Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Nov. 9, 1982, edition 1 / Page 1
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Week's fair Fair skies today with highs in the upper 60s; lows tonight in the mid-30s. Highs tomorrow in the mid-60s. C'est vrai Want tc practice your French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Girrrn or Rus sian? Informal language Ubsmeet at UNC. See ;,nge 6. y si Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Copyright The Daily Tar Heel 1982 Tokime"S Tuesday, November 9, 1982 Chapel Hill, North Carolina NewsSportsArts 962-0245 BusinessAdvertising 962-1163 mm c 3 7 Pope announces June visit to Polish homeland The Associated Press WARSAW, Poland The nation's military and church leaders said Monday that Pope John Paul II will visit his homeland in June, an announcement seen as an effort to defuse protests planned by the outlawed Solidarity union. At the same time in Wroclaw, security agents arrested . Solidarity national commission member Piotr Bednarz and 12 co-workers at a clandestine meeting, the state-run news agency PAP reported. The arrests removed Bednarz from the four-member underground commission, which has called for eight-hour strikes and nationwide marches Wednesday, the second an niversary of Solidarity's registration by a Warsaw court. The union, suspended when the government decreed martial law 11 months ago, was formally outlawed Oct. 8. The announcement of the pope's visit was made jointly by Communist Party and martial-law chief Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski and Roman Catholic Archbishop Jozef Glemp after a meeting. It came on the eve of renewed deliberations by the Euro pean Security conference in Madrid, where martial law in Poland is expected to be a key issue. Agreement to the papal visit, stalled by martial law since Dec. 13, apparently was timed to cool enthusiasm among workers for Wednesday's planned strikes and marches. "The state authorities of People's Poland and the Con ference of the Episcopate of Poland officially invite his Holiness to begin his pUgrimage in Poland on June 18, 1983," the official communique carried by PAP said. In Valencia, Spain, where the pope was on tour, a papal spokesman confirmed the trip but said much remained to be settled before the Polish-born pontiff returns to his homeland for the second time. A spokesman for the church in Warsaw said work on the visit would begin immediately, possibly at a retreat in Czestochowa, the Polish shrine city where Glemp and fellow bishops plan-to meet through Thursday. Glemp had no comment after the 90-minute meeting, his third with Jaruzelski since martial law was decreed. But the primate made his position clear in an address in Lublin on Sunday, saying the church could not condone violent demonstrations despite its sympathy for a "humiliated" nation's right to protest 11 months of military rule. The government's agreement to the papal trip indicated martial-law enforcers no longer fear the pontiffs visit might resemble his triumphant 1979 tour. It also showed that church leaders no longer fear such a visit would appear to lend Vatican endorsement to martial law. The pope has repeatedly urged Polish authorities to rescind military rule and revive Solidarity. His 1979 tour was widely believed to have contributed to the unrest of millions of Polish workers who sought political and social reforms in the predominantly Roman Catholic country. The unrest led to the 1980 strikes that caused formation of Solidarity, tRe first independent union in the Soviet bloc. Millions gathered at outdoor masses in the capital, the church seat at Gniezno, the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz and the pope's birthplace of Wadowice in a peaceful outpouring of emotion and faith. Many Poles reacted with disbelief to the announcement of the visit, heard first over Polish radio at noon Monday. There was no bell-ringing, no massive outpouring of joy. See POLAND on page 5 Ua fia ' '': ' l'x '' ' " ( 1 - ! ' 7 ; ill J ' 1 X " A' 'V '' 1 ) 1 - - -. - t J V' x 'ja -: : . v-ef0fetl " "nifXWKi f ... - . . . - y s f i . .Tt 1 V' : - ..... . i J W- J' orsing around v - DTHTom Can , In between the NFL and the USFL, former UNC fullback Billy "Horse" Johnson has found time to tend bar at Pegasus in Chapel Hill. See Sports, page 7. SG re examines ons hip to U mversi By LISA PULLEN Staff Writer To be independent or not to be indepen dent? . For Student Government officials in re cent weeks, that has been the $7,000 ques tion. . ' The issue of whether Student Govern ment should be financially independent of UNC arose earlier this semester when the Employment Securities Commission in-. formed Student Government that it need ed to have a financial status with that organization. The status of Student Government was unclear in the event that a. Student Government employee filed for unemploy ment. Student Government has not been paying unemployment taxes to cover such an eventuality. "Student Government has neither been a part of the University nor independent," said Student Body President Mike Vandenbergh. "If an employee of Student Govern ment were to file for unemployment, someone would be responsible," he said. Employees of Student Government in clude the Student Legal Service lawyers, the editor of the Yackety Yack, the chairperson of the Student Consumer Ac tion Union, the student attorney general, the student body treasurer and the student body president. If considered a part of the University, Student Government would be exempt . from paying unemployment taxes, said Wayne Jones, acting vice chancellor for business and finance. If a Student Govern ment employee were to file for unemploy mentthe University would be liable, and ! would expect Student Government to j reimburse him for any payments that would have to be made, Jones said. But Student Government was reluctant to be delcared a part of the University, Vandenbergh said. "Student Government must be indepen dent financially in order to represent the