Assertive training groups: not just passive women learning to say no
By TIM SMITH
Staff Writer
Ever since women first expressed the idea of equal
rights among the sexes, the question has arisen as to
how to express those rights. From bra-burning to the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), men have looked
suspiciously at women who have tried to speak out.
Today, however, there is a new movement that seeks
to express those rights without the consequences of
aggressive behavior. It is called assertion.
"Women tend to look at their own feelings as less
important than the feelings of others around them,
especially their families' or their mates' feelings," said
Katy Maxwell, a UNC graduate student in clinical
psychology.
"Assertive training allows women to express their
own rights and feelings without being agressive."
Much like transcendental meditation and other
psychological fads, assertion training has risen in
popularity in the past few years.
One reason, say assertive group leaders, seems to be
in what it offers to different minority groups and
women's organizaitons.
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The high today will be
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The high on Friday will
be in the 60s. Evening
lows will range in the
mid 40s.
Volume No. 84, Issue No. 109
"Assertive training seems to be looked upon right
now as particularly appropriate by the women's
movement and other sensitive groups, to gain rights
they feel they've been denied for many years," said
John Galassi, a professor of education at UNC and a
counselor for assertion training.
Galassi, who has just written a book with his wife,
entitled. Assert Yourself!, said the popularity may not
last long.
Right now, however, the popularity of assertion
training is very much in evidence, especially in the
number of groups it has spurted.
In Chapel Hill, there are some six or seven groups
that offer assertion training.
While most groups are alike (most run for eight
weeks and average about 10 members), each employs
its own techniques and objectives, depending on its
leader.
Maxwell, who is leading an assertion training group
as work for her dissertation, plans to try a variety of
techniques in training to find which works best with
women.
"There are all sorts of behaviors that are considered
assertive, but I'm concentrating on two; refusing
unreasonable requests and making requests. Those are
probably the hardest behaviors for women to make,"
Maxwell said.
There are, however, a variety of other groups with
different objectives and motives. Most groups, for
instance, include men.
"Women have more trouble standing up for their
rights with authority figures, but men have more
trouble reaching out' to other people and showing
emotions other than anger," Susan Carr, an assertion
group trainer said.
Carr also said there is a natural tendency for women to
admit they need help, which could explain why more
women join than men.
"Women are a lot more willing to admit they need
the help of a psychiatrist of a psychologist. They are
the ones that initiate marriage counseling," Carr said.
"I had always thought that the women in school
now were more assertive. But after working with them,
I'm not so sure," Nancy McLeroy, a graduate student
in counseling and a group coleader, said.
"They say that they want to be assertive and that it's
okay, but I find they're really not."
Group leaders also say that it is a myth that
housewives need assertion training any more than
professional women.
"One thing I found that was interesting was that
professional women on the top had quite being
assertive because they no longer had to compete with
other women climbing the ranks," Carr said.
But some backgrounds do affect assertive behavior
in women, especially cultural ones..
"In the groups that I've done, the Southern women
have just had the worst time asserting themselves.
They're so much into pleasantries that it's very, very
difficult.
"On the other hand, people from the Northeast have
had trouble being aggressive. They say what they want
at the expense of other's feelings," Carr said.
Galassi agreed, noting a study that was made
between a Northern and a Southern university.
"We found that while the amount of assertion was
relatively the same for students in both places, the way
in which they expressed that behavior was different.
"I'm willing to bet that in New York City, there is a
much more direct way of expressing oneself than in
North Carolina. That some behavior down here would
probably be looked upon as aggressive," Galassi said.
With all the different cultural and professional
backgrounds of group members, there are also a wide
variety of reasons for joining the groups.
Cathy, for instance, a UNC graduate student.
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decided to try assertion training because of her
aggressive behavior.
"My basic problem is that either I'm too passive or I
get into a fight with people, and lately I've been getting
into a lot of fights," she said. '
But many come because they don't feel they can
speak out or' refuse requests without feeling
uncomfortable.
"In stores, if the salesperson is helpful, 1 feel
ofligated to buy the product. Lots of times I've ended
up buying things I really didn't want just because I
can't say no," Debbie, a UNC graduate student and a
member of an assertion training group, said.
To help each group member, the training teachers
use a variety of techniques which depend upon the
individual teacher's objectives.
"The first three of our sessions, we get rid of any
mental blocks to assertion. Basically, this means
getting rid of beliefs like, 'Everyone is going to hate me
if I change.'
"Then we look at the nonverbal expressions used in
assertion, like facial expressions, and for this we use
videotape," Howard Fradkin, a UNC graduate
student and coleader with McLeroy, said.
Please turn to page 2
Textile unions
The textile industry in
North Carolina is one
of the largest in the
nation, but the
percentage of workers
belonging to unions is
small. See page 8.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Thursday, March 3. 1977, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Please call us: 933-0245
ts
Legislature ge
nominations
for UN
C board
House and Senate, where further
nominations will be accepted.
All incumbents of the board eligible
for reelection have been nominated:
Betty McCain, state Democratic
chairperson, of Wilson; Wallace N.
