Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 29, 1975, edition 1 / Page 1
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t f 4 si Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Chgpet Hill, North Carolina, Wednesday, October 29, 1975 Vol. 83, No. 48 Weather: cloudy Four candidates I I f I find different issues key to school board race s nsy by Merton Vance Staff Writer 77j5 is a series of interviews with the .candidates for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board. Voters will elect two members to the school board Nov. 4. Samuel Holton Samuel Holton, one of two incumbents in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board race, said Sunday, that the need to complete present plans for construction of new school facilities on time is one of the key issues for the board. The School Board is now in the second year of a five-year building plan to improve auditorium facilities in local schools, renovate Lincoln Center and build a new cultural arts center at Chapel Hill High School. M ore local control of the school system is needed, Holton said, adding that citizen control of the system is still possible in Chapel Hill unlike larger cities. "When you've only got 325 teachers, the superintendent knows most of them," he explained, adding that with a smaller system, there is more opportunity for public involvement. Holton said he sees a need for more vocational education and counseling to help cut down the number of drop-outs. Now a faculty member at the UNC School of Education, he has worked as a high school principal in Yanceyville and completed his graduate studies at UNC and Duke. James Riddle vThe Rev. James Riddle said his goal, if elected to the School Board,' is to-insure quality education in the school system by guaranteeing that the needs of all children are met. He expressed concern over the recent decline in standardized test scores in schools but emphasized that "a quality education is more than just basic skills." Riddle said he wants to co-ordinate planning to maximize use of existing school buildings. He said that aside from equalizing facilities at all local schools and building the new cultural arts center, no major additions need be added to present buildings. School buildings should be open after school hours to provide rooms for recreation, adult education and neighborhood meetings, he said. Riddle said, "UNC students sometimes fail to understand that the school system is also their concern." Many graduate students have families and are concerned with the local school system. Riddle is minister at the Chapel Hill Community Church, Riddle is a member of. the board of the Chapel Hill Co-operative P re-school. He is also president of the Inter Church Council Housing Corp., which has aided the construction of low-income housing projects. Phyllis SockweJI School Board candidate Phyllis Sockwell said Monday she wants to see uniform curricula in local schools which teachers could use as a guide for each class throughout the school system. "We need to have a basic,, all-round curriculum" to include vocational, academic and cultural education, she said. Sockwell said she also favors development of open classrooms, in which each student is allowed to advance at his own pace in addition to traditional classrooms. "1 feel that each elementary school should have both open classrooms and self contained classrooms," she said, adding that some students and teachers perform better in each type of class. Sockwell said she favors continuing the building program but foresees economic problems because of increased construction costs. "We need to stay within the limits of the budget as much as possible," she said. She urged that the board should go ahead with construction of the cultural arts center the most expensive item in the program "before inflation eats up any more of our dollars." Sockwell is a member of the School Study Committee and the Parent-Teachers Association. She worked as a first-grade teacher in Ohio before moving to Chapel Hill 22 years ago. She studied at Bowling Green University and did graduate work at UNC and Duke. Peachee Wicker Peachee Wicker, the second incumbent in the -School Board race,- said -she-wants - as -much openness as possible in School Board operations as a result of her increased concern over closed meetings of the board. Wicker has touched off controversy on several occasions by releasing information that was discussed in executive sessions of the School Board. In an Oct. 13 statement opposing closed meetings, she said, "I have been increasingly aware of and concerned by attempts to threaten or to coerce members of this board into a form of behavior approved by the majority, even though the majority may and sometimes has approved behavior that is clearly illegal, such as violations of the open meetings law." Because of inflation and increased energy costs, Wicker said the school system needs to take careful measures to economize. She said she favors construction and improvement of school facilities, but that care should be taken in planning construction. Wicker is a member of Common