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Serving the students and the University community since 1893
Thursday, July 7, 1988
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Castles in the sand
Heather Harding and her friends
sand sculptures at Topsail Beach
Committee
By BOB LUKEFAHR
Stan Writer
If a bill that recently cleared a U.S.
Senate Committee becomes law, it
will be the first time since 1981 that
the minimum wage has increased.
The Senate Labor and Human
Resources Committee voted 11-5
June 29 to approve a bill to increase
the minimum wage from $3.35 per
hour to $4.55 per hour over three
years.
Sponsored by Sen. Edward
Kennedy, D-Mass., the bill is similar
to a House bill sponsored by Rep.
Augustus Hawkins, D-Calif., which
passed the House Education and
Labor Committee in March. The
Hawkins bill would increase the wage
to $5.05 per hour but is expected to
be amended to match more closely
the provisions of the Kennedy bill,
said John Butler, Hawkins press
secretary.
v i I
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Tar HeelTony Deifell
put the final touches on their
Sunday.
proposes
The proposed increase faces strong
opposition from both the Reagan
Administration and business groups.
Reagan's Council of Economic
Advisers; predicts that the Kennedy
Hawkins legislation will cause a $3
billion reduction in the gross national
product, a $2 billion dollar increase
in the federal budget deficit and a loss
of almost 600,000 jobs, said Steve
Settle, legislative liaison for the
Department of Labor. Settle said the
deficit figures are based on a pre
dicted rise in welfare payments caused
by higher than expected
unemployment.
"I think a lot of this is scare tactics,"
said Butler. He cited testimony given
before the Education and Labor
Committee that there would only be
minor employment effects as a result
of the legislation. Butler also said the
Council of Economic Advisers is
using outdated population data.
job seekers face closed doors
from Chape
By ANDREW LAWLER
Staff Writer
Although the sign "HELP
WANTED" seems to be everywhere
across the nation as unemployment
reaches new lows, Chapel Hill
remains a place of few jobs for many
seekers.
According to Norma Bowen, spe
cialist with the Employment Security
Commission, North Carolina has
benefited from the low unemploy
ment rate. "We are placing more
people in jobs as a result of it," she
said. "But we are never as successful
as we would like to be."
An informal survey of Chapel Hill
businesses showed the so-called
"labor-crunch" is for the most part
non-existent. Fast food restaurants,
the old standby for student employ
ment, are similarly affected. For
example, Burger King has stopped
Student body presidents meet
to reorganize advisory board
By SHARON KEBSCHULL
Editor
The Association of Student
Governments will begin to function
again as it was originally intended if
this year's members can make the
group work, UNC-Chapel Hill Stu
dent Body President Kevin Martin
said Tuesday.
Martin, who was elected president
of ASG two weeks ago, said he will
work to make the organization of
student body presidents effective as
an advisory board to the UNC
system's Board of Governors.
The BOG is the top board govern
ing the 16-campus university system.
minimum
Paul Donovan, press secretary for
the Senate Labor and Human
Resources said, Six times the min
imum wage has increased and six
times weVe heard the same gloom
and doom predictions . . . they
haven't come true." He said he did
expect a "very slight increase" in the
loss of jobs but denied it would be
anything like the predictions issued
by the Labor Department.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
has been lobbying hard to prevent the
bill from becoming law. "We oppose
any increase to the current rate
it's a job killer," said Bob Martin,
manager of human resources. He
cited a study by Ronald Krumm,
assistant professor of political econ
omy at the University of Chicago,
which predicted that the 4th congres
sional district, made up of Orange,
Wake, Chatham, Franklin and Ran
dolph counties, will lose 7,497 jobs
Hi
hiring for the summer, and Pizza Hut
had no trouble filling its summer
positions, according to Jim Wagoner.
"We received seven applications for
each hire," Wagoner said. He added
that last fall that ratio was two to
one.
Local restaurants have seen similar
trends. One manager of a popular
local restaurant asked not to be
identified because while he was
having no problems with hiring, he
was afraid of losing applicants he
might need in the future.
Paul Killian, manager of Spanky's,
hired 10 to 15 employees for the
summer with no trouble. "There's
never a labor problem in this town,"
he said.
A Southern Season, the Plaza
Theatre and Monarch Temporaries
Service gave similar responses.
When William Friday was president
of the system, he created the ASG
to give students a voice to the board.
The ASG has been in turmoil in
recent years as it lost a sense of
continuity, Martin said, but has re
organized and should be able to work
with the BOG and UNC-system
President CD. Spangler this year.
Spangler has been left out of many
of the ASG's meetings in recent years,
Martin said.
The ASG did take a stand on the
BOG's faculty drug policy last year,
and it needs to continue to speak out
on important issues to the BOG,
Martin said.
wa
by 1992 if the rate goes up to $4.65.
Some economists also say the
higher wages will discourage new
hiring by businesses and add to
inflation by increasing the amount of
money available for consumer goods.
"Almost everyone agrees that there
is going to be a loss of jobs ... all
research that's ever been done by
economists says that you lose jobs,"
UNC economics professor John
Akins said.
But Hawkins said history does not
prove the concerns of a job loss.
"This is an historical fantasy spread
by the traditional opponents every
time an adjustment is proposed," he
said. "Each year after an increase,
except during the recession years,
employment has increased."
The AFL-CIO, along with other
labor groups, strongly supports the
See WAGE page 6
ge hike
busiiinesses
Michelle McHenry, staffing coordi
nator at Monarch, agreed with
Killian: "There's never a problem
during the summer."
Employers said they are paying
higher wages than ever before for
their employees. Briggs Wesche,
manager of A Southern Season, said
she saw an increase of 50 to 70 cents
an hour in the past year.
"WeVe had to raise wages to keep
up with labor trends," said Kim
Johnson of Belk-Leggett Co., which
received 300 applications for three
positions.
Leonard Van Ness, executive vice
president for the Chapel HillCarr
boro Chamber of Commerce, said
while there are relatively few jobs
available for students, many busi
nesses have high turnover rates,
especially in retail and restaurants.
When Bryan Hassel was UNC
CH's student body president, the
ASG tried to become more of a
student organization with a full-time
staff that would lobby state and
national legislators on student issues.
That idea did not work out, leaving
the ASG at loose ends.
"Maybe one day we can retain our
role as advisers to the BOG and
lobby, too, but what's most important
is our voice to the BOG since they
have no student representation right
now, Martin said.
At its meeting in Greensboro, the
See GOVERNMENT page 7
In This Issue
Soviets publish
reforms ... .page 2
Fourth of July
in photos... page 3
"Psycho"
goes into
the sewer page 6
Movies
pages 8 and 9
Rod Stewart's
guitarist
interviewed page 11
Sports
news pages 13-15
Crosswords
ages 18 and 19 j