North Carolina Newspapers

A -fl IVII L ft. I 100th Year of Editorial Freedom Est. 1893 Serving the students and the University community since 1893 C 1992 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. Volume 100, Issue 45 Thursday, July 16, 1992 Chapel Hill, North Carolina NewittpomAitt 9624245 BiuinatfAdvcnMnf 962-1 16) lawmakers: BOG must prepare plan for student fees By Peter Wallsten Editor -. State legislators said this week that they were not convinced that the UNC Board of Governors was committed to keeping student fees low at its member schools and that UNC-system officials pressured them to approve a fee-supported athletic complex at UNC-Charlotte. ; "I've been around here 13 years, and I've fought every year to keep tuition low," said Rep. Martin Nesbitt, D Asheville. "When you fight that war you hate to see the costs increase. It's not a distrust of the Board of Governors, but I'm not sure what they're policy is. "There's no one really to advocate for the students but us." A bill pending in the N.C. House of Representatives Wednesday states that the BOG "may not increase any re quired fees at the constituent institu tions until the board adopts rules to limit the amount of student fees that may be charged to retire debt at each institution." Activists charge ArtsCenter with ignoring minority artists ByGerrlBaer Staff Writer Local activists, concerned that the Carrboro ArtsCenter does little to reach out to minorities in the community, have launched a petition drive and cam paign against the ArtsCenter for its al leged lack of funding for minority art ists. Freda Ramey, a self-described "art istactivist," is organizing North Caro linians Against Unfair Spending in the Arts to look at how North Carolina's arts councils use state and federal grants. , "The local arts communities receive money but it somehow doesn't trickle down to the artists at the grassroots level," Ramey said. "I want to chal lenge those arts groups to pull in local people who live right down the street." Ramey said the group's research would be a major project and would involve all of the counties and arts coun cils in North Carolina. "This process is constructive, not destructive," she added. Ramey said she was concerned that minority groups in the Chapel Hill Carrboro community as well as cities and towns all over the state were ex cluded from performances and exhibits at arts councils. "The African-American minority arts community has been disenfranchised, just as with schools and businesses," Ramey said. "We have few venues and often times don't get fair participation." Eileen Helton, general manager of It's official: Legislature approves tuition increase By Peter Wallsten Editor Students attending UNC in the fall should expect to receive supplements soon to their tuition bills, which were mailed out earlier this month. : After weeks of disagreement, the General Assembly finally approved revisions to the state's $8.2 billion budget, which include additional tu ition increasestoUNC-systemschooIs. According to the budget, in-state students' tuition will increase 6 per cent, from about $774 a year to $820, and tuition for out-of-state students will rise 11.5 percent, from about $6,642 a year to $7,405. "I feel that given the tremendous pressure we were under we were able to hold it down somewhat," said Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange. The original proposal in the House would have increased tuition S percent for in-state students and 1 5 percent for out-of-state students. This session's tuition hikes come on top of last year's increases. A year ago lawmakers raised the price of at tending doctoral schools like UNC CH by 20 percent for in-state students and 25 percent for out-of-state stu dents. " The budget adopted by both cham bers last week also includes pay raises for state workers, a pay cut for the next governor, a salary scheduled for teach- ; ers and more spending on education and mental health programs. ' The Senate voted 30-1 3 to approve the budget agreement and the House The BOG would not be allowed to adopt therulesbeforeApril 1, 1993,and the UNC system would have to send the rules to every leg islator before the mora torium is dropped. By press time, the bill's status in the House still was unknown. At UNC-Chapel Hill, annual required fees totalled $439 in 1991-92. UNC Greensboro students, who pay $718 in fees annually, paid the highest amount. Meanwhile, at UNC-Asheville and Elizabeth City State, the annual required fees exceeded in-state tuition last year. Nesbitt said the proposal to nearly triple fees at UNC-Charlotte to build a $26.3 million athletic complex had caught the attention of many legisla tors. The BOG approved the plan at the tail end of UNC-system President CD. Spangler's one-yearmoratorium on stu dent fee increases. Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange, criti cized the proposal to freeze fee increases, but agreed that the BOG needed to complete its planning. "I think the Board of Governors should continue with their planning on the ArtsCenter, said she agreed with Ramey's complaint that minority art ists do not get enough funding. But about one-third of the performances at the ArtsCenter feature black artists, she said. Ramey said young people and poor residents seldom were represented in the arts community in North Carolina. "Rural, poor whites started the tradition of country and folk music, and they are excluded from the arts in our commu nity," she said. "The ArtsCenter serves a small, cliqu ish minority. Youth are also not often included, and when they are included, the programs are set up in the style that adults would have it." B ut Helton said the ArtsCenter's spe cific discipline committees were open to any member of the community. "This is a way for minorities to have direct input to our board," she said. Ramey said she thought minorities were inadequately represented on the ArtsCenter board. "The ArtsCenter gets token blacks, puts them on boards, and says 'See, we have black participation,'" she said at a meeting of the UNC Black Student Movement last week. Fred Good, chairman of the ArtsCenter board, said three out of the board's 10 members were black. "There is not rhuch substance to (Ramey's) argument," he added. As an example of programs that reach out to the minority community, Helton said the ArtsCenter was conducting a joint program with Planned Parenthood later voted 87-1 8 in favor of the com promise. All those who voted against the plan in both chambers are Repub licans. Most of the budget was approved last year when lawmakers wrote a two year budget plan. But the revisions : move some funds within that budget and earmark $ 1 5 1 million that was not s included in lastyear's budget calcula tions. Meanwhile, the future of construc tion bonds for UNC-system campuses and the community college system remained unclear by press time Wednesday. If approved, the $398 mitlion issue would go before the vot ers in the fall. The Senate approved the bill last week, and it's still pending in the House. UNC-CH officials hope the bonds would fund, among other things, a new social work building and a new business administration build ing. : Rep. Anne Barnes, D-Orange, said budget conferees succeeded in hold ing non-resident tuition down as much as possible. "Although it increased in-state tu ition a little bit, it did c ut back a bit for these students coming in to do gradu ate work," she said. "I'm just opposed to tuition increases. We should keep it as low as possible. We've done a good job, but now we're just falling on hard times." Jay Robinson, UNC-system vice president for public affairs and the system's chief lobbyist, said he was See BUDGET, page 5 Separatism is not the American way. this issue so we can have some orderly growth," he said. "The feeling by those who supported the freeze is the Board of Governors didn't do enough to get fees under control. "There's some truth to that. If you submit to the General Assembly a $ 1 30 increase, someone's not watching it." Meanwhile, Rep. Anne Barnes, D Orange, said freezing the fees would be unfair to many of the campuses. But, she said, "It's time we had a good plan for management of student fees." Basketball arena still supported Despite concern in the legislature about the UNC-Charlotte facility and what lawmakers call unnecessary fee hikes, the bill still allows for the contro versial new building, which includes a 9,500-seat basketball arena. Nesbitt said the complex was placed favorably on the bill after intense pres sure from UNC-system officials. "I was opposed to it," he said. "Basi cally the tremendous pressure was ap plied by the greater university to assure it would pass." called ArtsReach. The program teaches minority chil dren from ages 9 to 1 2 about the preven tion of pregnancy and helps them use the arts as a medium to communicate what they have learned. Donna Dedeaux, a black playwright who heads the group New Plays Rising at the ArtsCenter, said there was low minority participation at ArtsCenter events. "I've had very positive dealings with the ArtsCenter, but I do believe that the ArtsCenter does not have a large minor ity turnout," Dedeaux said. "In my group, we don't actively say, 'All mi " norities or all whites come this way.'" Dedeaux said she thought minorities in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro commu nity shied away from the ArtsCenter. "I don't know why people might be of the mindset that the ArtsCenter doesn't do anything for minorities, but if a minor ity playwright brought me an idea, I would help by presenting the idea to the board," she said. "I tend to think that if you're a black actor you'll go to Durham or Raleigh," Dedeaux added. Ramey said the lack of minority out reach in the arts was a problem inherent in society. 