Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / April 22, 1976, edition 1 / Page 1
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4 Vcsther f Cellcr Deer The spring Issue of 'Cellar Door the undergraduate literary magazine, gees on sale today through April 30 from 1 1 a. m. to 2 p.m. in the Pit. The price is 75 cents. For a review, see page 5. Partly cloudy and cooler. High today n e ar 80. Chance of precipitation is 20 per cent. Extended outlook for tho weekend: sunny and warm with a chance of showers on Sunday. Highs in the 80s; lows in the 50's. n rfCy Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Volume No. 83 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Thursday, April 22, 1978 Issue No. 133 -------- .-----.--.".'.-.-.. ..-' it v t i x. i v V A 1 1 1A work? UN m ban Honor by Tim Smith DTH Contributor One day last fall, two students walked into the library to take an exam. Their professor had instructed them to go to different rooms because of the small size of their classroom. As they entered the assigned room, they saw 20 of their classmates sitting at a large table with their books open, discussing the exam. Within an hour, 15 students had witnessed the scene and reported it to the professor. Several days later, the professor told the class and asked them to make a decision. As the class met to decide how to act, emotions were strained. Classmates turned against each other, some openly cried. Finally, they voted to send the case to Honor Court. But the witnesses, equal in number to those who cheated, backed down. The professor,, unable to recall all the names of the witnesses, asked the class to forget the incident and allow the test to stand, with the lowest grade of the semester to be removed. The class voted and accepted the offer. At the next exam, none of the students worried about their classmates cheating. They didn't have to. They had also voted for proctoring a strict system of monitoring. 3 8 Since its institution in 1875, the Honor Code at UNC has been the only system of justice for students and faculty. Each year, thousands of freshmen are introduced to it. Everywhere there are reminders of the code, from memos on plagiarism to the covers of blue books. Now, students and faculty alike are questioning the honor system and investigating replacements. "I don't think the Honor Code works. If a student has to turn in another student, it makes a spy out of him. And in that respect, I don't think it is working now or ever has worked," said pharmacy professor Joseph Perlmutt. Indeed, "snitching" is the most prevalent criticism of the honor system by students and faculty. The code requires any student observing an honor violation to report it to the JHonorCourt. If he doesn't, he is also guilty of an honor violation.. . . "I think it's unfair to ask the students to police themselves. I think it puts a burden on them no one should be asked to bear. And it goes against a deeply engrained value in American society you don't snitch on people," Joel Schwartz, associate chairman of the political science department, said. 8 1 uMlj 'Oldest rat in the barn' seeks 11th term in office by Art Eisenstadt Staff Vriter Raleigh has its share of institutions and monuments. Take Thad Eure, for example. Thad Eure, North Carolina's venerable secretary of state, has been in office 40 years and is seeking re-election to his 1 1th four-year term. The 78-year-old Eure, commonly called "the oldest rat in the Democratic barn," was in Chapel Hill Tuesday to speak to the UNC Young Democrats Club, and he said he really didn't mind being called a rat. , "It takes the three letters in the word raf to spell Democrat, he said. He proceeded to stress Democratic party unity and not-so-subtly indicate that he believes he is well able to continue in his job as secretary of state. George Breece, state representative from Fayetteville, is challenging Eure in the Democratic primary this year. "I'm not ready to quit," Eure said. "If the voters think I've done something to offend them, or Extra Day Traditionally, the Daily Tar Heel ends publication on the last day or classes. But the Faculty Council will vote Friday on a proposal which would cut the period in which a student can drop a course to six weeks and add plus and minus designations to grades. ' Because the DTH has covered the proposal extensively, we will publish a paper on Monday to provide students with the committee's decision. There will be no paper Friday. Another complaint is that the regulation requiring guilty students to turn themselves in is impractical. ' "If a student knowingly and willfully cheats, I don't think he is going to turn himself in," Perlmutt said. Others feel that cheating has become accepted in the University community defying the principles of the Code itself. "Cheating has become part of the academic life of Carolina. It's expected that people cheat and it's condoned that's the real problem," Assistant Dean of Student Life and Honor Court advisor Douglass Coppola said. "Life is full of cheating. People cheat their way through it any way they can. To think that you can create a separate environment that is-not a reflection of what's going on