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(02/18/10 4:46am)
Correction (April 7 12:51 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, this story ncorrectly states the date of Student Body President Hogan Medlin’s inauguration, which was Tuesday, April 6th. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
(02/17/10 6:01am)
Hogan Medlin won the student body president runoff election Tuesday night, maintaining his status as the election’s front-runner when he swept to a substantial victory over Shruti Shah.Medlin received 61 percent of the vote, while Shah received 39 percent. All results are preliminary until the Board of Elections certification, which must occur by Saturday.Medlin’s election marks the end of a race characterized by a lack of surprises — he has been planning his bid since his freshman year, was the front-runner heading into the race and gathered 44 percent of the general election vote in comparison to Shah’s 16 percent.The president-elect said he was not expecting such a large margin of victory and was stunned by the show of support from students.“The percentage and number of votes is inspiring and truly supportive,” Medlin said.Medlin said he hopes to use the support to make his administration an organization more representative of the student body.“That’s what I want to channel,” he said. “We’ve got the support. Now let’s act on it.”At least 5,499 votes were cast in this election, a drop from the 9,513 votes cast in last year’s runoff, which also included a contentious fee referendum.Medlin’s election means he will serve as the student body’s chief voice to the administration and have a chance to influence issues such as tuition, Greek affairs, budget cuts and the academic future of the University.His vision for student government was where he differed most from his opponent. Throughout the election, Medlin has emphasized his belief that a larger student government will allow more voices to be heard, in contrast to Shah’s call to downsize the organization to promote efficiency.In the last week of campaigning, Shah received the support of three of the four previously eliminated candidates — Nash Keune, Joe Levin-Manning and Greg Strompolos — hoping to achieve a repeat of last year’s election.In 2009, Jasmin Jones overcame a deficit of 20 percentage points in the general election to defeat Thomas Edwards in the runoff, after receiving the strong support from the four eliminated candidates.But this year, eliminated candidate Monique Hardin, who finished third with 14 percent of the vote, did not endorse anyone. Medlin was able to hold on to enough of his support to beat Shah by 1,213 votes.Medlin, who will take office in April, said he will immediately begin to prepare for his responsibilities by speaking with Jones. “I’m sitting down with Jasmin, and I’m going to pick her brain about everything,” he said.Shah said she was disappointed at the loss but was thankful for the election experience.“It was an exciting process,” she said. “It was great to be a part of it.”Shah said she also thinks Medlin will make a great president and she hopes to be involved in his administration next year.Medlin’s 68-page platform includes a variety of goals, such as making student government more accessible to students, exposing students to campus events through the Carolina Monthly Look publication and creating a more personalized academic experience for students.Medlin said he is thankful for how far he has come.“I come from small rural North Carolina. I’m now in a position where I can do something big for this University.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(02/10/10 6:35am)
Juniors Hogan Medlin and Shruti Shah won the top two spots in Tuesday’s student body president election and will compete in a runoff election Tuesday.Medlin took 44 percent of the vote, placing him as the frontrunner going into the runoff next week.Shah took 16 percent of the votes, meaning she will have a substantial margin to make up.This year saw 643 fewer students cast votes than last year, with 8,093 total ballots cast this year. Of those, 7,373 people cast votes for student body president.Because no candidate won a majority, the two candidates will face off in a runoff election, for which they will be allowed an extra $100 for campaigning.
(02/04/10 5:51am)
The death of Courtland Smith, several alcohol violations and a string of cocaine arrests this school year brought the Greek community to the forefront of the University’s attention.
(02/01/10 5:23am)
Greg Strompolos has been a soccer player, a skateboarder, a chess club president, a sculptor, a break dancer and a freestyle rapper.
(01/29/10 5:52am)
12:08 p.m. Jan. 29: An earlier version of this article referred to Rinchen Lama as a man, which is incorrect. The story has been updated to reflect the changes. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
(01/28/10 5:29am)
On the way back from a visit to his hometown last year, Hogan Medlin and his friend Emma Din stopped to explore an ostrich farm, only to be met by the owner, wearing overalls, chewing tobacco and toting a shotgun, clearly dismayed by the intruders’ presence.
