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OPINION/EDITORIAL
January 12,2000* the Seahawk
Excellence Through Truth and Dedication”...Sincc 1948
Thomas M. Ruyle - Editor-In-Chief
Lyndsey M. Bland - Managing Editor
Martin J. Smiley - Advertising Director
Heidi Bing - News Editor
Megan O’Brien -A&E Editor
Hugh Fisher - Sports Editor
James Flint - Photo Editor
Miai Hamrick - Copy Editor
Hank McCauley - Webmaster
Kevin Knight - Adviser Bill DiNome - Student Media Coordinator
News Staff Writers: Allison Biggar, Paul Blackmore, Somer Stahl, Rachel Healy, Shane
McConnel A&E Staff Writers: Jeff Grissett, Tori Boone, Natasha Malinsky, Kristi Singer
Sports StaffWriters: A. Scott Taylor, Kevin Farmer, Jon Page, Wes Melville, Erica Pittlekow,
Amanda Breedlove, Rosa Tysor Photographers: Dana Hurley, Kelly McCallister, Kathryn
Schley, Christine Stahl Layout/Production: Lisa Williams, Lindsay LaClair Advertising
Staff: Keith “Huck” Huxley, Kim Byrd, Adam Wright Disribution: Angela Bjork, Jeff Durham-
Mgr., Lex Fennell
The Seahawk is published by the students of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, as a source of
news for the University and surrounding community. As a forum for free expressfon, The Seahawk and its staff
operate with editorial freedom; the views contained within The Seahavik are those of its staff and do not
represent those of the University, Material in the paper is produced, selected, and edited by the editorial staff
and writers of The Seahawk. Unsigned editorials represent the opinions of the editorial board. Signed edito
rials are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Seahawks\a^. Advertising
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Press Newsfinder Service and Tribune Media Services for portions of content.
Thomas II, Buyle
“View From the Dodo’s Nest”
Equality = Equality. Nothing more, nothing less.
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
DC, and spoke words immortalized in
our nation’s history and conscience:
“I have a Dream...we will be able to
speed up that day when all of God’s chil
dren - black men and white men, Jews
and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics
- will be able to join hands and sing in
the words of the old Negro spiritual:
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God
Almighty, we are free at last!"
It has been over 36 years since Dr.
King spoke those words. A lot has
changed for the better in America since
then...yet the more things change, the
more they stay the same.
I received an email recently from an
assistant editor of a newspaper in the
Midwest; the gentleman was asking the
Seahawk to place an announcement for
an upcoming journalism internship op
portunity in this week’s issue. While the
Seahawk is more than happy to let the
UNCW community know of such oppor
tunities, there was one problem: the in
ternship was open to minority students
only.
Minorities only? You’ve got to be
kidding me! As the editor of a newspa
per that is aimed at ail UNCW students,
faculty, staff and the surrounding com
munity, I could not allow this announce
ment to be published.
The Seahawk supports diversity, both
on the UNCW campus and throughout
the nation. In keeping with the progress
that has been made since the days of Dr.
King’s speech, not supporting diversity
- of race, religion, handicap, gender,
sexual orientation, etc. - would be fool
hardy indeed.
But along with the idea of diversity
goes the ideal of equality - an ideal that
is slipping by the wayside in the name
of vague “political correctness” that per
vades our society and day-to-day indi
vidual thought. Equality, it seems, ap
plies more for some than it does for
others these days.
Could anyone imagine a job oppor
tunity advertised as open to ‘whites
only?’ Of course not, and such a thing
certainly would not run in the Seahawk,
for the exact same reason as the ‘minori
ties only’ advertisement, or a similar
‘gays only’ or ‘Jewish only’ or any other
announcement aimed at a specific/vague
sector of American culture. It just does
not add up to equal opportunity, period.
Equality means that the opportunities
are open to ALL people in America, re
gardless of their history, individuality
or unique circumstances.
Editorial Viewpoint.
Are we the future sheep?
This is it...the UNCW Board of
Trustees (BOT) and the UNC Board of
Governors (BOG) are meeting this week
to decide the future of our tuition rates.
The Seahawk will be watching very
closely - both to cover the event and to
see how many students make an appear
ance at the meetings.
Basically, the BOT has decided that
in-state students need to pay $235 more
in tuition per year; out-of-state students
will pay $400 more per year. The next
step in this process is seeking approval
of the hikes from the BOG and UNC
General Administration, then on to fi
nal approval from the North Carolina
General Assembly.
Sure, the extra income (about $2.3
million per year) for the University will
go far in retaining the best possible fac
ulty. Needless to say, anyone who val
ues his/her education wants it to be de
livered by the best available scholars.
And if the increase does pass, Finan
cial Aid availability will increase ac
cordingly - no one will be financially
“shut out” of UNCW. Administrators
say that some of the extra funds gener
ated will actually enable more disadvan
taged southeastern North Carolina stu
dents to attend UNCW. Very noble,
indeed - everyone deserves a shot at a
college education.
Similar increases in tuition have been
passed at several other N.C. schools,
most notably Chapel Hill, where many
students protested the increase loudly
and fervently. In other words, they stood
up and made their voices heard.
We have yet to see that here. It seems
as if the idea of speaking up or speak
ing out against an administrative idea is
taboo here, even in the name of getting
the facts and stimulating dialogue be
tween the students and administration
. Chancellor James Leutze confirmed
that he has not heard one bit of feed
back from any students with regard to
the tuition issue.
Is that how we want to be remem
bered at UNCW? As the ‘quiet’ student
body? If we are the ‘quiet’ students now,
we’ll wind up being the sheep of the
future...the ones who get walked on.
Keep in mind that nothing is certain.
This being a major election year, not too
many politicians want to be known for
raising tuition. Even Leutze has told the
Seahawk that he is not optimistic the
tuition increase will pass.
But a matter such as this requires the
students to speak out and make their
opinions known. Most of the meetings,
including the main BOT meeting at 2:30
p.m. tomorrow at the Madeline Suite,
are open to the public.
So exercise your right to be there -
and let your voice be heard.
I K
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