outside is ridiculous," said Schwartz. But the Code is not the only complaint about the honor system. Many, especially faculty members, feel that the Honor Court does not work. "I think only under unequivocable circumstances would the Court convict a student," Schwartz noted. According to English professor Townsend Ludington, this attitude is not uncommon. Many faculty members, he said, feel this way because of the procedure required to get a conviction and the court's reputation for not doing anything. The judicial procedure, according to court officials, is simple but time consuming. When a student wishes to charge another with a violation, he must first inform the Student Attorney General, who then informs the defendant. After that, the defendant is investigated and the attorney general decides whether the student should be brought before the Court. The Court is made up of seven members, who are randomly picked for the trial from a pool of 42 student judges. After both sides of the case are presented, the Court deliberates, first on the student's innocence and then, if required, on his sentence. But most teachers feel they are being tried, an attitude that is expected by court members. "I think in some instances the Honor - Court- could have been accused of being rather nfhtimidating. But a number of teachers feel that the slightest bit of questioning concerning their opinion on the issue, is challenging their reputation," Coppola said. "I don't think they understand that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Most teachers have already mismanaged the affairs of this office or ignored my duties or my party, then they'll vote me out. But 1 know I haven't done these things!" The secretary of state has a number pf often-overlooked duties in North Carolina. He is responsible for maintaining copies and records of all laws, bills and resolution passed by the General Assembly. He oversees the chartering of corporations and issuance of securities in North Carolina. He issues publications "and directories on behalf1 of the state. He swears in notaries public, other state officials and cabinet members. He convenes and presides over each new session of the state House of Representatives until the speaker is elected. "I am the custodian of the constitution under which we all live," Eure said. "There are thousands and thousands of laws which I hold in my custody for over five million people in this state." Eure said he has always insisted on efficiency and service from all workers in the five divisions of his office. "The door to my office has never been closed day or night," he boasted. "No person who has ever been to the capital and wanted to see me has ever gone back home and been able to say,l haven't seen Thad Eure, if Thad Eure was in Raleigh." Lately, Eure has been traveling and plugging the Democratic Party. "I've driven more than 15,000 miles from Raleigh to my home V , Honor Coda violations and the Honor Court's sentencing have come under fire from faculty and students. Both groups are questioning the effectiveness of the current system and suggesting possible alternatives. decided that before they arrive at Court," he added. Another complaint voiced by faculty members is that the Court sympathizes with students. "To students, the worst thing in the world is not cheating. There's nothing really terrible about that at all. So you're asking students to judge other students in accordance with a value system they don't believe in. "And as a consequence, it's natural for them to be understanding and lenient," Schwartz said. But court members disagree. "If you look at the statistics, you'll see we find people guilty more times than not. As a whole, a person will get a stiff er sentence from, the Honor Court than before the adfftiwst tion hearings board, which does "have faculty ' members," Rick - Mazo, former Honor Court chairman said. Another major complaint is the leniency of the Court. Critics argue the statistics that suspensions resulting from court cases have dropped from 40 per cent of cases in 1954 to 2 per cent in 1975. In last year's Court Coppola said, out of N. C. Secretary of State Thad Eure town of Winton in Hertford County to do nothing but vote in elections. I don't know what casting an absentee ballot is," he said. "I'm a politician and proud of it. Politics is people." During an interview after his speech, Eure reiterated his recently publicized intent to keep his original office furniture. State government budget officials have been cutting all requests for new office furniture. "As long as it stands, I'm going to keep what I've got. In all the years I've been in office, the state hasn't put a nickel's worth of furniture in there." Eure said the growth in the number of state laws and corporations his office has to keep track of has now made his job more difficult. When asked what the biggest change he has noted during all his years in government is, he replied, "This Republican administration." How long will Thad Eure keep going? "Look, I'm still hopping all over the state," he said, showing a jam packed appointment calendar. "When I'm no longer fulfilling my duties, I'll be the first to know." - ' ! 