Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Nov. 18, 1976, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
v.: ' Hmnim ,ninirJ'1" y 'it" y J""nr,""tyii" i Clear Today will be clear with the chance of rain near zero. Low last night was 35. High today will be 60. TO Yankees talk Are Southerners really slower than Northerners? Several Yankees give their opinions on page six. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Thursday, November 18, 1976, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Volume No. 84, Issue No. 62 Please call us: 933-0245 rfD 4 3 Sftff 2 I i L i w tt i m H I M fr fT B J?" jk f woman orrereu &zuua iscoun State Fair promotion could be fraudulent by Robin Clark Staff Writer Katherine Murphy was intrigued by a booth at the North Carolina State Fair that gave her a chance to buy a $300 sewing machine for only $99.95, so she mailed her entry blank to the booth's sponsor, International Sewing Machine Distributors in Nor man, Okla. In the mail Monday, she received a check for $200 and a note that read, "Congratulations! The judges have selected your entry as a second prize winner in our recent 'Advertising Campaign Drawing." The check, the note said, was good only toward the purchase of the "$299.95 Deluxe 30 Cam Zig-Zag Dressmaker Dial-A-Stitch Sewing Machine," and it gave Murphy the option of paying the $100 balance in full or laying the purchase away with a $10 deposit. "I'm not suspicious in nature," Murphy said. She lost $15 in a fraudulent Florida vacation offer last summer. "But I wasn't really very surprised when the salesman (at the Alexander Sewing Machine Center in Durham) told me he sold the same machine for $79.95." Murphy's husband Danny, a research assistant in the UNC chemistry department, reported the incident to Student Legal Services Counselor Dorothy Bernholz. "I'm always self-conscious of accusing anyone of fraud," Bernholz said Wednesday, "but just by telling the facts of this case, you can draw your own conclusion." Bernholz, who forwards all student consumer com plaints to the N.C. Attorney General's office, called the case "almost open fraud," but allowed that the law was not clear. "There is evolving in the law now, a series of guidelines, and advertising is one of the areas the attorney general's office has been pressing companies to be more honest about," Bernholz said. Alan Hirsch, an assistant attorney general in the consumer protection division of the N.C. Department of Justice, said he didn't know whether the sewing machine distributor was guilty of fraud for advertising, as a bargain, a commodity that could be purchased for $20 less at a retail outlet. "The real problem is trying to affect any return of money," Hirsch said. "That's difficult just because these people are shaky, and often have hidden their resources in such a way that you never can find them." The 'N.C. Department of Agriculture oversees operations at the state fair, and Asst. Fair Manager Bob Barlow said he had an inkling before the fair started that there was something shady going on. Barlow said the department investigated the com pany and foresaw no problem. Barlow's boss, Fair manager A. K. Pitzer, said he had received several reports from consumers on the sewing machine distributors and that he had asked the company to give his office a list of all the people who answered their ad. But Pitzer said that since the consumer was under no obligation to buy, he didn't think any law had been violated. "My son signed up and 1 got one here," Pitzer said. "Of course, the only thing we did was chuck it." Pitzer said he hoped everyone else had done the same. "These people are difficult because they operate just within the limits of the law," Pitzer said, noting that it was the job of the consumer to see what he's getting for his money. "1 think someplace in the North Carolina law, isn't there a phrase that says Met the buyer beware'?" . Katherine and Danny M urphy don't need to be told that. "We're very wary now," they said. ' Dorm locks New keys useless over holidays by Tom Watkins Staff Writer Nineteen dormitory locks will be changed at the beginning of Thanksgiv ing vacation and changed back at the end of the holiday in a move necessitated by the Department of University Housing's new security system. One outside-lock cylinder in each cam pus dorm, with the exception of Cobb, Joyner, Old East, Old West, Carr and the five Lower Quad dorms, will be replaced by a completely different cylinder on Wednesday, Nov. 24 with the original cylinder to be reinstalled before students return on Sunday, Nov. 28, Russell N. Perry, housing assistant director for operations, said Wednesday." The new security procedure, to be used during all holidays in the future, was instituted because of the housing department's new "key-up" security system, in which dorm residents are provided with keys that fit one outside lock in each dorm. The system has been instituted in each campus dorm except for those mentioned above. "We have no way to monitor the dorms otherwise," said Jere Gilmore, housing assistant director for residence life. 44 1 think it's worth it in terms of security. The benefits outweigh the penalties, in my opinion." Perry said that housing's two locksmiths will spend about four to five hours each time to change the cylinders. "It won't cost us a great deal we won't even need replacement cylinders because we already have some," he said. Perry said that he didn't anticipate any problems with the new system. "One thing I would like to stress is for dorm residents to-take everything they're going to need over the holidays. We're not going to let anybody in except in the case of an extreme emergency." The housing department is in the process of