Hyde of Asheville; Thomas J. White Jr.
of Kinston; Maceo A. Sloan of
Durham; George Watts Hill of
Durham; Victor S. Bryant of Durham;
and Reginald F. McCoy of Laurinburg.
Other nominations include Harvey A.
Jonas Jr. of-Lincolnton; George R.
Little Jr. of Elizabeth City; Clint.
Newton of Shelby; John S. Vaughan of
Woodland; H. L. Riddle of Morganton;
Furman P. Bodenheimer of Cary;
Lenox Gore Cooper of Wilmington;
Adolph L. Dial of Pembroke; Victor W.
Dawson of Fayetteville; Grace Smith
Epps of Lumberton; Charles Flack Jr.
of Forest City; Mason Anderson of
Shallotte; Lawrence Cobb of Charlotte;
Bruce J. Downey; Francis Fairly of
Charlotte; C. Felix Harvey of Kinston;
W. C. Haaseof Kenly; James E. Holmes
of Winston-Salem; Robert L. Jones of
Raleigh; Lenox McLendon of
Greensboro; William D. Mills; Robert
Smith of Lexington; Dr. William M.
Bell of Fayetteville; Kathleen Chitty of
Raleigh; and Jimmy Love of Sanford.
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rtffeasart-saiWM
University must pay bigger share of system cost
Local officials threatening more cutbacks in bus system
By TONY GUNN
Staff Writer
Thirty-three persons have been
nominated to fill 1 1 positions on the 32
member University of North Carolina
Board of Governors.
Among the nominees are the seven
members of the present board who are
eligible for reelection. Members of the
board must be approved by the N.C.
Genera Assembly.
"Monday was the deadline for
nominations.
Verna Taylor, 42, the first
professional business manager of the
Daily Tar Heel, was nominated
Monday by Rep. Tommy Baker, D
Duplin. "I'm interested in higher education,"
Taylor said Wednesday. "Since the
ERA did not pass, women need to
assume their own responsibility for
bringing change for women. They can
begin this by placing themselves in
policy-making positions."
The board dictates policy and draws
up budget requests for the 16-campus
University system.
Taylor said that she could bring good
information and decision-making to the
board. There would be no conflict of
interest between her work on the board
and her job at the DTH. "The Board of
Governors is over the whole system, not
just the University."
She added that she worked by a
special contract with the DTH; she is
not an employee of the state.
Taylor urged students to write letters
of endorsement for their particular
candidate and send them to Sen. Ralph
Scott, D-Alamance, the chairperson of
the Senate nominating committee for
the board, and Rep. Nancy Chase, D
Wayne, the chairperson of the House
nominating committee.
Letters also can be sent to legislators
in the student's home district, she added.
The two legislative committees soon
will screen the nominees as to thier
backgrounds, willingness and ability to
serve. Committee nominations then will
be placed before a joint session of the
Board picks
Yack editor,
media reps
The Media Board selected editors for
the three campus publications at its
meeting Tuesday night.
Theodore Kyle was chosen editor of
the yearbook, the Yackety Yack, and
Robert Ginger was selected to edit the
Carolina Quarterly. The Quarterly is an
international literary magazine.
Coeditors were chosen tor the Cellar
Door, the undergraduate literary s
magazine. They are Mark Smith and
Jon Sasser.
The Media Board also selected Mike
Jacobson as its representative to the 5
Daily lar Heel Board oi uireciors.
Ail editorial positions were advertised
in the DIH and candidates were w
rAmitpH hv th individual staff's.
Applicants presented a resume and were UNC students may be doing more waiting at bus stops if
interviewed. Chapel Hill and UNC officials carry out threats to cut back bus
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Senate disgusts
NG students
many U
With the ERA's defeat most persons see little need in
wearing a button supporting the bill's passage.
By ROBIN CLARK
Staff Writer
Holt Stan field said she wasn't upset by the
defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in
North Carolina Tuesday. In fact, Stanfield said
she was glad it didn't pass.
"Maybe I'm just not very liberated, but 1 don't
want to be put up against a man to compete with
him for a job," said the Durham sophomore.
"1 like playing boy-girl, and 1 don't care if 1 get
paid less than a man for a certain job."
Stanfields's sentiments were not shared by
, most other UNC students that were asked
Wednesday for their reactions to the defeat of the
bill.
"I felt personally hurt (by its defeat)," said
Deborah Gentry, a Roxboro sophomore. "I grew
up on a farm, where women were out there with
men all the time pulling their own weight. I want
to be legally a whole person."
Thirty-five of 45 students interviewed in the
informal poll said they were disappointed to see
r ERA fail for the third time, four said they were
i glad and six were indifferent. Passage in North
a Carolina would have raised to 36 the number of
c states that have ratified the amendment, just two
short of the 38 needed for ERA to become law.
"1 think this stinks," said Heidi Athanas, a
sophomore from Atherton, Calif. "It's about time
they got rid of all discrimination," Athanas said.
