Cloudy today, 50 chance of rain J: Clear and colder Saturday, Highs in the 40s n n fW'lllilllllfll ; ye Happy Holidays - We're outta here! DTH to return on Jan. 1 7 page 7 :xam-schedule page 10 Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Volume 96, Issue 98 Friday, December 9, 1938 Chapel Hill, North Carolina News Sports Arts 962-0245 Business Advertising 962-1 163 A fairy tale dance for a!i ae page 9 tor Ita Carotaa Mn UDimaoiKCDa By JENNY CLONINGER Assistant University Editor The Carolina Inn is having finan cial problems because intense com petition from new hotels in the Triangle area has lowered its occu pancy rates, UNC officials said this week. The inn is still making a profit, but revenues have declined for the past three years, said Edward Rehkopf, director of hotel and conference centers. While solutions to some major financial problems must be found, the inn isn't in danger of going out of business, said Wayne Jones, associate vice chancellor of finance. "If we didn't do anything it would (close), but it's not like we're going to close the doors next year or anything," he AIPO Own stomas tiree ''borrowed iretaoDed From staff reports It wasn't quite "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," but it was close. Two Sigma Alpha Epsilon frater nity brothers stole the Alpha Phi Omega Christmas tree from the Pit Wednesday night, according to Chris Kennedy, APO inter-chapter rela tions officer. A Chapel Hill police officer saw the two men carrying the tree across campus at about 12:30 a.m. and followed them. The officer didn't catch the students, but he saw them leave the tree at the SAE house on fttn n IrlOPUnC O By CHARLES BRITTAIN Staff Writer Representatives from the North Carolina Department of Transporta tion (DOT) answered questions and obtained public input Thursday on proposals to widen South Columbia Street between Manning Drive and U.S. 15-501. The DOT is in the early stages of a planning study on four proposals Try not to panic: Students cap beat exam-time stress I By BETH RHEA ISfaff Writer It's 2:30 a.m. before that cumul ative final exam you've been dreading all semester. Four essay questions in two hours. It doesn't . I help that you haven't even read I the last two books the exam will !be based on. As if that weren't enough, the exam is worth 60 percent of your grade. No problem. The heavy doses of caffeine you've consumed are starting to wear off, and that soft pillow is . looking more and more appealing. Maybe, you think, you could set , your alarm and get up and study at 4:30 a.m. ... or maybe you could just cross your fingers and . pray If this sounds like where youH be during the next few weeks, take heart. There are ways to handle . stress and be good to yourself so it doesn't paralyze you. "Try to be realistic in your expectations," says John Gorman, a clinical psychologist. "Just try not to distort your performances and try to be accurate in your appraisals. (Then) there's no room for dissatisfaction and discontent.7 He suggests applying his sugges tions to exams and the holidays said. For many years, the inn was one of few hotels in town, Rehkopf said. But in the last five years, the number of hotel rooms in Chapel Hill and the Triangle has more than doubled, lowering occupancy rates everywhere. Seven new hotels have been built in Research Triangle Park during the last two years, with a total of 1,400 new rooms all aimed at the same market, said Mel Lewis, Raleigh Convention and Visitors' Bureau vice president. " All the hotels in our area of study are experiencing a drop in occupancy and room rates," he said. "The size of the pie has not grown, but the number of people eating the pie has. There's no way anybody could have Big Fraternity Court, Kennedy said. The officer called the SAE pres ident, Beau Stoneman, to ask about the incident. Stoneman gave the officer the names of the two men who stole the tree. The students promised to return the tree and to pay for the lights they had broken on the tree: APO declined to press charges. "We got the tree back, and that's all we care about," Kennedy said. The students stole the tree as a prank and intended to return it anyway, he said. The tree should be back in the Pit p D DTI D O DU to widen the existing two-lane road to either our or five lanes. All four proposals deal with about one-half mile of street expansion beginning at the South Columbia and Pittsboro street intersection and merging with improvements sche duled for U.S. 15-501. The proposals are basically similar except for the number of lanes suggested and the location and afterward. If you imagine, for . example, that family time during the holidays will be pure joy, youH probably be disappointed when you find yourself having occa sional disagreements with parents or siblings. And if you imagine, unrealisti cally, that youU wind up with a B in the class that you've missed for the last three weeks, youU be in for a shock when you wind up withaC-. Stress occurs this time of year for a variety of reasons, according to Molly Peters, a social work trainee at Student Health Service. "It (UNC) is a real high expectation place, she said. Many UNC students excelled in high school, and they assume that they will continue to succeed academically at college. This can be an especially difficult adjust ment for freshmen, she said. Even the approaching holidays can cause stress. Many students become frustrated that before they can begin to enjoy the holidays, they must first get through exams. Christmas vacation itself can also be a trying experience, Peters said. "Undergraduates are trying See STRESS page 3 In two words: im possible. Samuel face n. ratio loue maintained their occupancy with that kind of new competition coming in." Although the Triangle is growing quickly and has a strong economy, the need for hotels is not growing as quickly as the supply. The demand could take from 18 months to three years to catch up with the supply, but the supply won stop growing during that time, Lewis said. "The development will continue," he said. "It hasn't stopped in the area and it probably won't." The inn's occupancy was at 80 percent between 1978 and 1982, 20 percent above the national average. Last year, occupancy dropped to 70.2 percent. That 10 percent decline has meant about $250,000 in losses each See INN page 4 this morning, he said. "APO members take a lot of pride in doing this for the University, and it hurts when somebody does some thing like that," Kennedy said. "It was our gift to the campus." Stoneman said the action was not a hazing prank. "We don't want it to reflect badly on the fraternity," he said. "It wasn't initiated or condoned by anybody in the fraternity." Kennedy