Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / Feb. 9, 1983, edition 1 / Page 1
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PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N C. . WEDNESDAY, February 9, 1983 15c P. Copy r^nSffi-. c~* m^^^BBKIBImK^ .' - \ztMB^8fnfflpiy w. THE NEWS ?-_ I SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY 82nd Year No. 6 Mars Hill College Facing $500,000 Deficit Faculty And Staff Layoffs, Increased Tuition Fees Proposed By ROBERT KOENIG Editor Faced with a projected deficit of $500,000 for the current school year, Mars Hill College president Dr. Fred Bentley last week unveiled a plan designed to return the Madison County col lege to sound financial footing. In a nine-page report presented to members of the faculty, Bentley outlined the causes for the present financial squeeze and his recommendations for correcting the situation. The austerity plan calls for a freeze on faculty salaries and tenure, a reduction in the school's work force and an increase in student fees and tuition. Bentley pointed to a reduction in full-time enrollment as the chief reason for the deficit. The f-eport states that projections for the cur rent school year forecast a full-time student enrollment of 1,225 students. Current full-time enrollment of 1,140 students, 85 short of the pro jected figure, resulted in a loss of $425,000 in revenues. In addition to the loss of full-time students, the report also states that the school's Continu ing Education program has fallen $200,000 short of projected revenues. As a result of these losses, Bentley told faculty members that the school faces a real deficit of $500,000 and a cash flow problem of $850,000. Adding to the school's financial problems are a $200,000 debt owed on a short-term note which financed the school's new Media Center and cash flow problems involving one of the school's trust funds. Compounding the present difficulties are projected decreases in student enrollment for the next school year. Based on demographic studies and the number of application received, the school is projecting a Fall, 1983 enrollment of 1,100 full-time students, down an additional 40 students from current enrollment. Due to the continued decrease in enrollment, Bentley warned that the school faces a $750,000 deficit next year unless significant cuts are made. The plan, as outlined in the report to the faculty, calls for the elimination of 22 faculty positions in the next year. The reduction in faculty will increase the school's present ll-to one student/teacher ratio to 15-to-one in the 1985-86 school year, by which time the ad ministration forecasts a full-time enrollment of 1,000 students. The school will encourage early retirement of faculty members in order to reduce the number of teachers who will be fired. Bentley detailed the early retirement proposal at a meeting with faculty members Thursday after noon. Those faculty members elibible for the early retirement option will have until Mar. 15 to decide to accept or reject the option. Response to the early retirement proposal will determine the number of faculty members who will face termination. Notification of dismissal will be made April 15 when contracts for the 1983-84 school year are sent out. In ac cording with guidelines of the American Association of University Professors, faculty members to be dismissed will be given 12 mon ths' notice of their termination. Those faculty members who will lose their jobs due to the cur rent financial crisis will remain on the faculty through the 1983-84 school year. Although the cuts will not affect faculty un til the end of the 1983-84 school year, the plan outlined last week also calls for a number of cuts at the conclusion of the current school year. The plan calls for the elimination of three office personnel, two administrative assistants, five positions in the Continuing Education pro- ' gram, five hourly employees, four and a half jobs among support staff and a reduction of part-time instructors in the adult education pro gram. The plan projects a saving of $128,717 in faculty salaries for the '83-84 school year to be attained through retirements and attrition. Ad ministrative salary cuts will realize an addi tional savings of $15,000 in the coming year. In a telephone interview Friday morning, Bentley reported that three members of the ad ( Continued on Page 5) County Commission Told Postal Service To Crack Down On Loose Dogs Postal authorities will be putting teeth into regulations designed to safeguard mail carriers. That was the message delivered to the Madison County Board of Commissioners Friday night by William Hoover Jr., sec tional center manager postmaster of Asheville. Hoover explained a new policy being instituted by the postal service to identify homes where dangerous dogs are present. The policy was begun in Asheville lsat year after a carrier was hospitalized following a dog bite. Hoover told the com missioners that Madison County post offices will soon begin identifying homes where dogs pose a threat to mail carriers. According to Hoover, this program is the first of its kind in the U.S. He told the com missioners that 5,700 mail carriers suffer dog bites each year. One California mail carrier died as a result of being bitten by a pit bulldog in 1961. To combat the problem in Madison County, the postal service will begin a program to identify homes where dangerous dogs are present. When a mail carrier en counters a dangerous dog on his delivery route, mail will not be delivered to the residence at which the dog poses a threat. The owner of the dangerous dog will be notified by telephone, or in writing, when a dangerous' situation is present. Owners of dangerous pets will be given three notices with requests that the pet be tied up during delivery hours. Should the dog remain unrestrained, the postal service will cease making deliveries at the residence. The postal service has purchased stickers which will be placed on mailboxes to alert mail carriers that a dangerous dog is present. A yellow sticker will be placed on mailboxes where there is a dog who has interferred with mail delivery. A red sticker will be placed at residences where there is a dog that is considered extremely dangerous. The commissioners also heard reports from several M.H. Town Council Ok's Modernization By jenNlf GH YUUNU