Cause, the Orange County Women's Caucus and the League of Women Voters. She received her education at the U niversity of Richmond and UNC. J t ui L. Sv, i " ZbM&emwAis. vS '- J Staff photo by Martha Stnraro "If God is not a Tarheel, then why is the sky Carolina Blue," reads the sign adorning one of the many concession booths which can be found inside Kenan Stadium on a game day. by Dan Fesperman Staff Writer The University of North Carolina system may intervene as a defendant in a law suit filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund against the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, system President William C. Friday said Tuesday. NAACP filed the suit in U.S. District Court last September, charging that HEW had not enforced higher education desegregation as well as it should have in North Carolina and seven other states. The UNC Board of Governors voted during a weekend meeting in Boone to enter the suit, but Friday said Tuesday, "No action has been taken yet to implement the motion." Many of the charges in the NAACP suit concern the consolidated university, and Friday said, "We intend to answer those charges if we enter the suit." A ruling in favor of the NAACP would require HEW to enforce stricter desegregation measures in the state universities of North Carolina and seven other states. It would also require each school in the 16-member consolidated university to admit classes each year with the same racial mix of the graudating high school classes in North Carolina. After first learning of the suit, Kriday charged that the NAACP had singled out North Carolina with undue emphasis as an example of how HEW has not enforced the desegregation plan. But Elliot C. Lichtman, an NAACP attorney, said two weeks ago, "North Carolina has singled out itself by lagging behind in carrying out its desegregation plan." Friday said the filing of the motion is still in the negotiation stage and that he will probably not know anything conclusive about it until early next week. He said he has talked twice with Peter Holmes, director of HEW's Civil Rights Office, regarding the possibility of entering the suit. Ironically, only three months ago HEW threatened to cut off the consolidated university's federal funds, charging the U niversity system had not made enough progress in carrying out its higher education desegregation plan. HEW had indicated strong opposition to the University system's decision to locate a proposed veterinary school at N.C. State University rather than at predominantly black N.C. A&T University. But HEW backed down from this position earlier this month, approving the facility for N.C. State. Friday said that chancellors at four of the five predominantly black schools in the consolidated university told him during a meeting that they oppose the NAACP suit, and that they think it would hurt their schools. Among those four was N.C. A&T Chancellor Lewis Dowdy, who has expressed disappointment with HFW's approval of locating the veterinary7 school at N.C. State. CGA distributes leaflets to urge boycott by Tim Pittman Staff Writer The Carolina Gay Association (CGA) will distribute leaflets tonight urging a boycott of He's Not Here, a local bar, for allegedly discriminating against homosexuals. The charges stem from a Sept. 28 incident in which two male CGA members were told they could not dance together at the bar. Former CGA Chairperson Steve Griffin said the leaflets will explain the incident and will ask that students and citizens stop patronizing the bar, which the CGA says discriminates against individuals and denies citizens their civil rights. Current CGA Chairperson Don Chauncey said the CGA also planned to introduce local legislation to prevent similar , situations. Chauncey said leaflets were chosen as a ' mode of protest because they would be more practical and more effective than other methods. The CGA discussed other alternatives at an Oct. 20 meeting such as a legal approach, which would involve a suit, and, according to Chauncey, would take too long. CGA members also suggested provoking an incident by attending the bar in laige numbers and dancing. But Chauncey said such a plan would only bring bad publicity for CGA and would subject the participants to fines or jail. "By distributing the leaflets we can make sure that people are aware of the bar's policy and that they understand the incident," Chauncey said. "We see that incident as an invasion of our rights. Whether or not it is tied to the management's concept of social norm, we are being denied something another individual is allowed to do just because we are gay," he said. "This method is the one that will most directly focus people's attention on the problem," he added. Chauncey said the issuance of leaflets would not be a high-pressure affair and he did not expect any problems from the public. Tim Ferguson, manager of He's Not Here said that he would not complain about the leaflets as long as CGA stayed on public property. "As long as they don't impede our business and are not infringing on our rights then their protest is legal," Ferguson said. He said