(01/15/10 5:19am)
A student body president candidate has already filed — and withdrawn — a lawsuit against the Board of Elections chairman since election season officially began Tuesday.
(01/14/10 5:29am)
This time last year, residence halls were quiet, removed from the petitioning campaign staffs of candidates for student government positions.That will not be the case this year.Beginning Tuesday night, a flurry of campaign workers descended on residence halls, knocking on doors in an effort to collect signatures to get their names on the Feb. 9 elections ballot.Throughout the election, candidates and their campaign workers will be allowed to canvass residence halls between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, a process commonly called “dormstorming.”The new policy marks a departure from last year’s Board of Elections rules, which prohibited candidates’ campaigns from dormstorming during the first week of campaigning.The change made it harder for potential candidates to gather signatures, since they had to find alternative ways of reaching students.Student body president and Carolina Athletic Association president candidates must gather 1,000 signatures to get their names on the ballot. Potential candidates for other offices must gather a smaller number.But Larry Hicks, the director of the Department of Housing and Residential Education, said this change does not reflect a change in the department’s policy on solicitation in residence halls.He said the same policy has been in place since he came to UNC in 1985, which states that any sort of solicitation in residence halls is prohibited in order to protect students’ privacy.He said campaigns for student body president and Residence Hall Association president are the only exceptions — although the Board of Elections rules allow candidates for any office except senior class officers to dormstorm.The Board of Elections also released a non-solicitation notice that students can post on their doors, notifying campaigns that they do not wish to be solicited.Peter Gillooly, chairman of the Board of Elections, said the housing department was primarily responsible for the decision.“I thought it was more appropriate for them to decide what worked best,” Gillooly said.But last year’s board came to a different conclusion.Ryan Morgan, last year’s chairman of the Board of Elections, said Wednesday that his ruling was in line with the housing policy.Junior Hogan Medlin, a candidate for student body president, said he valued dormstorming as a means of campaigning.“It’s a great tool for us to get out and see different students,” Medlin said.Junior Joe Levin-Manning, another candidate for student body president, said dormstorming can be perceived as annoying but ultimately helps.“It helps us get our visibility out there, and helps give a face to the name,” Levin-Manning said.Monique Hardin, Nash Keune, Shruti Shah and Gregory Strompolos are also running.
(12/03/09 5:55am)
The significant drop in UNC’s endowment last year doesn’t mean that students should change their expectations for academic quality, University officials said.This is because the private donations in the UNC Investment Fund, the University’s overall endowment, have substantially increased in value since their original investment, enabling them to withstand last year’s large drop.That means despite a drop of almost $441 million between July 2008 and July 2009, a 19.6 percent decrease, students won’t see classes cut or professors laid off. It just means that the University will slow its hiring rate and overall growth.“We have very few funds that are in trouble because of the outstanding performance of the UNC Investment Fund,” said Del Helton, director of donor relations and communication at the Arts & Sciences Foundation. The foundation is an organization that collects and manages donations to parts of the College of Arts and Sciences and makes up about 6 percent of the total UNC endowment.The UNC Investment Fund’s growth in the past few years — 8.1 percent over the past 10 years and 10.4 percent in 20 years — is a major reason why last year’s hit won’t have a big effect.“It’s a really great fund. It has a really good track record,” said Dee Reid, director of communications for the College of Arts and Sciences.In the college, endowment money is often used for scholarship, lectureships, visiting lecturers, faculty support and graduate fellowships.Each year, the board of directors of the UNC Management Company, which oversees the UNC Investment Fund, determines what percent of the fund will be “paid out” — spent toward the original purpose of the gift, such as financing a scholarship or a lectureship. Usually 4.5 to 6 percent of the fund is paid out annually.Some funds in the UNC Investment Fund are “underwater,” meaning that the market value of the fund is less than the investment’s original value.Helton said the main reason students won’t feel the presence of the “underwater” funds is because the decline in the amount paid out this year will not cause the University to lose much, though it might slow growth.“Really it’s just delaying the benefit of the fund,” Helton said.Helton said about 90 of the roughly 500 funds overseen by the Arts & Sciences Foundation are “underwater.”This does not mean these funds will stop paying out, Helton said.While the endowment drop is not an immediate problem, Reid said the well-being of the College of Arts and Sciences hinges on a financial recovery.“If there’s no recovery, the programs won’t grow,” she said.Reid said that while students will not be significantly affected by the endowment’s drop, there might be consequences for faculty, such as limits on how much research professors would be able to do. “It has been hard on faculty and staff, but we’ve tried to make it seamless for students,” Reid said.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/20/09 6:05am)