"People complained about its vagueness, but
the First Amendment is vague, too, as far as that
goes." she said.
Please turn to page 2
How they voted
The North Carolina Senate voted to reject the proposed ERA
Amendment in a 26-24 roll call vote. The vote ran as following:
Voting Yes
Alexander, D-Charlotte; Britt, D-Lumberton; Davis, D-Winston-Salem;
Garrison, D-Albemarle; Gray, D-High Point;
Hill, D-Brevard; Jordan, D-Mt. Gilead; Lawing, D-Charlotte;
Marvin. D-Gastonia; Mathis, D-Charlotte; Raynor, D
Fayetteville; Royall. D-Durham; Scott, D-Burlington; Sebo, D
Greensboro; Sharpe, D-Morganton; M. Smith, R-Greensboro; W.
Smith, D-Wilmington; Stallings, I-New Bern; Totherown, D-Winston-Salem;
Vickery, D-Chapel Hill; Walker, D-Asheboro;
Whichard, D-Durham; Winters, D-Raleigh and Wynne, D
Raleigh. Voting No
Alford, D-Rocky Mount; Allsbrook, D-Roanoke Rapids;
Ballenger, R-Hickory; Barnes, D-Goldsboro; Childers, D
Lexington; Combs, D-Hickory; Crawford, D-Asheville; Daniels,
D-Elizabeth City; Hardison, D-Deep Run; Harrington, D
Lewiston; Harris, D-Kings Mountain; Henley, D-Hope Mills;
Kincaid. R-Lenoir; Lake, D-Raleigh; Marion, D-Dobson;
McDuffie, D-Charlotte; Palmer, D-Clyde; Popkin, D
Jacksonville; Rauch, D-Gastonia; Renfrow, D-Smithfield; Soles,
D-Tabor City; Somers, R-Salisbury; Speed, D-Louisburg; Swain,
D-Asheville; Webster, D-Madison and White, D-Winterville.
The following senators campaigned on pro-ERA platforms
during the November elections but voted no Tuesday; McDuffie,
D-Charlotte; Henley, D-Hope Mills; and Rauch, D-Gastonia.
By MARY ANNE RHYNE
Staff Writer
Editor's note: The following is a news
analysis of the Chapel Hill bus system.
"The buses are empty" and "Campus
parking places for students just don't
exist" are two oft-heard phrases during
bus negotiations.
Officials are threatening again this
year to cut back bus service, leaving
students and employees wondering
about transportation next year.
Throughout negotiations the major
stumbling block in implementing a full
service bus system has been the question
of who will assume financial
responsibility.
The town of Chapel Hill contributed
51,052,613 to the bus system in 1976.
The University contributed $322,188 in
bus-sales, and fare-box revenues made
up $95,943 of the budget.
Alderman Ed Vickery, former liaison
lor the aldermen to the Transportation
Board, said he feels anyone who benefits
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from the system must help pay for it.
"There is an unequal sharing of the
cost with respect to the groups receiving
benefits,'" Vickery said.
"The University is not paying its
share. They are realizing much larger
benefit than they're paying for," he said.
Vickery said the University benefits
from the system because bus
transportation helps relieve campus
parking problems. The system also
saves the University money because it
eliminates the need for parking decks.
which cost an estimated $3,000
parking space, Vickery said.
per
According to a study by Vickery, 65.8
per cent of the bus riders were UNC
students and employees. The University
sold 94 per cent of all passes used on
round trips.
Student Transportation Director
Paul Arne said he didn't feel the
administration would be willing to raise
parking prices that much.
"Everybody must pay for it (the bus
system) or no one will pay for it," Arne
said.
Schafer defeats Wirwicz in
third election for GGC seat
service further. The University must pay more of the bus
system costs if it is to continue full bus service.
Diane Schafer defeated Bryan Wirwicz for
the District 7 (Granville South and Granville
West) Campus Governing Council (CGC)
seat in a special election Wednesday. .
The final vote was Schafer, 199, Wirwicz,
190. Two votes were voided.
Wirwicz said he would not contest the
election because there were no grounds for a
challenge. "I guess once and for all we've
settled it," he said.
Schafer attributed her victory to door-to-door
campaigning by her supporters. She
said the Daily Tar Heel editorial Tuesday
endorsing her candidacy also helped.
"1 think the editorial really helped to
clarify many things that needed to be
clarified," she said.
The election Wednesday was the third
time District 7 voters went to the polls to
vote for either Schafer or Wirwicz. In the
first election Feb. 9, Schafer defeated
Wirwicz by 10 votes, 201 to 191, but because
1 1 Granville residents voted in the wrong
district, Craig Brown, elections board
chairperson, called for a special election.
The elections board also ruled that
Wirwicz had accidentally misrepresented
Schafer in his campaign literature during
that campaign. Wirwicz apologized but did
not retract his statements.
In the first special election, held Feb. 23,
Schafer defeated Wirwicz by a vote of 208 to
205. But a second special election was called
because more votes were cast than students
were registered.