he could not predict how the leafleting would affect his business, but added he felt it would not have any effect. Ferguson explained his decision to ask the male dancers to leave as a matter of legal interpretation. Explaining why" he asked the dancerV to leave, Ferguson said, "It boils down to how you interpret the law. Most common and local laws exist to protect the individual but they are dictated by the social norm. At this point that social norm does not condone homosexual conduct in public places." Ferguson said He's Not Here has a policy of social conduct which does not allow extremely unusual behavior. He said he has in the past asked people to leave for a variety of reasons. "We have a policy that has forced us to request that people leave prior to this incident? "Ferguson Taid. "Anything that offends our customers cannot be tolerated, and we have a responsibility to those customers. In this case, that incident just happened to be between homosexuals." Zoning amendments rejecte by Poliy Howes Staff Writer Propsed zoning amendments, which would have prohibitied establishment of new fraternity and sorority houses in the East Rosemary Street area, were rejected M onday night, 5-1 , by the Chapel H ill Board of Aldermen. The amendments would have also limited expansion of three existing fraternity and sorority houses in two sections of the East Rosemary Street area. Planning Director Mike Jennings recommended the amendments be denied, saying the rezoning should be considered in the comprehensive plan for the town. The comprehensive planning may take two years to be completed, Town Manger Kurt Jenne said. In recommending rejection of the amendments, Jennings said trends indicate that fraternities are not likely to purchase land to establish new houses. The number of fraternities has remained stable in recent years, while the number of men living in fraternity houses has declined, he said. "Group housing is a good adaptive use of large homes," Jennings added. "Restricting the use of large houses to single-family residences could lead to gradual deterioration and ultimate loss of the houses through demolition." Jennings warned that if the board did approve the amendments without a comprehensive town plan, it might be challenged in court. He cited a landmark case in which zoning actions by the city of Milwaukee, Wise, were Jfm Jlm aa T A News Analysis bY Richard Whittle Staff Writer Chapel Hill voters will elect a new mayor next Tuesday, and no matter who that man is Gerry Cohen or James C. Wallace citizens can be assured that a liberal environmentalist will take office in December. But despite their near-total agreement on the issues, the similarity between Cohen and Wallace is in this respect misleading, for they are strikingly different in a number of ways. ; 1 CGC elections today; Besse fate determined Two seats on the Campus Governing Council will be filled in a runoff election today. CGC Speaker Dan Besse and Morehead Confederation Co-Governor Eric Locher are seeking election to the CGC undergraduate District VIII seat now held by Besse.- Besse was recalled Oct. 2 by his district on charges of misrepresentation. Locher announced his write-in candidacy for the seat two days before the Oct. 15 election and collected more write-in votes than ever gathered by any candidate in a special election. Morehead Confederation residents may vote in Cobb and Everett dormitories. Tim Ward and Colin Brown are opposing each other for the CGC seat from undergraduate District VI. Residents of the district may vote today in Y-court and Whitehead dormitory. Cohen, 25, entered Chapel Hill politics as a candidate in 1973 when he won a seat on the Board of Aldermen. At the time, he was still a U NC law student, ana he frankly admits he was somewhat surprised by his victory. Last May, Cohen completed his law degree, then passed the bar examination in July. He has not yet begun practicing law, however, preferring to spend his time with his duties as an alderman and, for the most part, campaigning for mayor. In contrast, the 52-year-old Wallace has had a highly diverse career, owning two businesses, two farms and earning post-graduate degrees in history, law and public health. Currently a professor of interdisciplinary studies at North Carolina State University, Wallace has served on the Town Planning Board, and has also been an alderman serving 10 months of a four-year term he was elected to in 1971. (Wallace resigned to accept an appointment by then-Gov. Robert Scott to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.) On the surface then, it would appear that Wallace has a decided edge over Cohen as they battle for the Chapel Hill mayoralty because of his age, experience and reputation. But political contests are not decided on the surface particularly not in Chapel Hill. Political observers generally agree that to get elected, candidates for office here must do well among two of three specific groups of voters: the white middle-class, blacks and students. During the past six years, since Howard N. Lee first took office as mayor of Chapel Hill, liberals in town have