The value of UNC’s endowment dropped almost $441 million in the last year, a loss that could impact the number of scholarships and professorships offered.Jon King, president of the UNC Management Company Inc., said it will take several years for the school to recover from this sharp drop in the University’s finances.The fund dropped 19.6 percent between July 2008 and July 2009, from $2.22 billion to $1.78 billion, according to the company.“The 2009 fiscal year has been the worst fiscal environment for college endowments ever,” King said in a presentation to the UNC Board of Trustees on Thursday. “When you face a 20 percent loss, it’s probably going to take a number of years to recover.”But UNC has fared better than many other universities, and King said he is confident in the fund’s long-term prospects.King said the endowment — a collection of investments that made up about 6 percent of the University’s budget in 2008 — directly suffered from the poor financial climate.The University uses the interest earned on the endowment to finance scholarships and professorships. The University earned $146.7 million from the investments in 2008. The amount earned on the decreased endowment has not yet been made public.UNC’s endowment funds are managed by a private financial company, the UNC Management Company Inc.“Some people see this as just a $1.8 billion bank account but it’s not,” King said. “This $1.8 billion is actually comprised of literally thousands of underlying funds. Most of them are designated for a specific purpose.”King said the endowment’s decline last year is characteristic of how other universities fared. The 19.6 percent decrease places UNC “squarely in the middle of the pack” of other universities, King said.King said one-year results should not be emphasized over the bigger picture.“The key to managing this fund is to maintain a long-term horizon. It’s easy to get caught up in year-to-year results but our job is to be looking forward three, five, 10 years,” he said.Max Chapman, a former trustee and financial expert who spoke to the board Thursday morning, said he wanted to focus on the long-term growth of the endowment, rather than the short-term loss.“My message this morning is that while we aren’t happy with last year’s results, we’ve been meeting the goal we’ve been asked to do, which is managing the fund for the long-term for the University.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/18/09 5:31am)
With the semester more than halfway through and final exams looming, some students are beginning to feel the harsh consequences of a lack of sleep.This pattern isn’t good for anyone save Starbucks, said Jeannie Loeb, a lecturer in the psychology department. Loeb sorted out the myths and facts of sleep deprivation.What is sleep deprivation?“Everyone seems to have a certain amount of sleep they need to get,” Loeb said. “Some people are short sleepers and some are long sleepers.”Regardless, each person will function normally if they achieve the appropriate amount. If not, they incur a sleep debt and face the symptoms of sleep deprivation.What are the symptoms of sleep deprivation?“The primary symptoms can vary quite a bit. The only consistent symptom is sleepiness,” Loeb said. Symptoms can also include irritability and perceptual distortion.Loeb also said she believes most people don’t understand the bad effects of sleep deprivation.“People think they’re thinking just as well without sleep. We’re finding that is not the case,” she said.This doesn’t bode well for students taking exams.“Students’ confidence levels are higher than normal, but performances tend to be much lower than usual,” she said.Can I make up my sleep debt?Not completely.“For whatever reasons, the body tends not to make up all the sleep that we miss,” she said.Even if students sleep the equivalent in hours of the sleep they missed on one day the next day, they only make up some parts of sleep.“And some parts of the sleep that you’re losing are involved with learning and memory,” she said.Does coffee help?Partially, yes. “Coffee interferes with at least one of the chemicals that is involved with sleepiness,” she said.In addition, there are no proven long-term consequences associated with frequent coffee consumption, Loeb said.“So far as I know, there are no long-term negative consequences with coffee, but there is continuing research,” she said.She added that everyone in the research community is not in agreement.“It’s an effective method but not the solution,” she said.What are some tips to make sure that I can sleep when I want to?There are several things that will help you maintain “good sleep hygiene”:Have a consistent sleeping routine.Avoid drug use, including alcohol late in the evening.Don’t associate your bed with anything not relaxing — like studying.Keep a fairly cool temperature in your room.Don’t eat a large amount of food before bed.Avoid any strenuous activity before bed.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/10/09 5:27am)