1 I 47 cases, 4 1 were found guilty and of those, two suspensions were given. Another issue is that of the Court's sentencing. From a recent report on the honor system, for example, a pre-law student was not given an F because "he was a senior and needed high grades to get into law school." Cases like these, Coppola said, are isolated. Some court officials defend the position. "You hate to see somebody lose their chance to get into graduate school because of a one-time mistake. And then, just because of that error, tell them, 'That's it, you can't go to law school,'" former court investigator Quay Youngblood said. Others, however, feel the courts should not take ,. the -. student's ...future . as a determinant for sentencing. "We have one system of justice on this campus. We don't have one for students with bright futures and another for students whose futures are not so bright," said Coppola. Please turn to page 8 I 1 i I by Mary Anne Rhyne Staff Writer The Campus Governing Council voted Tuesday to redirect $7,312 in allocations to university organizations and tentatively approved new elections laws and procedures. Of the $7,312, $2,000 will come from the 1976-77 Unappropriated Balance. Part of the money will go to the Association for Women Students (AWS) to prepare a rape education and prevention pamphlet ($500). The CGC voted to establish a Speakers Fund with the remaining $1,500 to pay speakers' honorariums and expenses. The fund will expire Dec. 31, 1976. The CGC voted to take $300 from the 1975-76 Unappropriated Balance to fund the Individual Events team's trip to final competition. Of the remaining money, $3,5 1 2 will come from 1975-76 appropriated funds that were not spent. The Black Student Movement (BSM) will be allowed to keep $2,556 for the printing of their publication, Black Ink. AWS will keep $199 for the group's magazine SHE as a result of the bill. The Student Consumer Action Union will keep $757 for next year's publications. Another bill will allow the BSM to keep $1,500 of their earnings and unspent allocations from the 1975-76 budget for funding of the Black Arts Cultural Festival. In other action the CGC approved the treasury laws of the Graduate and "Professional Students Federation and set up a summer media board. Most of the meeting was spent discussing new election laws. The bill, which was proposed by Dick Pope, was passed with few changes. ... One new provision in the law establishes a process of certification for election results. The law was established to prevent irregularities in voting. "With this law even if the chairman has an individual bias this wouldn't enter into his certification" Pope said. The new law also clarifies the duties of the elections board chairman. "This puts the power under the whole board," Pope said. Regular elections have been moved up one week to the third Wednesday in February with run-offs to be held two weeks later under the new law. This section was passed to avoid having run-off elections a week after spring break or shortening the time between i.dii a y a s sin i ci i 5 I I y w W Jl i I w 1 Ji US i w w Policy lists wandering dogs as health hazard to campus by Vemon Loeb Staff Writer A proposal banning dogs and other animals from University buildings and requiring leash restraint of them anywhere on campus will go into affect August I if approved by Claiborne Jones, vice chancellor of business and finance. The "Animals on Campus" policy proposed by the UNC Health and Safety Office also stipulates that animals have rabies vaccination tags, and that any stray animals, or animals not on a leash be picked up by the campus police and turned over to the Chapel Hill dog pound. The campus now serves as a sanctuary for dogs, which can roam free anywhere, including buildings, until they create a disturbance, Chapel Hill Dog Warden John Sauls said Wednesday. Comments on and objections to the - proposal are now under review by the Health Office, and will be forwarded shortly to the Office of Business and Finance along with the proposal, Health and Safety Office Director Donald G. Willhoit said Wednesday. "There could be changes in any part of it," he said. Willhoit denied reports that his office has delayed introduction of the proposal so that its summer approval would encounter little student opposition. Rather, he said, a summer approval would facilitate the transition from no campus - animal policy to the - proposed set - of restrictions. "If you make something effective at the start of the year it should make it easier on everyone concerned," he said. The draft of the proposal states that "this policy is intended to minimize the occurrence of offensive odors, excrement, fleas, biological agents, etc. on the campus and in campus buildings where these may elections to one week. The bill as passed by CGC requires each candidate to solicit signatures to run independently of a political party. "Political parties will function mostly as an endorsement agency," Pope said. " The rules also state that senior class officers shall be elected by receiving the highest vote total. In the past, candidates needed a majority of votes to win. A major change in the laws will allow the