Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 18, 1993, edition 1 / Page 10
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10 Monday, October 18,1993 Daily ®arHM Yi-Han Quag editor Jennifer Talhelm associate editor Established 1893 A. century of editorial freedom Ineffectual Buyback A local businessman wants to buy your gun. Jim Protzman, chief executive officer of FGI —a local marketing company —and a candi date in this year’s Chapel Hill Town Council race, believes a gun buyback program will de crease the number of gun-related crimes in Chapel Hill. Protzman will need to have some deep pock ets. There will be a lot of guns to buy back. Although the idea sounds great in theory, it will not be effective in reducing gun-related crimes. In addition, Protzman has asked the town council to back his proposal. If the plan becomes a town-funded program, it would be a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. Gun buyback programs are effective in re moving guns from the streets, but the effect on crime is negligible. According to The New York Daily News, the New York Police Department bought back 1,246 guns during the first month of its gun buyback program. The number of gun-related crimes in New York did not decrease during that month. In fact, the number of gun-related crimes increased for the year. Other cities that have tried gun buyback programs report similar statistics. The main reason gun buyback programs do Victory and a Vote Chalk one up for student representation. James Hunter Schofield, 23, a part-time se nior at Appalachian State University, won a four-year term on the Boone Town Council earlier this month. He will be sworn into his new office in December. A large percentage of Boone’s population similar to Chapel Hill’s is composed of uni versity students who often go underrepresented or are not represented at all in municipal govern ments. Students at ASU deserve a vote in the town’s political processes, and now they have one in Schofield. ASU’s student body president in the past sometimes has served as a nonvoting member of the Boone Town Council, but Schofield’s vic tory marks the first time that an ASU student will have a vote on the council. Three UNC students over the years have served on the Chapel Hill Town Council, in cluding present member Mark Chilton, who Bwkwu and advertising: Kevin Schwartz. director/general manager Bob Bates, advertising director Leslie Humphrey, classified ad manager Gina Berardino. business manager. Jeff Kilman. advertising manager. Business staff: Holy Aldridge, assistant manager; Joanna Hutchins. Jenny Schwartz and Jen Talhelm. Assistant editors Alex Frew McMillan, arts and entertainment Etta Dowd and Kelly Nordlinger. cdPicAmy Ferguson, layout Elizabeth Maybach, photography: Zachary Albert Jacson Lowe and Carter Toole.spom Adam Davis and James IMritfield, SponSaturday. Adam Biarrchi. state and national; James Lewis. Steve Robblee and Holy Stepp. University. Arts and antartainmant Peter Royball. Diversions design coordinetoc John O'Brien and Alison Shepherd. Diversions graphics: Kevin Brennan. Ryan Coleman. Waynette Gladden, Laura Guy. Alison Ince, Tommy Jenkins, Brian Kahn. Sam King. Daniel Kors. Kevin Kruse. Mondy Lamb. James Dalton Mayo Jr, Alison Maxwell Ryan McKaig. Merrette Moore. John Neiman. Stuart Nichols. Tanya Oestreicher. Elizabeth Oliver. Taia Piter. Kate Power. Jon Rich. Brandon Sharp. Charts Speight Saly Stryker. Kristi Tumbaugh. Emma Williams. Lynn Wingate and Katrina Wittcamp Cartoon: Ameena Batada. Mary Brutzman. Bridget Busch. Chris DePree. Dustin Hedrick. Brian Kahn Jake MacNedy. Sergio Miranda. Phet Sayo and Dan Tarrant CHy: Anu Anand. Tiffany Ashhurst Alison Baker. The editorials are approved by the majority of the editorial board, which is composed of the editor, editorial page editor and seven editorial writers. The Da*y Tar Heel is published by the DTH Publishing Corp.. a non-profit North Carolina corporation. MondayTriday. according to the University calendar. Calers with questions about biiing or display advertising should dial 962-1163 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Classified ads can be reached at 962-0252. Editorial questions should be directed to 962-0245/0246. Office: Suite 104 Carolina Union ISSNSIO7O 9436 Cranpusmnl *>: C 8 5210 Box 49. Carolina Union U S Mail address: P.O. Box 3257, Ch*Ml Hill, NC 27515-3257 not reduce the number of gun-related crimes is that manufacturers continue to produce guns at a blistering pace. The Washington Post reported in 1991 that there were 922 gun manufacturers and 989 busi nesses that imported guns for resale in the United States. