controversy may end up in the Student Supreme Court. Bates said law student Ralph Yount is now considering possible -"Court act ion against O'Neals - Yount said Wednesday, "I doubt if I'll be talking about the case until the case comes up. I haven't looked into the issue enough. I don't know what action will be taken." O'Neal said he has accepted the offers of two law students, George Blackburn and Jay Strong, to represent him if the case should come before Student Supreme Court. Both Bates and O'Neal expressed hopes that the case would not have to go before court. "I respect Mike's points, but don't agree with them," Bates said. "I'm not yet sure I have standing to bring this case before court." O'Neal said, "Supposedly, if Bill Bates and Mike O'Neal, as two of the highest officials in Student Government, cannot sit down in a room and iron out their differences without going to court, something is wrong." In the concrete jungle 3$X : Amid th hustles end bustles of a typically busy day on Franklin j Street was this untypical street scene: "Moonf Ire," playing and posing I In the planters In front of Town Hall. li n it 9 2i i n c meeting, CGC would have been forced to either release the funds or officially continue the freeze. CGC also approved the Graduate and Professional Student Federation's (GPSF) Treasury Laws and approved a bill limiting the jurisdiction of the GPSF Treasury Laws until all necessary amendments to them are approved by CGC. CGC also allowed the graduate federation to make social expenditures from their Student Government appropriations. All undergraduate organizations are prohibited from making such expenditures. CGC member John Sawyer, a graduate student in the School of Public Health, said the federation should be permitted to make University community since 1893 v v . ) v 'If Staff photot by Mrgrt Klrfc Students, faculty and administrators met Tuesday to discuss several academic topics. The meeting wcs organized by CGC. Academic possibilities examined by Chris Fuller Staff Writer UNC faculty members and administrators discussed grade inflation, variable course credit, drop-add, registration, student leaves and delayed admissions at a meeting organized by the Campus Governing Council Tuesday night. During a discussion of grade inflation, Provost J. Charles Morrow said that more than 70 per cent of grades given at the University are higher than B." He said the excellent student is being penalized by the current grading system, since grade inflation destroys the distinction between the good and the excellent student. Raymond E. Strong, director of the Records and Registration Office, discussed the possibility of computerizing the . .regisUaUonjCUXpiajiid prpcess,... He cited budget problems as a major obstacle." " : He said the registration department estimates that between 30 and 40 computer terminals and two telephone lines to the computer would be needed to effectively computerize drop-add. Extending the sign-up deadlines for pass fail was suggested by a student at the meeting. The student said there is not enough time to determine how difficult a course is before the pass fail deadline. But Dean James Gaskin of the College of Arts and Sciences argued that pass fail was not initated as an insurance policy for students. The purpose of pass fail is to encourage students weak in a subject to take a course in the subject without fear of dropping his grade average. Undergraduate Studies Chairperson Mi SUA pdotoa by A8c Boyto social expenditures because graduate student social events funded with Student Government appropriations have academic purposes. Most of these events, he said, are gatherings where faculty members and graduate students discuss academic affairs. In other action, CGC approved the appointment of Zapp Jennings as Student Information Director. Jennings, also a CGC Representative, replaces Bryant Phillips who will continue working for Student Body President Bill Bates in other capacities. Bates withdrew a bill to approve the appointment of Phillips as his executive assistant after Phillips said his schedule did not permit him to accept the position. i .V"4, 1 x J i - it K . 1 James White said he has been working on a plan to vary course credit according to the amount of work involved in the course. Another plan White suggested is giving variable credits within a course. In a standard three-credit course, a student could do a pre-specified amount of extra work for extra credit or less work for less credit under this plan. White said only a few students would be interested in this system and that its only effect would be to give more flexibility to the relatively few students interested in it. White said he presented his two plans at a political science department meeting but Citizen group chairman to run for town board by Richard Whittle Staff Writer Citizens for Chapel Hill Chairperson Charles G. "Chuck" Beemer filed Wednesday as a candidate for the Chapel Hill Board of Aldermen. Beemer, 35, termed his political views strictly progressive and promised to stress fiscal responsibility during his campaign. He said he would probably