A Student Congress funding request by UNC’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society to bring three speakers to campus has fueled protest that the funding would be an unwise use of student fees.Student Congress will vote tonight on whether it will approve $2,095 in student fees for the speakers, all of whom are current or former members of the UNC-Asheville chapter of SDS.UNC-Chapel Hill’s chapter of SDS — a progressive student group that has had a strong protesting presence on campus — originally sought $6,095 for the speakers at last week’s meeting of Congress’ finance committee. The committee evaluates funding requests before they come before the full Congress.The SDS funding request says the three speakers — Sarah Buchner, Angela Denio and Jeremy Miller — led a human rights delegation to Colombia in August and would speak about their trip.Neither the proposed speakers nor UNC-CH SDS representatives returned requests for comment.According to the funding request, the group requested a $2,000 honorarium for each speaker. Combined with travel and flier costs, the request totaled $6,095.Congress grants funding requests depending on the amount of money requested, as well as the funds the legislative body has at that time, said Student Congress Speaker Joe Levin-Manning. The body also weighs the value of the event for the entire campus and how many students will be affected.Ten concerned students attended the finance committee meeting to protest the request, saying the speakers were not worthy of so much student money.“We don’t believe, by any stretch of the imagination, that these speakers are qualified to receive honorariums,” said Zack De La Rosa, one of the protesters.The finance committee voted to reduce the proposed appropriation, saying the initial proposal seemed excessive, and chairman Zach Dexter said he believed the likely audience would not be large enough to justify $2,000 per speaker.SDS estimated in the funding request that 70 to 100 students would attend the event, which will be held at 7 p.m. Monday in Murphy 116.The finance committee will report the funding request favorably to Student Congress, meaning a majority of committee members supported the proposed legislation.Congress usually adopts the recommendations of the finance committee regarding funding requests for speakers, Dexter said.“Generally speaking, Student Congress tends to err on the side of the finance committee recommendation,” he said. But Dexter said he will make a motion at tonight’s session to reduce the amount of funding even further.Dexter said in an e-mail that the speakers’ political viewpoints were not considered in the finance committee, and cannot be considered as a factor in funding groups.De La Rosa said the people protesting the funding of the SDS speakers have no political motivations for their objections.“This was not set up for any political reasons, other than what we believe to be sanity,” De La Rosa said.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/09/09 4:30am)
The election of 11 new representatives to Student Congress on Thursday filled all empty seats in the legislative body. But while current members said they are excited about the election’s results, leaders are uncertain how long the new representatives will fulfill their duties, given historically low graduate student participation in Congress.Six of the seven graduate students were elected as write-in candidates, and some did not make the decision until that night.Several of the seats filled in Thursday’s election originally became empty after graduate students resigned their seats since they were elected last February.These students cited a lack of time for extracurricular activities as their primary reason for their lower participation in student government compared to undergraduates.Student Congress, made up of 41 students, is charged with representing both undergraduate and graduate students, including dispersing more than $350,000 a year in student fees.Seven graduate students were elected to Congress through Thursday’s election.The results released by the Board of Elections show that 4,851 votes were cast. The special election was prompted by an Oct. 8 lawsuit filed by graduate student representative Emily Danforth against Student Body President Jasmin Jones and Board of Elections Chairman Pete Gillooly. Danforth alleged that the absence of a special election to fill empty seats designated for graduate students denied them full representation in Congress.At a Graduate and Professional Student Federation Senate meeting Thursday night, Danforth and Joe Levin-Manning, speaker of Student Congress, encouraged graduate students interested in running for Congress to run write-in campaigns so that the seats would be filled.Write-in candidate Serena Witzke, who decided to run at the meeting, won the vacant District 8 seat with only seven votes, according to election results. District 8 represents graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education.Newly elected graduate representative Adam Campbell, who will represent students in the medical schools, said he plans on serving in Congress for the remainder of his time at UNC.“As far as other members go, I guess I couldn’t speak,” he said.Both Levin-Manning and Gillooly said they did not know how long all seats in Congress will remain occupied.Levin-Manning said he hopes newly elected members of Congress don’t resign, but he said he would rather they gave up their seats if they did not plan to execute their jobs effectively.He also said the new members will have a positive effect on Congress.“I think it’s going to offer more feedback and more sides to the argument,” he said. “I think it’s definitely going to add to the color of the conversation.”