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, between 1985 and 1989, 17.8 million new guns were available in the United States. This number exceeded the number of births in the same period. There are more guns in this country than there are people. Buying back guns in Chapel Hill will not decrease gun-related crime. Chapel Hill does not exist in a vacuum. People from surrounding areas, such as Wake and Durham counties, still will bring guns here. In the short run, buying back guns will de crease the number of guns on the streets of Chapel Hill. In the long run, however, the number of guns will continue to increase, despite efforts to buy them up. If private businessmen want to spend money buying back guns, that is their prerogative. But the town council should make sure this privately financed initiative does not become a Chapel Hill-financed initiative. was elected in November 1991. Although they do not solely represent student interests, student members of local town boards, such as Schofield and Chilton, bring a fresh, young perspective to often old problems existing within the community. Schofield only won by four votes and gar nered 40percent of the community-at-large vote. The power of each individual student who voted for Schofield is demonstrated in that narrow margin of victory. In a time when so many think the “MTV generation” doesn’t care about politics and gen erally are an indifferent population, Schofield and others like him across the nation show that not all male and female 18- to 24-year-olds are apathetic and uncaring. Instead, Schofield’s victory —and the victo ries of other young people before him in town elections demonstrates our generation’s vot ing and political power and a hope for an active, politically involved future. THE DAILYTAR HEEL Business & Advertising Staff receptionists. Classified advertising: Melissa Allam. Dodie Brodsky. Jen Pilla. Lisa Reichle and Christi Thomas, representatives: Kevin Brennan, production assistant. Display advertising: Ashleigh Heath, special projects manager Ryan Bolick. Shannon Edge. Lynelle Hovaniec. Tiffany Krueger, Lisa McMinn. Editorial Staff Amol Bhai Diane Blackman. John Blackwell. Bill Blocker. Vicki Cheng, Daniel Feldman, Kathryn Hass, Heather Jones. Rochelle Klaskin. Jamie Kritzer, Kristen Laney. Kristen Min. Brett Perry. Amy Piniak. Molly Shafer. Judith Siviglia. Jacob Stohler. Jay Taylor. Jodie Townsend. Maureen Turner and Holly Williams. Copy: Kathleen Flynn. Christa Fuller. Kendra Gemma. Margi Hilstad. Melanie Hutsell, April Jones. Candi Kobetz. Erin Lewis, Erica Martin. Emily Masura. Jennifer Pender. Kim Preslar. Presley Rankin. Chns Reuther. Robert Strader. Chnssy Sweeney and Emily Tinsley. Editorial: Michelle Chan. Matthew Hoyt Rama Kayyali. Jeremy Kyle Kinner. Jennifer Mueller. Jason Richardson and John Wesley. Features: Angelique Bartlett Elena Bourgoin. Dewey Brinkley. Dale Castle. Jon Goldberg. Andrea N. Hall. Amy Kincaid. Dana Meisner. Funke Moses. Jennifer A. Moyer. Deepa Perumallu. Tara Powell. Robin Rodes. Maurine Shields. LeAnn Spradling. Amy Swan. Ross Taylor. Nam Vo. Angie Wainwright Denise Walker and Emma Williams. Graphics: Jen Dittmer and Julie Spivey. Layout Dawn Owen and Kelly Peacock. Dana Pope edttorial page editor Michael Workman university editor Kelly Ryan city edttor Stephanie Greer state 5 national editor Steve Politi SPORTS editor Amy L Seeley FEATURES editor Kim Costello features editor Wendy Mitchell arts s entertainment editor Marty Minchin special assignments editor Robb Cagle copy desk editor Justin Williams PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Justin Scheef GRAPHICS EDITOR Erin Lyon LAYOUT EDITOR Kas DeCarvalho cartoon editor John C. Manuel sportsaturoay editor Allison Sherrill. Kathy Trent Jon Tuck and Ashley Widis. account executives: Jay DaKoriya, Kelly Doyle and Andrew Wong, assistant account executives. Advertising production: Bill Leslie, manager/ system administrator. Stephanie Brodsky. John Mims and Denise Walker, assistants. Photography: Missy Bello. Lauren Brandes. Andrea Broaddus. Sterling Chen. Sarah Dent Jill Kaufman. Jason Kirk. Jonathan Radcliffe. Jayson Singe. Debbie Stengel. Ross Taylor and Katrina Wittkamp. Sports: Andy Alley. Chad Austin. Doug Behar. J. Michael Bradley. Corey Brown. Seth Brown. Rodney Cline, Brian Edmonds. Mark Franklin. Jon Goldberg. Alison Lawrence. Erin Parrish. Robbi Pickeral. Jill Santopierto. Brad Short Ethan Treistman, Frank Wang. Scott Weaver and Jill West State and national: Andrea Jones, senior writer Jonathan Barker. Kellie Brown. Anna Burdeshaw. Bronwen Clark. Ward Conville. Jenny Heinzen, Amir Khan. Greg Ray. Melissa Roche. Alia Smith. Ryan Thornburg. Brad Williams and Sara Worrell. University: John Adcock. Jennifer Ayres. Jiffer Bourguignon. Dawn Bryant Elizabeth Cleary. Kia Conlei Casella Foster. Jessica Frank. Chris Gioia, Marissa Jone: Rachael Landau. Erica Luetzow. Phuong Ly. Kevin McKee. Kelly Newton. Leena Pendharkat Holly Ramer. Lisa Robbins. Shakti Routray. Judy Royal, Kirk Royal. Kara Simmons and S. Tebbens. Editorial Production: Stacy Wynn, manager. Printing: The Chapel Hill News. Distribution: Triangle Circulation Services. EDITORIALS BHD THE OF THAT £ot>L( BeiMCr tr> street Vert ■piSTUREINGr AND- .v ?2MF WAt tHE Se^| ?eo Pee Ariee TT^se. M prutal the 300 Somalis ■wko c / / Were killed and I Were WownJed \ g° tn 'bf|^ rg Al^> ohr>e h Americans Lucky to Have First Amendment Freedoms My parents fled Mao Tse-tung’s newly es tablished Communist China in 1949. Amid the chaos of a country rife with conflict, they boarded boats with other