Technician
thursday september
22 2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
UNC loses 3,000 jobs due to budget cuts Budget cuts force administrators to release thousands.
Joni Worthington, Vice President for Communications for the UNC System, released the minutes and PowerPoint presentation made durJessie Halpern ing the meeting regarding the budget Correspondent cuts. This information has since been Due to state budget cuts, UNC Sys- made public on the UNC website. Among the several areas affected by tem administrators eradicated over 3,000 positions from their school, these cuts, a popular area of demolileaving faculty and students at a dis- tion is financial aid that is not needbased. In the presentation provided by advantage. On July 1, the UNC system cut over Worthington, the first few slides show 3,000 positions, including 488 full- cuts in state funding for student intime employees and thousands of centive grants, future teachers scholgraduate positions, adjunct profes- arships and tuition wavers. As far as the damage at N.C. State sors and lecturers. While N.C. State and all the UNC schools felt the loss, goes, 457 part-time academic posithe most affected universities include tions were cut, though Worthington’s N.C. Central, with 350 students un- report does specify that. “The Center for Turfgrass Enviable to enroll in a required section of math, and UNC-Greensboro, who cut ronmental Research and Education 975 course sections, equating to about at NCSU shall have no reduction in state funds,” Worthington said. 40,000 student seats. In addition, Worthington’s presenStudents at other affected schools may not have had their class schedules tation listed the areas of impact within affected this semester, but they are no- academics. “Reduce faculty positions; increase ticing changes nonetheless. class sizes and Liz Hawryluk, reduce number a sophomore in of class sections; comparative inreduce/eliminate ternational politutoring and adtics at the Univising ; reduce versity of North operating hours Carolina at Chafor c omputer pel Hill, collabolabs; reduce lirated with fellow brar y acquisistudents to voice tions and library an opinion on the hours; reduce/ changes resulting eliminate supfrom the budget port for graduate cut. Liz Hawryluk, sophomore in teaching and re“Financial aid comparative international politics search assistanthas been effecat the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ship,” according t ive l y de molto the presentaished. I came into tion. UNC with a full While public information is helpride, through grants and scholarships, with the Covenant Scholars program,” ful for obtaining quantitative answers, Hawryluk said. “This year, UNC was Worthington seemed hesitant to offer going to charge me $7,000 in loans. any information regarding the backOnly through contacting the right lash and emotions surrounding such person was I able to set up a work- an abrupt policy change. “The [UNC system] president and study job and obtain further grants.” Furthermore, she added that print- the Board of Governors considered ing costs on campus have doubled, the six factors, including diseconomies of libraries close earlier, the number of scale; whether a campus/entity had TAs has dropped and course selections authority to charge tuition, percenthave decreased, leaving larger classes age of students eligible for federal Pell and less of a selection for graduating Grants, student retention and degree productivity relative to peer instituseniors. At N.C. State, students will notice tions, and the availability of other that their emergency technological funding source,” Worthington said. concerns will no longer be tended to “The campuses had the flexibility to at any hour, as the cuts have forced the decide how best to implement their computer help desk to follow regular share of the cuts locally.” When pressed for more than a dipbusiness hours. In addition, graduate students can no longer trust they’ll lomatic answer and asked whether she find job security in their alma mater, foresees more cuts in the near future, as almost 100 graduate positions were Worthington offered the following: “Whether or not the University cut. Undergraduate students might no- and other parts of state government tice that lecture courses have fewer are assigned additional cuts depends TAs, equating to longer waits for on how quickly the state economy imreturned work and larger recitation proves. It’s just too early to speculate,” sessions. In addition, fewer graduate she said. As the UNC System students students means that popular courses, such as statistics, might not be offering and faculty scramble to adjust to as many sections per semester, as pro- these harsh cuts, it appears that, as fessors often rely on graduate students Worthington said, only time will tell if more are to come. to teach extra sections.
“Only through contacting the right person was I able to set up a work-study job and obtain further grants.”
insidetechnician Latino culture takes flight with celebrations See page 6.
