ISSUE
0
100th Year of Editorial Freedom
Est. 1893
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
e 1992 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved.
Volume 100, Issue 47
Monday, August 24, 1992
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
NnnSpoiUAiU 902-0245
BuuneuAdvrrtutnf 962-1 161
UEQISTUATi
Council mulls Herzenberg's future after tax conviction
By Dana Pope
City Coordinator
Members of the Chapel Hill Town
Council tonight will consider a resolu
tion concerning a possible response to
the tax evasion convictions of three
term council member Joe Herzenberg.
While at least four members of the
council called for Herzenberg's resig
nation following a meeting Thursday
night, Herzenberg said he did not know
what, if any, action he would take.
Tonight's council meeting is at 7:30
Amidst confusion,
BOT rejects law
school addition
Board member says he didn't know
funding was from private donation
By Anna Griffin
Associate Editor
Confusion about funding may have
been the primary reason a proposed
$8.8 million addition to the UNC Law
School was rejected at the last Board of
Trustees meeting.
Cressie Thigpen, one of six board
members to vote against the proposal,
said that he did not know before his vote
was cast that the money for the project
would have come from a donation from
an anonymous contributor.
"My concern was that the university
system was going to be funding some
thing that, in these tough times, seemed
excessively opulent," Thigpen said in a
recent interview. "If I had known that
the money was coming from an outside
source, I would have reevaluated my
vote."
Thigpen said the appearance of the
project would not have mattered to him
if he had known the project was to be
funded by an outside source. The build
ing would include a Jeffersonian de
sign, including columns and a dome.
"If the funds are not coming from the
University, and they have contributors
who are willing to put up the money, I
don't think it makes any difference
whether it's opulent or not," he said. "I
am not on the committee that made the
initial plans, so I wasn't really sure
about the project specifics."
The University's buildings and
grounds committee unanimously ap
proved the plan.
Although Thigpen's vote would have
made the final tally 5-4 against the plan,
BOT member John Harris, one of sev
eral to miss the vote because of family
reasons, said he probably would have
voted in favor of the proposal had he
attended the July 24 meeting.
"I think I probably would have voted
for it," Harris said last week. "I thought
they had done a better job getting the
University to
ByAlanAyers
Staff Writer
Admissions officials have decided
to accept scores from the American
College Test (ACT) in addition to
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores
on applications for Fall 1993 to keep
up with a trend set by other North
Carolina universities.
"Chapel Hill was lagging behind
by only accepting the SAT," said
Anthony Strickland, associate direc
tor of Undergraduate Admissions.
"Most major universities nationwide
and all the other schools in the UNC
system have accepted both tests for
some time."
' The change was approved by the
Board of Trustees at its July 24 meet
ing after recommendation from the
Faculty Advisory Committee on Un
dergraduate Admissions.
Provost Richard McCormick said
that the possibility of accepting both
tests had been examined during the
past two years.
We were finding that a lot of stu
dents applying to Chapel Hill were
inconvenienced," he said "So we be
gan to canvas other universities and
look at the patterns of our own appli
cants to see how many presented both
tests and whether there was a large
number who took the SAT only to
satisfy Chapel Hill's requirements."
McCormick said the committee
decided to adopt the ACT to remain
competitive. "Schools are competi
p.m. in the Town
Hall council
chambers.
Herzenberg,
mayor pro
tempore, said he
made a statement
in his defense dur
ing the closed
meeting, but
would not respond
to calls from fel
low council mem
Joe Herzenberg
bers that he make the next move.
design into line with what we wanted."
Harris and Thigpen's votes would
have tied the vote, forcing BOT Chair
man Robert Strickland or one of the
members who abstained from voting to
cast the deciding ballot.
UNC Student Body President John
Moody voted against the plan. He was
unavailable for comment.
At press time, Strickland, who usu
ally does not vote except as a tiebreaker,
was not available for comment.
UNC officials are not sure whether
they will re-submit the same plan to the
BOT.
Gene Swecker, associate vice chan
cellor for facilities management, said
he did not know how Thigpen could
have been confused about the funding.