step down as chairperson of Citizens for Chapel Hill, the town's newest political caucus, because the organization plans to endorse various candidates here this year. Beemer said it would obviously be a conflict of interest for him to lead a group involved in evaluating other alderman candidates. But he said he will probably not resign from the group's executive committee, which is charged with reporting information on the candidates to the group. As an alderman, Beemer said in his formal announcement, he would vote for"programs whose funding would be based primarily upon hoped for or illusory reliance upon federal hand-outs." by Dan Fesperman Staff Writer University of North Carolina system President William C. Friday will meet this , morning in Washington with officials of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare's Office of Civil Rights to discuss the University system's desegregation controversy. Friday said Wednesday the meeting may be the first of a series of meetings with HEW to help resolve the desegregation issue. Friday and four members of his staff will meet with Peter Holmes, national director of the civil rights office and William Thomas, regional director of the office. Friday said, "This is a good faith effort to determine what differences, if any, exist (between HEW and the university system), and what new directions the Office of Civil Rights will take." The meeting will be the first contact between the university system and .HEW since August 19, when the consolidated university replied to HEWs threat to have federal funds cut off. HEW made the threat after charging the university system with failing to fulfill commitments made in North Carolina's higher education desegregation plan. The department's major concern was that the University's decision to place a proposed veterinary school at N.C. State University rather than the predominantly black North 3 Weather, fair U I: received little support from the professors. Although they were not opposed to his plan, they wanted nothing to do with it, he said. He added that the faculty seems to fear the red tape involved. Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions Richard Baddour termed the University's readmission policy as an open door. He said if a student withdraws his application after it has been accepted, he can be readmitted up until registration, if he is still academically eligible. He said the University has no formal policy concerning delayed admissions for students who want to take a leave of absence. He also said he firmly believes in the town manager form of government. "Chapel Hill does not need a fulltime mayor," he said. "If the town's professionally trained administrators are allowed to do their jobs free from pesky interference from elected town officials, then these administrators would bring efficiency and stability to town government." A 1974 graduate of the UNC law school, Beemer said he thinks the time has come to determine the direction of the town. "After five years of growth, much of it positive and lasting, Chapel Hill must have elected officials who with realism and empathy will probe, question and evaluate," he said. re- the Beemers main goals are raising questions of economy, efficiency and accountability in local government; creating permanent liason between the UNC Student Government and the town; and ensuring safety, accountability and efficiency in the town's bus system. Beemer received a master's degree in history from the University of Wisconsin. He has taught at three colleges and has worked as a stockbroker in Chicago. Carolina A&T did not consider the impact of the vet school location. HEW argued that the racial impact would be greater if the school were located at A&T. In a letter to Friday on March 25, Thomas wrote that before a veterinary school could . be established at N.C. State, "A program of similar stature and attractiveness at N.C. A&T" must be established. Friday said in August that the veterinary school's location was not a racial issue, but one of "whether the Board of Governors can make a decision based on the educational evidence at hand." He said Wednesday, "The vet school issue has been exaggerated out of proportion by HEW," and added that it would probably not be the main area of discussion in today's meeting. Friday said that the racial impact studies conducted by HEW will be discussed, and also the financial ability of North Carolina to fulfill desegregation requirements. Friday said he felt that the University system had shown good faith in the funding of the desegregation plan. Desegregation was the only program funded completely by the university system Board of Governors during the past fiscal year. Friday said, "it is our responsibility to do the very best we can to implement the state plan, but we have the equal responsibility of asserting the University's right to make its own decisions." , Friday said of today's meeting, "I'm going prepared. I'll be ready for whatever they raise."
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 2, 1975, edition 1
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