(11/06/09 5:29am)
All of the 11 empty seats in Student Congress were filled in the special election held Thursday specifically to fill the vacant seats, according to unofficial results made available Thursday night.Seven are graduate student seats.Results show 4,851 votes were cast.The special election was prompted by an Oct. 8 suit brought by graduate Student Congress representative Emily Danforth against Student Body President Jasmin Jones and Board of Elections Chairman Pete Gillooly.Danforth complained in the lawsuit that without an election to fill the empty seats, graduate students would not have the opportunity to represent their interests in Congress.At a Graduate and Professional Student Federation meeting held Thursday night, Danforth announced that there were no official candidates for the empty seat in District 8, a graduate student district.But Danforth said anyone interested in running as a last-minute write-in candidate could probably win, given the lack of competition.Speaker of Congress Joe Levin-Manning also encouraged graduate students to run, if not in Thursday’s election, for a seat in the general election.“I think it would be really great for graduate students to have full representation in Congress,” Levin-Manning said in the meeting.Gillooly said he would have no problem with graduate students embracing write-in candidates at the last minute, because the process is legal.“If it fills the seats and it’s all legal, then I’m all right with that,” he said.Thursday’s election saw an impressive turnout, said former Board of Elections Chairman Ryan Morgan.“Four thousand people would be a pretty good turnout,” Morgan said before results were known.Gillooly said the election’s races were fairly competitive relative to past races.The election for Homecoming was also held Thursday, although the results will not be announced until Saturday.All election results are preliminary and have to be certified by the Board of Elections by Friday at 5 p.m. when all candidates must submit financial statements.Congressional Winners by district:District 3South Campus 6 seats, 2 openWinners: Adam Jutha and Evan RossDistrict 4Granville2 seats, 1 openMario BenaventeDistrict 6 Off Campus10 seats, 1 openWill McKeenDistrict 8Graduate students, College of Arts and Sciences5 seats, 1 openSerena WitzkeDistrict 9Graduate students, professional schools5 seats, 3 openCrystal Boni, Lace Wayman and Chris FowlerDistrict 10 Graduate students, medical school6 seats, 3 openMatt Skancke, Lisa Heimbach and Adam CampbellContact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/09 4:51am)
Students hatched a zombie survival plan in Gardner Hall on Thursday night, discussing tactics and even watching a tape.About 40 students interested in preparing for the horrors of a zombie apocalypse watched the movie Shaun of the Dead and confronted the possibility of a zombie attack in a discussion hosted by the Honors Program Student Executive Board.Attendees were asked to bring canned goods to the event to help the Inter-Faith Council’s Community Shelter “stock up for the upcoming attack.”Tyler Curtain, associate professor of English and cultural studies, introduced the film as a tutorial on resisting a zombie invasion.After the movie, Naomi Barlaz, an organizer of the event, shared zombie attack survival tips:
(10/20/09 4:05am)
Two students expressed interest for the six graduate student seats open in Student Congress at a Board of Elections meeting Monday night.The generally low interest in these vacant congressional seats highlights a difference in attitudes toward student government participation between graduate and undergraduate students.Thirty-eight percent of graduate students seats in Congress are currently vacant, compared to 16 percent of undergraduate seats.Graduate students have different priorities than undergraduates, said Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Keith Lee, which could explain the trend in low student government participation.“There’s much more time to dedicate to student activity as an undergrad,” said the former Student Congress member.Historically, many students who fill graduate seats in Congress run as write-in candidates, a process that is less time-consuming and restrictive than running as an official candidate. Write-in candidates do not have to attend official meetings or submit documents to the Board of Elections unless they win.