said stealing the APO tree from the Pit is becoming a tradition. "Nearly every year somebody steals it," he said. . ht SOUl amount of property surrounding South Columbia Street that will be taken for the expansion. Glenda Gibson of the DOT. said the purpose of the informal meeting was to involve the public as early as possible in the planning process. "Through this meeting we are trying to get public feedback and comments on the four proposals and to identify , areas of special concern," by JAMES BENTON Staff Writer The Housing Advisory Board defeated a proposal by the Depart ment of University Housing that would guarantee sophomore housing Thursday and endorsed a proposal by the Residence Hall Association (RHA). The board defeated the housing proposal by a 6-2 vote with one abstention and endorsed the RHA proposal by a 4-1 vote with three abstentions. Five of the six members, who voted against the housing prop osal and all four who voted to endorse the RHA proposal were students. The housing proposal would Cultural center awaits trustee By BETHANY LITTON and WILL SPEARS Staff Writers Supporters of UNC's Black Cul tural Center feel positive about obtaining Board of Trustees support for a permanent BCC site at the BOT meeting Friday, Black Student Move ment president Kenneth Perry said Wednesday. If the board supports the BCC today, the BSM's next step will be to secure funding for the center, Perry said. Donald Boulton, vice chancellor and dean of student affairs, will give a report to the BOT that will include the anticipated amount of space needed for a permanent BCC 13,000 square feet. - v 1 s wx " t "ft. JLl IL i, fft . rnr r in -ii: , -if A step up Donald McRoy, a junior from Wilmington, construction on the steps outside Carmichael negotiates the obstacle course created by Residence Hall Thursday. oil road Gibson said. The public's comments on the proposals at the meeting will help planners decide on a final plan, she said, "Aspects of the proposals that will be considered by our planners are the public's comments, what the city and the University want, and special attention will be paid to the cost of each proposal," Gibson said. backs RHA exempt rising sophomores from the spring housing lottery and guarantee their freshman room assignment for their sophomore year. The RHA proposal would require all students to participate in the spring housing lottery and would guarantee a room in a South Campus residence hall for sophomores who are unsuccessful in the lottery. Student Congress voted to con demn the housing department's proposal Wednesday night. Congress members said the housing proposal could affect class composition in residence halls, enforcement of the alcohol policy, and parking. RHA President Jimmy Randolph Perry will then appeal to the board, stating the importance of a cultural center and the heed for more space. Up to this point, Perry said, the BOT has not given the BCC proposal as much support as they need, and a positive response is crucial for eventual approval of the program. "It must be a strong statement from the board," Perry said. "I don't feel that we can leave there with anything less than a strong statement." There are now no written commit ments from the BOT concerning the BCC proposal, so the trustees' reac tion to Friday's presentation will give supporters of the BCC an idea as to their next step in the process of. gaining support, Perry said. . Once the BOT expresses its sup :w,v.'., "rww,.-: ..v.-.o. . ................ - expaimsSoDD plaon The DOT is tentatively scheduling a formal public hearing for May 1989, when it will present a final proposal to the public and answer any ques tions about how the project will affect the community, she said. ' The project is part of the North Carolina Transportation Improve ment Program for 1988 through 1996 and the estimated total cost of the project is about $5.1 million. said it was now up to Wayne Kuncl, housing director, to decide which proposal to implement. But Ran dolph said student opinion on the issue is clear. , "The students have said they are against housing's proposal, and the council has said they are against it," he saidr Any decision made by the housing department will be sent to the Division of Student Affairs and may be overruled by Donald Boulton, vice chancellor and dean of student affairs, but Randolph said he did not know where Boulton stands on the issue. Randolph; said the congress's port, BSM leaders must decide where they will go to fund the center. The BOT may view the proposed BCC as a part of the Student Union, which would make it a student service, Perry said. Student services, such as residence hall facilities, food services and the Student Union, can not be funded by state appropria tions, said. Frederic Schroeder, dean of students. Then students would have to vote on a referendum whether to raise student fees to fund the center, Perry said. But he said other universities do ' not consider black cultural centers as student services. "Some members of the administration are making the assumption that the Black Cultural Goldwyn Hill - DTH Brian Foley "This early in the project it is really difficult to estimate the final costs because now we are considering four different proposals, and with each proposal there are different consid erations to be made," Gibson said. ; DOT project engineer Whit Webb said the main reasons for widening Columbia Street are to increase the See ROAD PLAN page 6 orooosa condemnation of the housing1 prop osal helped the RHA proposal because it presented a united student opinion. "Any other proposal thatis implemented is in direct opposition to the students," he said. Randy Griffin, a freshman frprr Fayetteville, said the housing system should be left alone, but the housjng department's ' proposal could help sophomores who might not knpw about other campus areas or housing off campus. ; . : "If I moved off campus, I don't, think I would be ready," he said. ; - But the housing proposal's popu-; See HOUSING page 3 : : : approva u u : : Center is a part of the Student Union," Perry said. : : At this point, the BCC has four potential sources of funding, Perry said. If the center is not considered" a student service, funding will come; from the General Assembly, he said. If the BCC is considered a student service, then a student referendum,; private donations and corporate; sponsorship will provide the neces sary funding, Perry said. ' J Perry said he has no preference as to the source of the funding. "I just want a Black Cultural Center as soon as possible," he said. - Trustee S. Bobo Tanner said Wednesday that the BOT will prob-' See CENTER page 2 ;

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