Chiang Kai-shek Nationalists and left their homes to go to Taiwan where they would remain free. It is there where I was bom. It is there where I was lucky to be bom free. When I was 3, my family came to the United States so my father could pursue his doctorate. Thus, it is in America that I have grown up. It is in America that I never have had to fight for my basic freedoms. It is in America that I frequently take for granted what thousands of Chinese students fought for in 1989 and continue to fight for today. Often, I wonder how my life would have been different had my parents never fled China. Last Monday, as Li Lu deputy leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations spoke, I thought that I very easily could have been one of the students protesting in Tiananmen Square. But the same question nags me every time: Would I have had the courage to stand up against a government I knew was not right? In America, there is a malaise; we don’t always remember the importance of freedom. Our voter turnout for elections is less than most industrialized countries. We continue to censor music, books, the arts. We implement speech Studying in Japan Provides Valuable Lessons of Life It’s a sunny day, so I’ve hung my futon out my window as does every family in the town of Takarazuka, and all of Japan for that matter. It kind of takes away from a beautiful day to see a bed hanging from every window of every building. It reminds me of that movie in which that kid was almost a teenager and still wet his bed every night, and his mother would hang his sheets out for everyone to see. He would not get along well here. Many people would not get along well here. Japan is a country full of contradictions and can be very frustrating. For example, most everyone commutes to school or work. There are vending machines on every comer selling everything from seaweed rice snacks to three-liter cans ofbeer. But you are not supposed to eat or drink while you are in class or standing, walking or sitting on the train or in public. What are all these people doing with the food they buy on the streets? From experience, I know that sushi does not keep well in your backpack. You can go to the local Makudonarudo (McDonald’s), though, and get fries, a Coke and a McTeriyaki burger for 1,000 yen, or about $lO. OK, enough complaining. Once you get past the initial adjustments, Japan becomes a coun try full of culture, tradition and men with hair cuts like Moe from the Three Stooges. So far, it’s been an adventure everyday. One weekend, I climbed Mt. Yamanashi, where you can feed the squirrels and watch monks offer 1,901 blessings to Buddha. You can climb high enough that you can see the smog really well. This weekend, I’m taking the bullet train to Tokyo to visit relatives. Oh, yeah! Did I mention why I’m here? UNC offers a great study-abroad program that, so far, I highly recommend. I’m taking two classes a day at Kwansei Gakuin University. Each day I take a Japanese class and a class in Japanese management, psychology, politics or history, depending on which day it is. I have one professor who learned most of his English from watching the David Letterman Show. He even has a weekly Top Ten list and an awful sense of humor. I coach elementary kids Columns Policy The Daily Tar Heel welcomes guest column submissions from our readers. Interested writers should contact Dana Pope at 962-0245 between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. Please follow these guidelines. ■ Limit column length to 800 words. I All columns should be signed and typed double spaced. ■ It you are a student, please include your class, major, hometown and phone number. ■ If you are on faculty or staff, please include your title and phone number. ■ Alumni should include their year of graduation, current address and phone number. ■ Others should include their hometown and phone number. < ■ The DTH reserves the right to edit guest columns for space, clarity and vulgarity. codes on campuses. In other words, we often take for granted the struggles that se cured us the rights to be free. Perhaps we have forgotten that, as Li suggests, “Free dom is not free. It costs." A large number of the letters to the edi tor have criticized the fact that columnists | SHIRLIEY FUNG| MONDAY'S ANODYNE with conservative viewpoints are given editorial space. Moreover, there is a rising tide of speech codes against hate speech. Many believe that anything racist, sexist or homophobic must be censored. But under the First Amendment, a conserva tive has the right to speak out just as much as a liberal. Under the First Amendment, racist, sex ist homophobes may speak out as well. At the same time, die First Amendment al lows those who oppose bigots to speak out just as loudly. Bigots thus can be challenged and dis credited in the open. Ironically enough, the bigot often discredits himself through his own igno rant arguments. By merely punishing bigoted speech, we only in basketball on the weekend, and I go to two hours a day, six days a week of Ka rate Club. The “socialclubs” are what college life revolves around in Japan. Each