“It’s really easy to run as a write-in candidate,” said Emily Danforth, a graduate representative who ran as a write-in.All four members in District 8, which represents graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education, were write-in candidates, Danforth said. Lee said he thinks the nature of graduate education — more focused — often precludes graduate students from devoting extensive time to non-academic pursuits.This year’s Congress has suffered from a high level of vacant graduate seats. Six of the 16 designated seats are empty.The special election was provoked by an Oct. 8 lawsuit filed by Danforth. The suit alleged that Student Body President Jasmin Jones and Board of Elections chairman Pete Gillooly had neglected to call for a special election to fill a vacant graduate seat.The Student Code requires an election be called within 30 days of the seat becoming empty.Danforth complained that the absence of a special election denied graduate students the opportunity to run for the seats. In response to the lawsuit, the Board of Elections called the Nov. 5 special election, and Danforth withdrew her suit.The board held a mandatory candidate’s meeting Thursday, attended by only four students, none of whom were graduates. Danforth said Monday’s meeting was better publicized than the first, explaining the higher graduate student turnout.Lisa Heimbach, a fourth-year Ph.D. student running in District 10, which represents the medical schools, said she did not attend the first meeting because she had not heard about it.“We kind of live in a graduate bubble,” she said. “When you’re a graduate student, it can be a little isolating.”Bryce Creedon, the other graduate candidate at Monday’s meeting, also said he was not aware of the first meeting.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/16/09 3:54am)
Only four students went to a mandatory meeting for individuals who plan to seek empty Student Congress seats in a Nov. 5 special election.Eleven of the 41 seats in Congress are currently empty, and the Board of Elections called a special election to fill them.While graduate students have complained about a consistent lack of representation in Congress, all four of the prospective candidates at Thursday’s meeting were undergraduates, unable to fill the majority of the open seats.A member of Student Congress filed a lawsuit on Oct. 8, claiming that graduate students, for whom six of the 11 empty seats are designated, were underrepresented and not being given the opportunity to run.Graduate student representative Emily Danforth filed the lawsuit against Student Body President Jasmin Jones and Board of Elections Chairman Pete Gillooly, accusing them of failing to arrange for a special election to fill the empty seats.The Student Code requires an election to be called within 30 days of the seats becoming vacant. Jones responded to the legal action by calling the Nov. 5 election.Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Keith Lee, a former member of Student Congress, said he thinks graduate students lack the time to devote to student government.“There’s much more time to dedicate to student activity as an undergrad,” he said.Danforth said she thinks Thursday’s meeting was poorly advertised and held at an inconvenient time and location for graduate students, many of whom live off-campus.“It was too last-minute for people to come,” she said.Danforth said she will encourage graduate student candidates to run write-in campaigns, which she said are more convenient and practical for individuals seeking less-contested positions.A second candidate interest meeting will be held Monday at 6 p.m. in the Student Union, Room 2500.Congress Speaker Joe Levin-Manning said he thinks it is important to fill all of the open positions.“A quarter of the seats are empty. That’s a quarter of the student body that’s not represented,” he said.But Levin-Manning said he did not think Congress has suffered because of the vacancies.Lee said he thinks graduate students are currently underrepresented, but members are committed to changing that.“I think people in Congress have made it clear that this is something that is important because they need accurate representation in order to function.” Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu
(10/12/09 5:17am)
The student fee advisory subcommittee approved its final recommendations for 2010-11 student fee increases on Friday. If adopted, the proposals would increase fees by $96.01 per student, although students who own Carolina Computing Initiative-supported laptops will receive a $22 refund after paying the proposed $1,856.42 in student fees.So far, the proposal has generated no significant opposition from students, who have been far more vocal in the past about their disapproval of fee increases. The increase, which is $27.34 more than last year’s increase, must still be approved by the tuition and fee advisory task force and the UNC Board of Governors.The student fee advisory subcommittee is a group of student government representatives and University administrators that discusses annual modifications to student fees.The subcommittee approved three per-student fee increases that will be passed on to the tuition and fee advisory task force. $18.10 increase in the student dining debt fee $15 increase in the student health fee $26.26 increase in the technology feeThe subcommittee has already approved other fee proposals that, combined with the three proposals approved Friday, will compose the $96.01 increase.Student fees will increase from $1,760.41 for the 2009-10 year to $1856.42 for the 2010-11 school year if the recommendations are accepted.