'This is a reflection of the division between the races," she said. "Arts are social. "What I want to see is, by way of the arts, for class, age, racial and ethnic groups to come together. We must have a mixed group of people working to gether, getting paid to produce art." Defendants unsure about appealing jury's verdict in discrimination case By Anna Griffin Associate Editor As Keith Edwards and her friends and family celebrated the guilty verdict against three former UNC administra tors this week. University officials al ready were deciding whether to appeal the decision. David Parker, the deputy attorney general defending the three former UNC administrators John DeVitto, former director of parking and transportation, Charles Mauef , former police chief, and Robert Sherman, former public safety director said the defendants had not yet made their decisions. "It's being discussed," said David Parker, the deputy attorney general han dling the case. "The defense, Univer sity officials and people from our office all have to be in on the discussions. Last week, a jury ordered the three to pay $90,000 in punitive damages and $26,000 in compensatory damages to Edwards, an 1 8-year veteran of the UNC police force. The jury ruled that the three men violated Edwards' constitu tional rights by committing racial and gender discrimination against her. The three men have 30 days to file an appeal. Alan McSurely, Edwards' attorney, said after the verdict was announced last week that he expected an appeal. 'The University does not take discrimi nation rulings against itself lightly," he said. Edwards filed the lawsuit in Septem ber 1990, accusing seven present and former UNC administrators of discrimi The General Administration has yet to show legislators a definite plan about student fees in the UNC system, Nesbitt said. 'The problem we saw after the mora torium was that the first bill I saw was raising Charlotte fees $ 1 20 forever," he said. "When we asked them to look at fees, that wasn't the outcome we ex pected." Although the legislature has not seen an official plan, the UNC system is in the process of preparing a report, said Jay Robinson, the system's vice presi dent for public affairs and chief lobby ist. UNC-Chapel Hill administrators said this week they gave a local report to the General Administration last year. Nesbitt: Fees bypass budget process Nesbitt said universities were get ting in the habit of using fees to bypass the state budget process. "All of us see fees as something supplemental," he said. "That tradition ally is what fees have been. They're now becoming a vehicle to build build ings and to become a fee to run the V" """""""""i 1 v'T 1 J -'!Smiii'!''i&''"' V ii , i, HIIIKH sf . i k"sh . ... . fx I ; I . rxii'"1 f fiim " "' r"- ' 'V f- " Ji 1 1 RJ iff .x KV ' r'. 1 it - . f awwmwioirilriliiimmmliiwniiiilii mrniiiTfl ininni iil-ilill'rrni iriimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-'iiiiramilnrtlfjar "jlmiiii nlimii I ni'tmirnmi - nl iiiinin im-minim imirii' 1 1 Tnrlrinmin Special to the DTHWiaries Oveiteck High times Charles Little (front) shares his bong with a friend Tuesday across from the Franklin Street post office. Little and a half dozen others protested marijuana laws by openly smoking the drug. Chapel Hill police officers issued Little a citation later in the afternoon. nating against her. During the course of the trial. Orange County Superior Court Judge Gordon Battle dismissed the charges against Chancellor Paul Hardin, Ben Tuchi, former vice chancellor for business, Charles Antle, former associ ate vice chancellor for business, and Dan Burleson, an official with the UNC personnel department. When the verdict was announced Edwards broke down into tears and said "thank you," to the 6-man, 6-woman jury. Jurors deliberated for more than eight hours before reaching their deci sion last Thursday at about 6 p.m. "I just didn't think this day was pos sible," Edwards said. "God just meant for it to happen." University officials, including UNC system President CD. Spangler and Chancellor Paul Hardin, refused to com ment on the case since an appeal could be pending. "I believe that case is still a matter under consideration of appeal," Spangler said this week. "Therefore, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on it at this time." Spangler said he could not comment on calls that he conduct his own inves tigation of the police force, adding that "this entire matter is still in the hands of the courts." In a statement issued last week, Hardin said he wanted to see justice done in the case. "I respect the legal process," he said. "I want our police department and our entire university to be an exemplary workplace, absolutely See APPEAL, page 4 former U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan, D-Texas general operations at the universities." UNC-CH officials said legislators shouldn't assume all fees were increased to construct new buildings. "When we look at fees we need to look at the nature of the fee and not just lump them together," said Wayne Jones, UNC-CH