student has killed himself (many literally) to get into die best univer sities. Companies don’t look at how well you did in col lege, but rather just KEN RUSSELL VOICES FROM ABROAD which college you attended. These four years are when young Japanese are expected to hone their “social skills” before entering the real world .It’s referred to here as the paradise between Hell and Prison. Academics? The students don’t care, the teach ers don’t seem too concerned, and there’s plenty of sake, so everyone just has a good time ... sound familiar? There’s no Greek system here, though. Soci ety already has put everyone in his or her place and has told everyone how to dress and who they can hang out with. A famous saying here is, “If a nail sticks up, it is hammered down. ” Customs and traditions are so rigid. I’ve learned some of them the hard way. Por ejemplo , the Japanese consider their busi ness card to be their faces. In fact, they’re called face cards. When exchanging cards, it is most important to hold onto the card for the entire conversation with both hands, cherishing it as though it were more than a piece of paper. You never stick it in your wallet, and you never shove it in your back pocket. This is the equivalent of sitting on the face ofthe person you have just met. In most cases that I can think of, that’s pretty undesirable. The good side of having such a deep-set, unifying culture and tradition is the communal sense of trust that exists everywhere. The crime rate is very low, and if you accidentally leave your leather jacket in a bar, it still will be there when you come back for it. (Blf? Saily (Bar Bppl treat the symptoms. Bigotry should be discussed in the open; misconceptions should be cleared in the open. To push bigotry underground only would force it to show up costumed in other outlets. University campuses should remain a forum for free and open interaction and discussion. College is a place to grow and to learn from each other. We all come to college with misconcep tions and prejudices. By hearing others, we ei ther can change our minds or strengthen our views. By expressing our own views, we can change others’ minds. It would be a horrible thing if we could not come to college and have the freedom to express our views and to have the opportunity to listen to others who differ in thought. This freedom, after all, is an integral part of our education. Li is right when he says, “Free dom cannot be preserved without educated minds.” It seems fair to say that without free dom, we cannot have educated minds. I am lucky, as are all Americans. I have not had to decide whether to risk death to stand up for my freedoms. And if I can have it my way, I never want the chance to. Shirliey Fung is a junior political science and economics major from Mansfield, Mass. People take care of each other here. Last night we were celebrating a friend’s birthday, and as we went into a 24-hour convenience mart to pick up some ramen and lowmei noodles at 4 a.m., I noticed my bike had a flat. We mentioned it to the cashier and asked ifhe had a pump. He didn’t and, instead, lent me his bike and wrote down my address. This morning, when I woke up, my bike was sitting outside the door, tires inflated! This may seem rather odd, or that he was just a little too friendly to me, but no! It’s not rare at all to find Japanese going considerably out of their way for you, giving “love thy neighbor” and “customer service” a whole new meaning. But times are changing. There’s a young gen eration in Japan that has begun to reject the old ways. This generation eats on the trains and wears Pee Wee Herman elevator shoes. They love Bon Jovi and aren't afraid to say it (it sounds more like “I rabu Bon Chobi,” though). Individualism is peeking through, and nails are sticking up all over the place. The hammer of Old Japan is getting pretty slack. Who knows, there may even be room for a Sigma Phi Epsilon Japan Alpha chapter! I’ve just been taking everything in so far. In one of those “it’s an acquired taste” sort of ways, I really love this country. It’s fascinating. But there are many things I miss back home. I miss football games and Last Call. I miss Calvin & Hobbes and Jason Torchinsky’s column (I think he graduated). I miss a group of the closest friends I’ve found since I’ve been at UNC, and a girl on the other side of the world who I won’t be able to give a hug to for almost a year. I’ll be back for my senior year, though—and maybe then some. This is an adventure definitely worth taking. My host family is wonderful, and I’ve come fully prepared. I packed my mountain bike, my rollerblades and, of course, my skate board and a yo-yo. I don’t think I stick out too much more than I did at UNC, so I’m all right. One final note: Did you ever wonder why Japan is called the “Land of the Rising Sun”? Well, it’s because it comes blasting into my room every morning at 5:30! Ken Russell is a junior business major from Stuart, Fla., studying abroad in Japan this year.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 18, 1993, edition 1
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