Elections Board to establish the location and hours of operation of all polling places. Past Lillian Woo running for state auditor post by Merton Vance Staff Writer Consumer advocate Lillian Woo has become North Carolina's answer to Ralph Nader. But while Nader is backed by an army of raiders. Woo has established herself as a maverick crusader for consumer interests. Now she says sue wants to represent citizens through elected office. Woo was in Chapel Hill Tuesday night campaigning as a Democratic candidate for state auditor, and spoke to the UNC Young Democrats Club and the Association for Women Students. "Peopel ask 'Why run for state auditor? The job has no pizzazz, no sex appeal. When they think of the job people" think of a wizened old man in the corner poring over books," she said. But she said the job offers a way of keeping a check on government spending. While past state auditors have fulfilled the required financial audit of the state's spending. Woo said that the state auditor also needs to monitor state budgeting to prevent duplication of services and wasteful spending. "If you look at the areas where millions of dollars are spent you see that very little time is spent overseeing how that money is spent," she said. She said that the state auditor should operate independent of the legislative and executive branches of government to determine whether a program is justified or if result in health hazards to personnel or he detrimental to instructional or research objectives." The campus animal policy was proposed. Willhoit said, because "we've received complaints about animals in buildings, and then there have beerf reports of people being attacked by dogs on campus." A recent study by six UNC students of animals on campus showed that, of 200 students, faculty and staff members surveyed, 35 per cent felt that too many dogs were on campus, while 62 per cent felt that dogs on campus do present a problem. The study reads, in part, that "The problem of free roaming dogs on the campus . is serious to the students that have been bitten and the students who have not. There is a health factor that, according to the survey, 44 per cent of the people questioned had never considered." The study's authors confer with all aspects of the Health and Safety Office's proposal except that which calls for leashed restraint of all animals. They suggest that an animal be in the immediate vicinity of its master and be under his control, or be under its master's command to heel at any time. This form of restraint, according to the study, "provides maximum protection for man and animal alike, allows for dogs to still be on the campus, thus leaving the positive aspects (of dogs on campus)." A copy of this study has been presented to the Health Office. Willhoit said the means of animal restraint ; proposed in the -Study .was "a compromise that I'm open to,m but added he would not compromise on the ban of animals from buildings. The student study also reported that UNC campuses in Raleigh, Asheville, Charlotte and Wilmington do not have problems with stray and loose dogs because campus police are responsible for restraining and turning , the dogs over to local dog pounds. lj in ci laws required all polls to be open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. The change was made because of light voter turnout during certain hours of the day. In clarification of campaign spending laws, the CGC voted to keep spending limits as now established. There will be a fine levied equal to 15 per cent of the total spending limit if the candidate spends 5 per cent over the limit. After the 5 per cent margin, the candidate will be disqualified from the race for overspending. the need for such a program has passed. "This kind of questioning has not been done before," she said. Once a program is funded, there is no reporting back to the Genera! Assembly. It is the auditor's office that provides the constant monitoring function." Woo said. Woo is trying to overcome theyou-can't-fight-City Hall" syndrome that leads to public apathy toward government. "We have big alienation on the part of citizens. What we have to do is change the whole complexion of government. We need new people who will show concern and accept responsibility. "We need foiks uho will reset government priorities for serving people within our own boundaries. If government remains as it is. if we have the same corruption, if we have the same old dirty tricks, we won't be able to do that." she said. But she added that changing the way the government works depends on the individual citizen and consumer. Consumers have to stand up for themselves, she said. "That's how you begin to assert yourself as a citizen." Born in Honolulu 36 years ago. Woo came cast to study economics at Vassar and Columbia. She is now working toward her Ph.D. in economics from Columbia. As a founder of the Consumer Council of North Carolina, Woo lobbied for consumer interests during the 1975 session of the General Assembly. This year she plans to cut her lobbying time to about two weeks.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 22, 1976, edition 1
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