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(08/21/09 2:36pm)
Story reprinted from May 21 issue of The Daily Tar Heel. The Board of Trustees approved the agreement May 27.An agreement between the Chapel Hill Police Department and University police seeks to place Granville Towers entirely under the latter’s jurisdiction.Approved by the Town Council on Monday night, the Extended Jurisdiction Agreement will now go under review of the Board of Trustees.“It’s a very positive step,” said Trustee Bob Winston. “I think it will pass. It’s a great example of cooperation between the University and Chapel Hill.”The agreement will be addressed at the trustees’ May 27 meeting. It could go into effect as soon as signatures are added, if passed.In addition to expanding University police jurisdiction to inside Granville and the parking lot that surrounds it — which the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation is purchasing for $45.75 million, along with the adjacent University Square — the agreement would increase the overlap and collaboration between the two police departments.“We already operate in joint capacity in so many instances,” said Randy Young, spokesman for UNC’s Department of Public Safety, which encompasses University police. He cited post-game celebrations and Halloween as peak times of collaboration between the departments.The proposed changes would include expansion of joint training.University police jurisdiction would also be extended into parts of Chapel Hill in a secondary capacity: on-duty officers traveling between areas in their primary jurisdiction would be allowed to intervene if they witnessed criminal activity in areas like downtown.Currently, campus officers would have the same authority as a normal citizen if they saw an off-campus crime. Their options would be limited to calling 911. Chief Brian Curran of the Chapel Hill Police Department said there are no plans to hand over jurisdiction of University Square as well, because it is a retail area as opposed to student dorms.That includes the Chapel Hill Police Department retaining control of the sub-station located in University Square.Future discussions are more likely to focus on managing responsibility for Carolina North once construction begins.Curran said he and Jeff McCracken, chief of UNC’s Department of Public Safety, took the purchase of Granville and University Square as an opportunity to rehash the existing agreement.Curran added that he doesn’t expect any new hires or firings to result from the new territories. However, the agreement could have a small part in relieving stress caused by budgetary restraints.Currently, UNC’s Department of Public Safety has 53 sworn officers.It’s unknown if the jurisdiction changes will have any effect on the security staff currently employed to patrol Granville through Guardsmark Security.“This will put more police officers, more eyes out there,” Curran said. “You can get more bang for your buck.”
(08/21/09 2:28pm)
Story reprinted from June 18 issue of The Daily Tar Heel.The fate of UNC’s chapter of Youth for Western Civilization is up in the air.Chris Clemens, the astronomy professor who serves as the group’s faculty adviser, said he’s decided not to continue in the role next year.Once Clemens is officially gone, YWC will have 30 days to find a new faculty adviser before they are no longer an official campus organization.“I’m not willing to sponsor an affiliate of the national YWC,” Clemens said.“It’s going to be a time consuming task to guide these students in an organization that’s becoming inflammatory.”Instead, Clemens has offered to either sponsor a new group with the same mission but no affiliation with YWC, or help find a new sponsor.But the second option could be difficult.“I do not know who I would start with,” Clemens said. “I only know one other conservative faculty member.”He added that he is the adviser for about five conservative groups on campus.Clemens stressed he is not passing judgment on the national organization itself but the reputation it has gained in the community.“It’s a magnet for the radical left to come shut you down,” he said. “The name has become an obstacle to constructive dialogue.”The reputation is in part the result of the YWC hosting two controversial speakers on campus in April. Seven people were arrested for protests of the events.The group’s leaders aren’t concerned about the effects those events and the subsequent media coverage could have on membership.Riley Matheson, former president and founder of UNC’s chapter, and YWC founder Kevin DeAnna said they have seen interest in the group rise because of the protests.“Every time there is one of the usual left-wing hit pieces, mostly with stuff just made up, we get more members and donations,” DeAnna said.Clemens predicted a negative effect on membership at UNC.Matheson said his chapter of YWC had eight to 10 members. DeAnna said 10 is the average number of members for the seven or so chapters across the nation.Four members are required to begin a new chapter, but DeAnna said the requirements for active chapters are being tightened.Next year’s UNC chapter president Nikhil Patel said he expects about five members to return from last year. He said he thinks the controversy has adversely affected membership.Patel added that he joined the group to expose himself to different viewpoints.“None of us are racists and few of us wholeheartedly agree with the mission statement,” Patel said.The arrested protestors and their supporters have called for the YWC group on campus to be dissolved.Jon Curtis, associate director for student activities and student organizations, said it would be illegal to dissolve a group unless it violates University policy or loses its adviser.He acknowledged problems finding faculty to represent conservative groups, but said it was not impossible.A conservative public policy group, The Leadership Institute, funded YWC’s two campus events with up to $3,000 per speaker. They have funded two other YWC speeches at other schools.The Leadership Institute’s president, Morton Blackwell, said a major requirement for funds was to be assured that they could put on a public program successfully.