instituting the "key-up" system in the remaining dorms. Betts says freshman writing shows marked improvement by Marshall Evans Staff Writer The writing skills of incoming freshmen has improved this year after declining for many years, according to Doris Betts, director of the freshman English program. "Freshman writing has been going downhill steadily," Betts said. "But last year was worse than this year." Wilsonia Cherry, a member of the freshman committee and an English 1 teacher, agreed. "Students seem to be a little bit better prepared this year," she said. "All my students can write a complete sentence, and this is the first year 1 have seen that," said Bill Ramsey, a four-year freshman English teacher. The improvement in writing corresponds to an improvement in average freshman Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) verbal scores for this year. Average scores rose from 520 last year to 524 for this year after Deadline passes for naming new Neill defendants No new defendant was named by the deadline Monday in the malpractice suit concerning the death of UNC student Janet Neill. The deadline for naming a new defendant was determined in an initial pre-trial conference Oct. 18 when the plaintiff declared he might want to take such action. But, as of Monday, the plaintiff had not filed any deposition naming another defendant with the U.S. Middle District Court in Greensboro. Local counsel for the prosecution, Frank B. Jackson, refused to comment on the case. The suit charges that 25-year-old Janet Neill died from reactions to the birth control pill Norlestrin prescribed for her by five UNC doctors. The suit maintains that the doctors did not sufficiently warn Neill of the possible side-effects of the contraceptive. The suit names as defendants Drs. Caroline Dixon, Frances Marshall, Donald K. Mclntyre, Charles K. Rath and L. B. Scott. All but Dixon remain with the Student Health Service. The suit seeks $5 million from the doctors, Parke-Davis, (manufacturer of the contraceptive) and Eckerd Drugs, Inc. (retailer of the drug). The doctors denied any fault in Neill s death in their reply in July. Parke-Davis and Eckerd Drugs replied in August. Patti rush falling for the past four years. Betts noted that while the writing skills of freshman as a whole has improved, the number of students exempting from English is lower this , year, with 189 placing directly into English 2 and 450 exempting both English 1 and 2. "This is a different kind of freshman class, a more uniform class," she said. Many teachers saw the class of 1980 as better prepared in grammar. Both Ramsey and Linda Rubel, a third-year teacher, noted that some of their students had been pressed harder in grammar during their senior years in high school. "There are very specific grammatical problems this year instead of a general problem like last year," Rubel said. uBut the spelling is still terrible. I don't think you'll see any great improvement until the high schools and grammar schools go back to basic grammar." Ramsey said that he sees a change in attitude that is partly responsible for the improvement. Students are much more serious this year," he said. Ramsey credits the change to a lack of social unrest and the shortage of jobs for college graduates. "Students are already aware of the job situation at the age of 17 or 18. It's not something that jumps at them in their junior and senior years any more," he said. Ramsey also said that students do not complain as much about grades this year. "I haven't had a grade protest this year," he said. "Now that's truly amazing." r by Russell Gardner Staff Writer Students living off-campus can expect an average increase of 15 per cent in their electric bills next year when Duke Power Co. takes over the Chapel Hill area's electric system, UNC utilities director Grey Culbreth said Monday. But students living on campus should not expect a significant, if any, increase in dorm rents due to increased utility rates. The UNC Board of Trustees voted last spring to sell the electric system to Duke Power for approximately $ 1 5 million. Transfer of the system will take place Dec. 3 1 . The system serves Chapel Hill, Carrboro and parts of Orange County. The rate increase will not be the same for all off-campus residences because of different rate structures used by Duke Power and the University. Both Duke Power and the University set electric rates according to the total .number of Kilowatt hours (KWH) of electricity used in a residence during the month. A quantity discount is applied so that the more electricity a consumer uses, the less he pays per kilowatt hour. In addition, residences are classified into one of three categories according to their rate of electricity use. The highest rate per KWH is levied to those residences without electric water or space heating. The next highest rate per KWH is levied to those residences with electric water heaters but without electric space heating. The lowest rate per KWH is levied to "all electric" residences. Because Duke Power and the University have different rates under these classifications, the rate increase will not be uniform for all residents. "We're restructuring the system, and no two rate structures are the same. For a few individuals, the cost of electricity may actually go down. For a few others, the increase could go as high as 40 per cent. But the average increase will be about 1 5 per cent," said John Temple, assistant vice chancellor for business and finance. Both Culbreth and Temple stressed that the rate increase will actually be a "catch up" for Chapel Hill. "The electric rates now in effect in the Chapel Hill area are artificially depressed. We've avoided a rate increase for the area in anticipation of the utilities sale," Culbreth said. Meanwhile, students living on campus should not expect a major hike in dorm rents due to the utility sale because UNC will still be able to generate some of its own " - v JAA A " J? " 4t - o V.s Ns v VNJ ss. . f v 4 'i If if J . - If 1 ViV t II f , t i v f X V I s f j 1 - f V N s ' sewing mac :v.