"I just don't know," Swecker said.
"It's always been known among those
directly involved. Sometimes we forget
to tell those who aren't in the planning
from the outset."
Gordon Rutherford, the UNC direc
tor of facilities planning and design,
said Thigpen'sconfusion was partly the
fault of UNC administrators.
"He's relatively new on the board
since we first started discussing the
addition," Rutherford said. "If he's con
fused, that's probably our fault. There
was probably a communications break
down." Ellen Smith, director of public infor
mation for the law school, said all com
munications concerning specific details
of the proposals was run through the
office of facilities planning.
Smith, who spoke on behalf of law
school Dean Judith Wegner, said she
thought the source of funding for the
project had been made clear all along.
Wegner has refused to speculate on
why the addition was rejected.
The five other BOT members voting
against the proposal echoed Thigpen's
See SCHOOL, page 7A
accept ACT for admission
tive with each other for the best stu-:
dents, faculty and financial resources,"
he said. "When we noticed other schools
in the Southeast were accepting the
ACT, we decided to examine our own
policies."
Patricia Farrant, a representative of
AmericanCollegeTesung.saidtheACT
had gained acceptance at schools that
traditionally considered only the SAT.
'There are a few schools, especially
on the east and west coasts, that still
don't accept the ACT," she said. "The
trend to accept both tests was just started
in the mid 1980s by the Ivy League
schools."
All ACC schools, except for Wake
Forestand Clemson, have changed their
policy during the past decade and now
accept both tests.
Duke University Admissions Officer
Ben Pratt said that Duke began accept
ing the ACT eight years ago. "The ACT
tests students in more subject areas than
the SAT," he said.
Strickland said that he was skeptical
of schools that had adopted the ACT.
"Our experience with the SAT leads us
to believe it is a reliable test," he said.
"Because we haven't worked with the
ACT, I'm not sure how reliable it is."
Acceptance of the ACT is expected
to increase the number of out-of-state
applications to UNC. "This year we had
10,161 applications for 600 out-of-state
spots," Strickland said. "Accepting the
ACT will make it easier for students
from other parts of the country to apply ,
and we just don't have the resources to
George Bush is
"I'd rather wait until they ask me to
resign," Herzenberg said.
Although members of the council
could not say what specific points the
resolution might contain, several said
they hoped the resolution would call for
Herzenberg's resignation.
"With (Herzenberg) on our council,
it says we are above our own law," said
council member Joe Capowski. "The
public trust of this town council has
been violated."
Council member Julie Andresen, the
first council member to call for
Drum roll, please ...
Myndi Konopacky watches and waits for her cue as the UNC in preparation forfootball season, whichopensSept.5.Konopacky
Marching Band drum linepractices last weeknear Memorial Hall is a sophomore from Cary.
Yack fate still unclear
By Anna Griffin
Associate Editor
While the legal drama concerning
former UNC student Tracy Lamont
Keene may have ended, the outlook for
UNC's student yearbook, the Yackety
Yack, remains uncertain.
Earlier this month, State Superior
Court Judge Lynn Johnson ordered
Keene, the former Yack business man
ager who pleaded guilty to embezzling
more than $77,000 from UNC's 102-year-old
annual, to repay the money
over the course of at least 10 years.
Keene, who could have been sentenced
to 2 1 0 in prison, must pay $500 a month
for the next 10 years and must eventu
ally pay off the entire amount he admits
taking.
Under Johnson's ruling, Keene also
deal with all those additional appli
cants." North Carolina State University
uses the ACT to recruit applicants
from other states. Admissions Direc
tor Kay Leeger said: "We are finding
that most of our out-of-state students
who submit ACT scores would not
have come here if we only accepted
the SAT."
Most N.C. high school students
still take the SAT, but Farrant said she
expected the ACT gain popularity.
"When UNC decided to accept both
tests, it was almost like a stamp of
approval for the ACT," she said.
Although the adoption of the ACT
has been controversial, admissions
officials believe that test scores still
are overemphasized.