been able to draw blacks and students to the polls with some consistency. This year, town liberals are divided, though not bitterly, because of the similarity on the issues between Cohen and Wallace. But Cohen has in the past been closely involved with efforts to mobilize black and student voters. Wallace, on the other hand, has a great deal of appeal for the more established though not necessarily less liberal middle class voters in town. Thus, the big question, with election day less than a week away, is which way the blacks and students will go Lately, Wallace has made a concerted effort to strengthen his position among the students, apparently with some success. He has made a number of appearances on the UNC campus in the past two weeks, making an effort to prove to students that he is just as liberal as Cohen more so, in his mind and has the experience that Cohen lacks to go with his liberal views. "The irony is that, if 1 am defeated, it will probably be by the two groups I have worked for most in the past 30 years the students and the black," Wallace tells his audiences. He goes on to say that if he wins, voters will have the "best of all possible worlds" since Cohen would retain his seat on the Board of Aldermen. At the same time, Wallace knows that his is an uphill battle, for Cohen has more or less the same appeal for students that Wallace has for the middle- Besides the fact that he is young, Cohen spends much of his time on campus, and his major effort in this campaign has been to get as many students as possible registered to vote. Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people are expected to cast ballots here on Nov. 4. The recent voter-registration drive added approximately 1,300 students to the Orange County voter rolls. , , ... Cohen is widely believed to have a decided advantage among black voters. He has ; been an ardent supporter of Mayor Howard Lee, the first black to be mayor of Chapel Hill, and the programs Lee has pushed. Though Wallace was active in the civil rights movement of the 1960's, he has not been as involved with that segment of the population as Cohen has in recent years. Early in the campaign, some observers believed Cohen would get as much as 80 per cent of the black vote. That prediction has recently been lowered somewhat, but the feeling among most knowledgeable observers is that Cohen can still expect major support from blacks. Another problem Wallace has been forced to contend with is the endorsement he received midway through the campaign from a political action group called Citizens for Chapel Hill (CCH). In reality, Wallace has little in common with most of CCH's leaders in fact, many of these same people have strongly opposed Wallace and the things he stands for in the past. But Wallace has refused to repudiate the group's endorsement because, as he recently explained to a student group, "1 don't think you can run around saying, '1 represent everybody but you." The problem for Wallace here is that CCH is an unknown quantity. The group was formed last summer and has gained a reputation as the rallying point for town conservatives. Its leaders protest that the group's conservative label is a creation of the press. Still, no one knows what effect this label whether fair or not has had upon the group's image. Also, no one knows whether CCH's endorsement of Wallace will help or hurt him on election day, or whether CCH can get out enough votes to offset whatever negative effect its endorsement might have for Wallace among the town's liberals. As Wallace told one student group last week: "It's a horse race " overruled because they did not follow a comprehensive plan. Alderman Alice Welsh, the only supporter of the amendments, said she feared that existing homes would be destroyed unless zoning regulations were changed immediately. "How do we preserve and protect these large houses?" she asked. "If we leave the present zoning in, the houses will disappear. For example, when the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority moved in it decided to expand, so it tore down the old house and a new one was built." In other action, the aldermen delayed decision on proposed additions to the town's planning district until board members Shirley Marshall. Tommy Gardner and Gerry Cohen meet with Orange County officials to discuss the annexation plans. 1 fi t . . . V t - . 1 l t S -V' i , U S SJ I f a ss f . I 1 f'V Candidates for Homecoming Queen ere, from left to right: first row, Velda Carter, Elslne Hedrick, Mary Ann McMthen and Paula Long; second row, Gail Davenport, Beverly Dupree, Margie Lancaster and Robin Lee; top row, Tempe Smith, Sandra Goad, Molly McElrath, Lane Turner and Dorethea Lowendlck. Not pictured is Delmar Williams. Elections for Homecoming Queen will be held this Thursday. Ballots may be cast in the Union and at the Y-court. The winner will be crowned Homecoming Queen during the hilftlme proceedings cf this Saturday's Homecoming football game against Wakt Forest.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 29, 1975, edition 1
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