-.y.".s-. :v Jonah resurfaces n ' 4 ifv A " V ' i wi Dorothy Bernholtz, Student Government Attorney, giveaway at the State Fair was "almost open fraud." n said the sewing machine 1 electricity and because electricity is not a major part of a dorm's operating budget, Temple said. UNC will maintain ownership of the Gore steam plant. The steam is used in heating, air conditioning and providing hot water for most campus buildings. Although .there is no way to predict how much electricity will be needed on campus, Temple estimates the steam plant might be able to generate as much as 30 per cent of the electricity needed. The additional power needed will be purchased from Duke Power. "There are two factors that make it impossible to predict how much power we'll need to purchase from Duke Power. First, we don't know what the demand factor is on campus. We've never had a measure of the demand factor. Second, we don't know how much of that total we'll be able to generate at the steam plant," Temple said. Duke Power will sell electricity to the University on a commercial rate. The commercial rate is lower, per KWH thaji the residential rate. Temple added that any electric rate increase will not significantly affect dorm room rents because electric power constitutes only a small percentage of the total dorm operating budget. For the 1975-76 fiscal year, electricity accounted for about $153 thousand of the total dorm operating costs qf about $3.6 million. Open access to files But students rarely see records Frank Dieter was one of several musicians who gathered last Thursday in Peep Jonah to christen the reopening of the Union coffeehouse. See story page 4. by Merton Vance Staff Writer A two-year-old law allows students to have access to their school records, but if a UNC student wants to see a letter of recommendation written for him by a professor, chances are he will not find it in his file. UNC admissions officials generally either destroy the letters or ask students to sign a waiver to give up their right to see the letters, although they still can see other materials in their file. These procedures are part of UNC's efforts to maintain the anonymity of the professors who write letters. It apparently is accepted by students because there have been no major complaints. Recently a federal government commission in Washington, D.C. heard complaints from professors from several colleges and universities who said that professors are hesitant to write forthright evaluations if they think students will eventually see the letters. The Privacy Protection Study ; Commission was also told by Frank Till, director of information services for the National Student Association, that some college deans and professors are pressuring students to give up their right to see letters of recommendation. The law is the Educational Privacy Act, which took effect Jan. 1, 1975. Raymond Strong, director of records and registration at UNC, said that students can see any material placed in their files after Jan 1, 1975. UNC admissions officials have developed procedures to avoid problems here. They said that there is no pressure put on students, although students are often asked to sign waivers. Students applying to medical school at UNC are asked to supply two letters of recommendation. They are asked to sign a waiver which prevents the student from seeing these letters in the future, although the student cannot be legally forced to sign such a waiver. Letters of recommendation for students applying to graduate school are destroyed before a student is admitted. Lyle V. Jones, Dean of the Graduate School, said that the letters are used for admission purposes only. Jones said that people who write letters of recommendation are told before they write the letters that the students will not see their letters. "We inform the students and those people who write letters that these letters are confidential," Jones said. Only enrolled students are able to see their files. Jones said that students who apply but are not admitted or those who are accepted for admission and do not enroll cannot see their files under provisions of the law. The admissions procedures vary slightly in the five admissions offices. There are separate admissions offices for undergraduates, the graduate school, medical, dental and law schools. Dr. Ted M. Roberson, director of admissions at the School of Dentistry, said that all letters of recommendation are removed from files and destroyed before a student actually enrolls. The School of Law does not require letters of recommendation, but many are received. Morris R. Gelblum, associate dean of the law school, said some letters, which come in, have waivers attached but law school admissions officials do not ask students for waivers. If letters of recommendation are sent and do not include a waiver, Gelblum said the letters are left in the files and can be read by the students. Admissions officials contacted said that there have been no complaints about admission procedures concerning letters of recommendation. In fact, they said that relatively few students ask to see their files at all. As one secretary in the School of Medicine said, "students can't see the file anyway unless they are enrolled and most people don't care, as long as they're in." l!
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 18, 1976, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75