Shacks raise thousands Amidst lousy weather volunteers raise money for Habitat for Humanity. John Wall News Editor
Shack-a-thon hardliners endured a wet Wednesday evening as they strove to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. At least one person must be in each shack at all times, and those in attendance in shacks with leaky roofs were drenched. Nonetheless, spirits were high—the money has been flowing in all week. In the lead once again this year is the College of Management shack, which has raised about $3,000. Samantha Ballard, a senior in accounting, was in the COM shack before the downpour began. “We are in the lead so far. One of the guys from Habitat [for Humanity] came by earlier. Traditionally they have ranked the top four shacks. Now they just do College of Management, and then two, three,
See page 7.
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cut-out circles that were joined tofour,” Ballard said. COM does not have a particular gether with a sort of rivet. Standing monetary goal in mind this year, but about three feet tall, the structure was they want to raise more than they the shape of a dome. “Students from the design school did last year when they raised about came up with the design and pieced it $5,000, according to Ballard. “We have two more days left, and we together. It only took a couple hours to are getting pretty close,” Ballard said. put together,” Burrus said. “They are from a prototype Although their class in the design main fundraising school.” hub is their shack All of the plasin the brickyard, tic, similar to the they are also taking type used in elecdonations daily in tion signs seen on Nelson Hall where roadsides, was management classdonated by Signs es are held. By Tomor row “We are excited Samantha Ballard, a nd Pied mont for this, and at this senior in accounting Plastics. point we don’t want T h i s u n ique to take our shack shack also utilized a solar panel. It down,” Ballard said. Jonathan Burrus, a senior in en- charged a twelve-volt battery during vironmental technology and man- the day that powered a small light inagement, stood outside of his shack, side the shack overnight. “They fell asleep with the light on which graduate students in the College of Design helped him design and last night, which caused it to die, but fabricate. Made out of plastic—the only shack shack continued page 3 not made of wood—it consisted of
“We are excited for this, and at this point we don’t want to take our shack down.”
Speakers address student senate Administrators and saleswoman speak to senate. John Wall News editor
The student senate hosted four speakers Wednesday night before voting on a wide range of bills, including one that would increase student fees amid a horrendous budgetary environment. Provost Warwick Arden and Vice Chancellor Charles Leffler spoke before the senate for nearly 45 minutes describing the finer points of the current budget climate. The director of the financial aid office spoke afterward about the current status of the financial aid department, and finally Kate Almanza from USA Today made a sales pitch for bringing national newspapers and the News & Observer to campus.
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Ashley Autry, a sophomore in elementary education, sits next to the teaching fellows shack during the busy hours of the brickyard, Monday, Sept. 19. Autry had been manning the shack for a while and was looking forward to spending more of her time there. “I’ve been here for three hours, and i’ll be here for three more,” she said.
Leffler and Arden are the chancellor’s point men on all things budget related. They have worked since before the summer on a plan—called the strategic realignment plan—meant to tackle the problems presented by a 15.1 percent decrease in state appropriations.
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They reviewed where the University faculty have not received a salary instands in regard to the plan Wednes- crease. Prior to the funding shortfall, employees’ health insurance was paid day. Class sizes have increased, and sec- for entirely by the state. Employees tion availability has diminished sub- now pay “some of the insurance prestantially. All told, 1,425 sections have miums,” Leffler said. The strategic plan tapped leaders been eliminated, and 47,491 class seats from across campus to provide recomhave been taken off the table. The significant decrease in public mendations on how to deal with the funding forced administrators to cuts. Arden and Leffler received “80 to 90” recommenrely more heavdat ions tot a l. ily “on tuition/ Although Arden other non-state said it would be funds,” accordimpossible to act ing to the Power on all of them, he Point presentaintends to lump tion Arden and the most promLeffler displayed. Provost Warwick Arden ising ones into Nationwide, a unified implefunding for public universities is at its lowest point in mentation plan. The implementation plan will then 30 years, Arden said. Schools outside North Carolina have experienced be given to the Board of Trustees in November. They will ultimately aphefty cuts over those 30 years. However, except for the past three to prove which recommendations to four years, the state legislature, which heed. has final say over how much funding universities receive, has protected the UNC system from cuts. Financial Aid “We are catching up very quickly to Julie Rice Mallette, director of the the rest of the country,” Arden said. Office of Scholarships and Financial 112 people were laid off. Leff ler Aid, presented the senate with the described the number of layoffs as glooming state of financial aid. “lower than we were afraid we would have to.” senate continued page 3 For the third straight year, staff and
“We are catching up very quickly to the rest of the country.”
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