Fire prevention was the main topic of discussion at the Mars Hill town council meeting Monday night. The board of aldermen unanimously approved a modernisation fund for 1983 proposed by the Mars Hill Housing Authority. In a letter to the board, the authority suggested adding doors and partitions to the second Door of the three-bedroom units of housing for the elderly. The authority alao suggested in V: . . J.. :l A-i :: wAjt' stalling pre-set thermostats and screen enclosures for the archways. Plans call for the replacement of the roofs of the housing units In IMS. The modernisation fund will also pay for the installation of smoke detectors. Fire Chief Doug Randolph reported to the board on the activities of the Mars Hill Fire Dept. in ML His department responded to 71 calls, down 11 from the year before. Twelve calls were within the city limits and two were outside Madison County. The remainder were inside the county. Structure fires and brush fires comprised most of the calls. Mars Hill firefighters also made three rescue calls and answered eight false alarms. The value of property lost from fires was estimated at |li,130. Randolph estimated the value of property saved by the department of $S?,870 The (Continued on Page 3) FmHA Approves Marshall Plans start of the Marshall sewer 1 project is still ?t least six < weeks away, according to so i thepraject. laaaMar of Batlsr ' tes, t Iw engineering ' rtfgM H* tofe the Hnmp ? ^ ?gency who will ^ Lapaiey laid that he ex the advertise for bkb oa f-: Wolf Laurel In Full Swing By STEVE FERGUSON Wolf Laurel Resort, located in Madison County along the Tennessee line, offers much for the traveler coming to Western North Carolina as well as local residents. In the Winter, many enjoy skiing at "The Wolf." In the summer months, golfing, fishing and other outdoor activities are of fered, and in the Fall, many visitors come from all over to enjoy the natural beauty of Fall in the Appalachians Though the ski season began on a sour note with record high temperatures, recent snowfall and cold weather have brought Wolf laurel's ski operations back into full sw ing. Ski Lodge Manager Mike Bustin notes a "dramatic in crease" since they reopened on Jan. 4. "Since then, business has been on the in crease," says Mike, "and we're very optimistic about the rest of the season." A Madison High School Senior Day is planned ten tatively for mid-February. On that day, seniors from the high point will receive a free pass to ski and a complete set of rental equipment. Bustin feels it important to interact with the community. With an average number of 10-16 snowguns in operation at a time. The Wolf can lay down 2 to 3 inches of man rriade powder in a night. This helps a great deal since Mother Nature has only sent them 16 inches so far this season. Wolf Laurel Inn is open year round and offers spectacular views from almost every room. Elevation is at 4,600 feet, and many agree that it is the best view of the mountains found anywhere in the county. The Inn contains 76 rooms, with a capacity near 300 guests. Inn Manager Betty J. Rice is also looking forward to the rest of the season. "Things have been looking up since i after Christmas," says Rice, 1 "and for several more i weekends we're already book- I ed to capacity. "I'm looking I forward to the rest of the season." j Spring and Summer at Wolf j Laurel offer much for those i who enjoy the great outdoors 1 and crisp N.C. air. The I restaurant is open all year, I and offers outstanding meals for visitors coming to the I resort as well as those who'd just like to come up and dine on the mountaintop. Wolf Laurel's championship golf course is one of the highest East of the Rockies, with a complete 18 hole layout. It features the spectacular No. IS hole, with ISO feet between tee and green and 1(0 feet drop! Many "flatlanders," us ed to more tame, level golfing, really enjoy the challenge they find here, nestled in the hills. A fully stocked pro shop is available to sell quality golf ing equipment or to pick up a souvenir with the Wolf Laurel logo on it. Anything from caps, :o button down shirts to golf ees can be found at the shop. Whethfcr your favorite type Gunter ' Receives Suspended Sentence Judge Phillip Ginn sen tenced Gregory Shane Gunter to four months in Jail Wed nesday after conviction of charges of reckless driving. Ginn suspended the sentence for two years and ordered Gunter to pay a $100 fine plus court costs and attend Alcohol Drug Education School and pay the school's $100 tuition fee. In other case heard in Wednesday's session of Madison County District Court, Judge Ginn ordered Timothy Eric Elklns, found guilty of injury to real property, to pay $158.23 in restitution and gave Elkins a 90-day sentence, deferred for one year. Assault charges against Roger Davis were continued until March 15 at the request of the defendant. Also con tinued were DUI charges against Bobby Eugene Ball. Judge Ginn deferred sen tencing both Randall Ernest Cody and Stuart Griffith. They were convicted of driving under the influence. The Judge referred the cases to Judge Alexander Lyeriy for sen tencing. of water is the swimming kind or the fishing kind. Wolf Laurel has it. A fully stocked trout pond is near the entrance to the resort, and you are charged a fee per pound of fiah yoki catch. For guests on the (Continued on Page 4) Burley Growers Form Organization More than 300 burley growers unanimously agreed to form the Western North Carolina Tobacco Growers - Association following Burley Day Wednesday at Lakt . - fckr ' ? 2? ?? part of the association but due to the many problems hurley growers feel they now lace, they will be able to meel and speak With one Amnions of J I there are only one ? growers on the aUd tbey have i nntfbie to make 1 He is vice i the Torero serve as interim director of the newly formed bur ley group until officers are c lectea Amnions said people have h< is trying to ran things but that he wants to be sure isr. Mai the s>?'" ? it wOlrepre -V ? !'i> new board of director* in cludes Prank G. Green and Jack Leatherwood of Haywood County Other direc tors are Jimmy Ramsey, David Plemmons Emory WaUio Wayne Willis O H
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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Feb. 9, 1983, edition 1
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