"It's not really fair to judge a stu
dent based on his test scores alone
because they are not always accu
rate," Farrant said. "Other factors such
as high school grades and extra-curricular
activities should also be con
sidered." McCormick said accusations that
standardized tests such as the ACT
and SAT were biased against women
and minorities reduced their credibil
ity. "Although there is no research
that can prove that, we try to weigh
other factors just to be safe."
Strickland said UNC uses a math
ematical system to determine eligibil
ity. "Although scores on these tests
are important, they won't make or
break an applicant."
no Harry Truman.
Herzenberg's resignation, said she was
concerned the resolution would not go
far enough. "(The resolution) is cer
tainly not going to be a statement of
support," Andresen said.
In addition to Capowski and
Andresen, Mayor Ken Broun and coun
cil member Art Werner both said they
had asked Herzenberg to step down.
Prior to the Thursday meeting, Broun,
who drafted the resolution with Werner,
had expressed support for Herzenberg.
But after the meeting, Broun distrib
uted a written statement calling for
(-- fvV f
'""""V 0 P ftHV i r"
- . .. .
is required to pay $ 1 ,600 up front, give
the University his 1986 Acura which
he purchased with money taken from
the Yack continue psychological
treatment and perform 200 hours of
community service.
Although the monthly payments will
help alleviate the Yack's financial woes,
it will not allow them to pay off the
$1 10,000 still owed to Delmar, the Charlotte-based
publishing company that
prints the yearbook.
"Now people think we're out of the
woods," said Yack Editor Shea Tisdale
said. "We're certainly not."
Delmar, which has been working with
the yearbook to arrange re-payment,
could sue the Yack, student govern
ment and the University, Tisdale said.
Tisdale has said he hoped the Uni
versity would work with Yack officials
in obtaining a bank loan for the year
book. Earlier this summer, UNC Chan
cellor Paul Hardin said administrators
were considering such a measure.
But Frederic Schroeder, dean of stu
Former UNC officials appealing
ruling in discrimination lawsuit
By Anna Griffin
Associate Editor
The three former UNC administra
tors who this summer were found guilty
discriminating against UNC Police Of
ficer Keith Edwards have decided to
appeal the $116,000 decision against
them.
By filing a notice of appeal earlier
this month, former police chief Charles
Mauer and former directors of public
safety John De Vitto and Robert Sherman
have set into motion an appeals process
that could take several months to re
solve. In July, the three former administra
tors were ordered to pay Edwards, an
1 8-year veteran of the UNC police force,
$90,000 in punitive damages and
$26,000 in compensatory damages, on
the grounds that they committed racial
and gender discrimination against her.
David Parker, the assistant attorney
general handling the case for the three
former state employees, filed the notice
of appeal at the same time he requested
astayonthe attorney ' s fees of Ed wards'
lawyer, civil rights activist Alan
McSurely. Should they lose their ap
peal, the three men also must pay the
U.S. Sen. Terry
Herzenberg's resignation.
"Joe, for all his superb qualities, has
violated his oath of of fice and the public
trust in a way which even his past ser
vice cannot put right," Broun said.
Herzenberg pleaded guilty Aug. 10
to two counts of willful failure to file
state taxes. He did not pay $800 of
income taxes in 1989 and did not pay
$600 in intangibles taxes on investment
income in 1990. State revenue officials
also have indicated that Herzenberg had
not filed a state income tax return since
1978 or intangibles taxes since 1986.
DTHErin Randall
despite Keene verdict
dents, last week said the administration
would wait until Student Congress acted
before considering direct intervention
on behalf of the yearbook.
"At this point, my understanding is
that this is a matter Student Congress
will be considering this fall," Schroeder
said. "The University is not directly
involved at this point. There are no
plans at this point to take direct action."
Schroeder said he felt Judge
Johnson's decision was fair and, in the
end, was the best thing for both the
Yack and Keene.
"The bottom line is he is required to
pay (his debt) off," Schroeder said. "I
don't see that as a bad resolution. Of all
the options available, that is probably
the fairest."
In one of its first fall meetings, Stu
dent Congress will consider a bill, which
was approved by the Summer Con
gress, that would allow Congress to
take money out of the Student Activi
ties Fund Office's emergency fund.