$22 of the technology fee increase would be refunded to owners of CCI computers annually because the increase would give the University the ability to provide Microsoft Windows and Office programs to all students.“Because students who bought CCI computers have already paid the Microsoft licensing fee when they purchased their computers, they should not be charged again,” said Zach Dexter, finance chairman of Student Congress and a non-voting member of the student fee advisory subcommittee, in an e-mail.This year’s proposed increase is larger than last year’s, but there has been less controversy surrounding this year’s hike. Many students protested last year against the $10.37 increase in the student child care service fee, which was intended to help UNC students with children pay for child care.“The reason behind the controversy was that the scope of the child care fee only helped a limited number of people, whereas other fees had the potential to help students on a wider basis,” said Jennings Carpenter, student body treasurer and member of the subcommittee.The student fees approved by the subcommittee are usually left untouched by the task force, Carpenter said.“There’s usually no vetting of the fees there,” he said.The UNC Board of Governors must also approve the changes, and they could make modifications.“Occasionally, the Board of Governors may determine that a particular fee request or a broad set of fee requests need adjustment,” Dexter wrote in an e-mail.The tuition and fee advisory task force will begin discussing the proposal on Oct. 13.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/02/09 4:41am)
The number of liquor law and drug infractions on campus jumped between the years 2007 to 2008, according to the annual Security Report released Thursday by the UNC Department of Public Safety.But these statistics are not indicative of larger trends in campus crime, said Randy Young, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.“The report could be misleading in certain areas,” Young said.The report made available crime statistics for the campus, Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities from 2006 to 2008. It also includes descriptions of campus crime-fighting programs as well as campus policies regarding law enforcement.“This report allows people to partner with us in enhancing the level of security on campus,” Young said.Among rates that rose significantly in 2008 were those of liquor law disciplinary references on campus, which jumped from 202 in 2007 to 294 last year.The report also found that:Arrests for liquor law violations in residence halls rose from 17 in 2007 to 40 in 2008.Drug-related arrests on campus rose from 20 to 34 in that time frame.Forcible sexual offenses on campus decreased to four in 2008 from seven in 2007.Burglary on campus fell from 12 in 2007 to five in 2008.Young said the methods of data collection used in making the report prevent it from being an accurate reflection of broader trends in crime or police enforcement.“We have not stepped up or diminished our enforcement of alcohol consumption on campus,” he added.Associate University Counsel Mary Sechrist, who compiled the statistics for the 2009 report, said the numbers are not perfect indicators of reality because police classifications of crime types can be inconsistent.“It’s a little difficult for the Chapel Hill police to come up with those statistics,” Sechrist said. “There’s always a certain amount of judgment in how you count it.”Young said the Department of Public Safety is encouraged by the fact that major crimes mentioned in the report such as murder, motor vehicle theft and burglary all fell or remained low.However, he added that members of the University community should note that statistics regarding the most prevalent crime on campus — larceny — are not included in the report.Sechrist said this is due to the fact that larceny is not required to be included in the yearly report of campus and community crime statistics, according to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to produce an annual report that presents three years of crime statistics as well as a summary of campus policies on crime.The 2009 Security Report can be viewed in full at www.dps.unc.edu/securityreport.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.