(08/21/09 2:20pm)
Story reprinted from July 9 issue of The Daily Tar Heel.Chancellor Holden Thorp has told the University to prepare for a $60 million cut to University funding.Although the specific areas where cuts will be made are still being determined, administrators said there is no question they will have a significant impact on the campus.“We’re treating these targets as actual cuts because they are realistic given the state’s current dire situation,” Thorp said.The new number represents additional reductions to the 5 percent cuts Thorp asked administrators to create plans for in March, and which began with the fiscal year’s start on July 1.That 5 percent cut was doubled Wednesday at the request of UNC-system President Erskine Bowles, totalling a $60 million budget reduction.The cuts would come from state appropriations, which currently represent roughly one fourth of the University’s funding, as determined by the N.C. General Assembly. The 10 percent cuts fall between recent predictions of how the state’s budget will turn out once it is passed by the General Assembly and approved by Gov. Bev Perdue.Thorp said the new 5 percent cuts will not necessarily be made campuswide. A budget committee comprised of Provost Bernadette Gray-Little and Vice Chancellor of Finance Dick Mann will work to decide where the cuts will be made.Elmira Mangum, senior associate provost, and Roger Patterson, associate vice chancellor for finance, will assist. And Bruce Carney will replace Gray-Little once she steps down tomorrow to move to the chancellorship at the University of Kansas.One of their first focuses will be finding areas to cut that affect as few classes as possible.Once the cuts are distributed, decisions on reductions to specific schools and departments will fall to their respective deans.Although those deans don’t know what level of cuts they will be dealing with, they are already preparing with frequent planning and meetings with other administrators and senior faculty.“Any additional cut will affect the school,” said Jack Boger, dean of the School of Law.“It depends on where the axe might fall. All of this will restrict or circumscribe the service we offer to students and faculty. The question is how much.”Karen Gil, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said her first cuts would focus away from employees by suspending major equipment or renovation projects in different departments.But Gil and other deans said a majority of the state appropriations they receive may go toward faculty and staff salaries.Most deans agreed that they won’t be cutting any classes for the fall semester, with students already registered.Alternate sources of revenue to make up for lost state money are scarce. Finances from grants and private gifts often come with specific requirements for their use. Boger said areas outside of the sciences don’t have as many outside organizations to turn to for extra funding, and that even those groups are reeling from budget cuts.Some budget decisions may be made by legislators instead of UNC officials. Administrators have been fighting to regain control of specific cuts mandated to areas such as research centers and institutes on campus.They argued that they were better informed when it came to determining where budget cuts would have the least impact.Thorp said administrators now expect more flexibility in where those cuts will be made. But Bowles has asked campus leaders to still stick to government recommendations as closely as they can.A private gift was made to UNC in order to hire the services of financial consulting firm Bain & Company.The firm conducted hundreds of interviews and spent months on campus doing research.Their final report with potential cost-cutting suggestions and fiscal recommendations for University administrators will be presented to the Board of Trustees at the end of July.
(08/21/09 2:13pm)
Story reprinted from July 16 issue of The Daily Tar Heel.