But because the Keene verdict does
more $100,000 in attorney's fees re
quested by McSurely.
"We filed the stay of attorney's fees
because we don't have to pay their
attorney's fees while we're still in the
appeals process," Parker said, declin
ing to say whether he thought McSurely
had asked for an excessive amount of
money.
Parker, the state lawyer who handles
cases involving University employees,
is defending the three former adminis
trators because the suit names them in
their capacity as state employees.
The notice of appeal is the first step
in the appeals process, Parker said. Once
the notice is filed, a Superior Court
reporter has 30 days to file the transcript
of the original case with the state Court
of Appeals. After the transcript is re
ceived and a record of appeal is filed,
both lawyers present the Court of Ap
peals with briefs explaining the grounds
of appeal.
The entire process could take several
months, Parker said.
Edwards, who has filed numerous
grievances against the University since
the late 1970s, said she was not sur
prised by the appeal.
"I'm certainly not surprised, this is
Sanford, D-N.C.
Herzenberg received a six-month
suspended sentence, was fined $500
and court costs, and received five years
unsupervised probation. In addition, he
was ordered to pay the back taxes plus
penalties and interest.
Council member Mark Chilton was
the only member present at the meeting
who afterwards expressed support for
Herzenberg. 'This is very serious," he
said. "Joe really screwed up, and he
certainly shouldn't be allowed to get off
See HERZENBERG, page 2A
Tuition hike
to hit home
next month
Staff report
University officials are planning to.
send out additional tuition bills by Sept..
17 to cover increases approved in the
state legislature over the summer.
According to the state's newly re
vised budget, in-state students' tuition
will increase 6 percent, 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.
Last year the General Assembly in
creased tuition to UNC-Chapel Hill 20
percent for in-state students and 25 per
cent for out-of-state students.
In-state tuition has increased 27 per
cent while the price for out-of-state
students has risen 39 percent since 1 990.
Although in-state tuition still ranks
in the bottom five of comparable schools
nationally, the out-of-state tuition ranks
18th nationwide after last year's 25
percent increase.
The General Assembly also approved
increases in financial aid. The debates
this summer in the legislature brought
to light questions about the educational
purpose of the state's flagship univer
sity and the entire UNC system.
For an analysis of the budget and
tuition issues, see the story on page
IB.
not require immediate payback, Con
gress may have to take more direct
action, Student Congress Speaker Jen
nifer Lloyd said.
"I will, or I will have someone else,
introduce a bill to help the Yack," Lloyd
said. The full Student Congress holds
its first meeting Sept. 2.
Tisdale said that although he initially
was pleased with the verdict, his opin
ion has changed since the Aug. 1 1 rul
ing. "I would' ve liked to have seen Tracy
go to jail," Tisdale said. "Personally, I
think about five years would have done
him some good."
Tisdale said that although he wanted
to pay Delmar off, he was doubtful the
publishing company would ever recover
the full amount owed by the Yack.
"We know and presumably they
know that in most embezzlement cir
cumstances, the creditor who is owed
the money are lucky to get it all back,"
he said. "But that doesn't mean we
don't want to pay them back."
what we expected," Edwards said. "This
just suits their partem of disregarding
justice and not doing what is best for the
University."
The lawsuit first was filed in Septem
ber 1990 and named DeVitto, Mauer,
Sherman, Chancellor Paul Hardin and
former administrators Ben Tuchi,
Charles Antle and Dan Burleson.
OrangeCounty SuperiorCourt Judge
Gordon Battle, who earlier this month
rejected a motion by Parker asking for a
new trial, dismissed the charges against
all the defendants except DeVitto, Mauer
and Sherman during the second week of
the trial.
Join the DTH
The Daily Tar Heel is seeking
reporters for news, features, arts,
entertainment and sports in addition
to copy editors and photographers.
Those who are interested in join-;
ing the staff should come to our.
meetings August 3 1 and Sept. 1 . No'
experience is necessary. The times
and locations of the meetings will be:
announced in the regular editions of
the paper this week and next week.