vice chancellor for business and finance. "We certainly aren't using the fees to get around the budget pro cess." Fee freeze could hurt UNC-CH DonaldBoulton, UNC-CH vice chan cellor for student affairs, said the bill would break a long-standing trust be tween the legislature and the state's universities about spending. "It's going to be devastating to us if we can't get (the fees) to allow us to do business," he said. "I've been here 20 years, and before I came here they said the legislature, through tax funds, would no longer give us unlimited funds. They said, 'If you want more auxiliary ser vices, then pay for them with money See FEES, page 5 Edwards looks to future after winning battle By Anna Griffin Associate Editor v She's been called a fighter, a troublemaker, a great officer and a poor officer. She's been hailed as a modern day UNC-style David versus the Goliath of the University, and re- viled as a loud-mouth complainer who mistakes fair personnel prac tices for racism. She's been dubbed a hero of the modern civil rights movement, and at the same time degraded as a bitter woman with a chip on her shoulder : andan incredible ability to mesmer ize the media. Seven days ago, a jury of six men s and six women vindicated Edwards by ruling that three former UNC admimstratorsdidcommit racial and gender discrimination against her between the period of September 1987 and September 1990. : The verdict, which may be ap- i ; pealed, capped five years of struggle for Edwards, an 18-year veteran of ; the UNC police force who filed her first grievance more than a decade ago. See EDWARDS, page 4 REQUIRED FEES AT UNC-SYSTEM SCHOOLS (91-92) PUBLIC REQUIRED UNIVERSITY FEES Appalachian '' '" ' $491 East Carolina $528 Elizabeth City " $594 Fayetteville $420 N.C.A&T ' " $552 N.C. Central $493 N.C. School of the Arts College $472 High School $472 N.C. State $464 Pembroke $358 UNC-Asheville $560 UNC-Chapel Hill $439 UNC-Charlotte $471 UNC-Greensboro $718 UNC-Wilmington $626 Western Carolina $553 Winston-Salem $504 UNC nursing program targets men By Alan Ayers StaffWriter Nursing school officials hope that a summer program for high school stu dents will be effective in changing stu dent perceptions about men in the nurs ing profession. Thirty-six high school students par ticipating in the second annual Triangle Area Residential Nursing Program will hear presentations from experts in the nursing field, tour area health care fa cilities and experience college life through planned campus activities with " undergraduate nursing students: Douglas Lowe, a senior at Mt. Airy High School, said he became interested in nursing after taking a health class. "Nurses make pretty good money and I like helping people," he said. "This program is definitely a deciding factor in my future." Program Director Peggy Campbell said the nursing profession has diffi culty recruiting male students because it has traditionally been associated with women. "When most people think of a nurse, they think of the past a nurse is a person who works in a hospital and does what the doctor tells her to do," she said. "Although our efforts to target the African-American population have been successful, wehaven't done such a good job with males." Campbell said male students have the same types of problems as other minority groups in nursing. "There are more men going into the profession," said Lowe, who wants to teach nursing to college students. "Sometimes somebody will say some thing to me, but if you want to be a nurse, you shouldn't let anybody change your mind." Britney Ashby, a 15-year-old par ticipant from China Grove, agreed. "I think it's good that guys don't feel pressured about it," she said. "If they want to be a nurse, they shouldn't feel bad about doing it." Campbell said that the School of Nursing suffered an enrollment decline during the 1980s, bottoming out in 1989 with a junior class of 67 students. "Women began going into law and other fields that were traditionally asso ciated with men," she said. "Because nursing was traditionally a woman's profession, we found ourselves com peting for students." Beth Shaw, director of public rela tions for the School of Nursing, said that the summer program was the cor nerstone of their undergraduate recruit ment efforts. "We want to get the brightest high school students interested in nursing at an early age," she said. 'Then, if they don't want to come here, we still want them to be a nurse." Shaw said 128 juniors will enter the School of Nursing this fall the largest class in five years. "A lot of people didn't think that nursing was that important until there was a shortage," she said. "People still get sick, and there's always a need for quality nursing care." Shaw said nurses' salaries have in creased, despite the recession. The School of Nursing has maintained a 1 00-percent job placement rate by add ing programs that teach students to deal with the current needs of the medical See NURSING, page 2 v