students," he said. "In case of a disagree ment with the administration, we must be able to use our funds to back up opposi tion." Financial independence was necessary so that the administration would not have to sign checks before Student Government could bring speakers to campus and hold events such as Chapel Thrill, Vandenbergh added. The move would also encourage fiscal responsibility among students J ' ty responsible for maintaining Student Government's finances, he said. Vandenbergh said that the move was not in anticipation of any move by the ad ministration to influence Student Govern ment. "Student Government has traditionally been viewed as independent by the Univer sity," he said. Jones echoed Vandenbergh's feelings, saying the administration had always con sidered Student Government as separate from, the University. "In my opinion, it would be more in form than in substance," Jones said of the move. The issue is mainly a financial one, but Student Government has seen it as an issue of its independence, he said. "The whole thing revolved around (whether) student organizations were part of the University umbrella for unemploy ment compensation," Jones said. Currently, the administration turns over Student Government's allotted amount of student fees to the Student Activity Fund Office for deposit in the Student Govern ment account. That process will not change with Student Government becom ing independent, Jones said. If Student Government were part of the University, it would be obligated to pro vide its employees with the same benefits that state employees receive, Jones said. As an independent organization, Student Government, like other independent organizations, can give its employees "whatever personnel policies those organizations choose to establish," Jones said But Student Government is also learn ing that independence has its price. In order to be registered as independent with the Commission, Student Govern ment must first pay $7,601.97 in delin quent unemployment taxes. It must also begin paying unemployment taxes on a regular basis, Jones said. If Student Government were to become a part of the University, the only cost it would bear would be paying any unemployment claims that arose, he said. Although the "price is high, it is necessary in order to assert Student Government's independence, Vanden bergh said. Concerns about how Student Govern ment would bear the cost of paying the back taxes were allayed last week when the administration offered to loan Student See INDEPENDENT on page 5 Art of writing never ou, Of sig, UNC By LEAH TALLEY Arts Editor Johnny can't read. Johnny can't write. And Johnny is a senior at Carolina. This is a perception many people have today about the average student's reading and writing ability. Falling SAT scores are but one indicator of this supposed phenomenon, educators say. "Every generation has lamented the fact that students can't write, that's not "a new problem," said Erika Lindeman;She has served as director of the freshman composition program' within the English department for the last three years. "It's partly that students don't write enough in high school," Lindeman said. "But if I had to teach 150 students a day as most high school teachers do, I wouldn't be able to assign a lot of writing." Kathy Kelly, a teaching assistant in the English department and an instructor in the Writing Lab, offered a portrait of the average senior in high school: he or she is not asked to write any in-depth or analytic papers, and writes instead book reports. "Students say two things," Kelly said. "Their (high school) teachers told them to use big words and their (high school) teachers told them not to use detail, so they write general fluff essays instead of concrete, meaty essays." At UNC, every student must take and pass basic English com position courses, English 1 and 2; some must take English W in addition. Students may place out of those courses with high SAT or other placement test score. "I hope that these students (who place out) know enough about writing to do OK in college writing courses," Lindeman said. A student may place out. four different ways: The College En trance Examination Board test for English, the Advanced Place ment Test and the SAT verbal score can place a student out of English 1 andor 2 with a high enough score. And during Orienta tion week, a student may submit two writing samples to the English department, which are read and judged by the director of freshman English and the Freshman Committee. This year, 145 students of a 3,400-member freshman class placed out of both English 1 and 2. Most students placed out by virtue of their SAT score. "All students take the diagnostic test in the fall during Orienta tion week to double check their SAT score with their writing," Lindeman said. "It's also true that students with very high SAT scores can be poor writers," she said. "The middle-range scores are the best in dicators of writing ability." . Most high school students must take the SAT lo enter college. But its validity as an indicator of writing ability is questionable. "Mathematics and other disciplines are easier u icsi than English and writing," Lindeman said. "The SAt" people have never pretended to test writing. It is essentially a vocabulary test." "I'm not sure how well the SAT tests writing ability," said Mimi Keever, assistant director of the Reading Program. "There's not a workable way of testing, writing better. I think what they do in the English department is legitimate. "What gets by are writers who score well on the SAT and don't write well. I assume somewhere along the line it catches up with them and they take a composition course," she said. . . Students scoring 400 or less on the SAT place into English W. This Course is designed to prepare a student for English 1. Fewer and shorter essays are assigned, and they are based on personal experience or topics on which the student feels confident. , An SAT score between 410 and 590 places a, student into. English 1 . Expository writing is stressed for example, narrative, definition and comparative and contrast essays are assigned. The student takes an essay exam to help prepare for exam pressure. With a score between 600 and 660 a freshman places into English 2A. This course, which is the equivalent of English 2, teaches argumentative and persuasive writing. . The overwhelming majority of these courses are taught by teaching assistants. Lindeman said that all the TAs had masters in English and most had prior teaching experience. . Every year there are 25 new TAs. Tney attend a two-day orien tation in the fall and also a series of workshops throughout both semesters that attack problems in the classroom. Each TA is evaluated in several ways. Lindeman sits in on the class, members of the Freshman Committee review the TA's grading procedure (folders of three students are turned in for judgment of the TA's fairness in grading), and Lindeman also holds a private conference with every TA. All members of the teaching staff attend a grading session once a semester to insure conformity in grading. A - Student evaluations are given every semester by the Freshman Committee, which is composed of nine members: two graduate students and one faculty member for each English 1, 2 and W. "Comments are generally quite favorable," Lindeman said. "Usually problems come about because student and teacher misunderstand each other. Most complaints are about grades." Basic courses in other departments are taught by professors. But in the English department, the bare minimum of composition courses are taught by faculty. "The primary reason is that it's a tot cheaper for the Universi ty," said Lee Schweninger, English TA and head of the Writing Lab. He said that this fall there were 87 sections of English 1 and more had to be added. English 2 and 2A have 21 sections, and there are 15 sections of English W. But in a composition course, there may be an advantage to TA instruction as well as a necessity. "They (TAs) are up to par in their writing," said Chanda Brax ton, a freshman taking English 1. "Their writing experiences are See WRITING on page 6 Writing Lab aiid reading programs help under gr ads improve prose By LEAH TALLEY Arts Editor Freshman English composition courses are not the last hope for anyone looking to improve his or her reading and writing skills UNC offers a myriad of self-help programs. . -. Within the . English department, a troubled student can find aid in the Writing Lab. , But students must be willing to work for help, writing lab counselors say. "It's not a term paper fix-up shop," said Erika Lindeman, director of the freshman com position program in the English depart ment. "Primarily, we offer help when a stu dent can't get it from another place, even English 1 and 2," said Lee Schweninger, director of the Writing Lab. "It's up to them to decide what they want," he said. "We do anything from understanding an assignment and selec ting a topic to rewriting a final paper." A student often comes to the Writing Lab after a . recommendation from a teacher. This can be in the form of a com . position condition grade. A professor from any department can assign a CC grade if he or she feels the student demonstrates knowledge of the course but not the ', competence of a college writer. The CC grade goes on . the student's record and he cannot graduate until removing it by attending the WYiting Lab. "I don't know how many departments and instructors are aware of CC grades," he said, "but we get around 15 CC grades a year." Students also may come to the lab on their own incentive. "There's a screening that goes on," Schweninger said. "If we have students who don't need our help, we convince them of that." The lab has served about 40 students per week this semester. Located in Greenlaw 308, the lab consists of two desks in a small office, and is open 9 a.m. 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. ment, Reading Program counselors say. "One thing we can do, especially with English 1, is augment from the reading side of things," said Henry Powell, direc tor of the Reading Program. "If students are having trouble writing an English 1 comparison and contrast paper, we have assignments to help them." "Of all the departments, we have the closest relationship with the English department," said Mimi Keever, assistant "Primarily, we offer help when a student can't get it from another place, even English 1 and 2." Lee Schweninger Director, Writing Lab "We do have to turn people away or tell them to come back next week," Schweninger said. "We don't advertise as much as we would if we had time and space." In addition to individual tutoring ser vices, the Writing Lab offers outreach programs throughout the semester. "We give workshops' on essay exams, researching and revision," Schweninger said. There will be an essay exam workshop Dec. 1 in Greenlaw 101 Schweninger said the department does advertise for these programs. Counselors and faculty members also recommend students to the Reading Pro gram. Although this program operates under the UNC Office of Student Affairs it receives its budget allowance from the Counseling Center it also works hand-in-hand with the' English depart- director of the program. She explained that the Reading Program complimented well what the English composition courses did, and the English department saw a large number of students who could be referred to the Reading Pro gram. "We've told English teachers what to look for," Keever said. "General College advisers and English instructors are our primary source of students." Unlike the Writing Lab, the Reading Program is not free of charge. There is a fee of $10 per year for a student. But the program offers a . variety . of services. Keever said that most students came to the program to increase their reading speed. Aids in reading comprehension, studv techniques and preparation for See ENGLISH on page 3
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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