Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 18, 1993, edition 1 / Page 11
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
uN|pSaih}UlarsM University Should Celebrate, Not Fight, Over BCC I’m not racist, but I just don't think they should let them build that thing.” So many times, the free-standing Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center comes up in conversation, and this state ment comes out of the mouths of those with whom I am speaking. I accept the statement for what the speaker thinks it means and I question, “Why? Why don’t you want the BCC?” The answers to my questions vary, ranging from a weak response to no answer at all. Often all I hear is, “I’m tired of this, I don't want to talk about it.” I don’t think so. I keep talking about it anyway, and most importantly I keep asking questions. I explain why the BCC is so important. After all, this is an educational matter. The BCC is an educational facility, pure and simple. This is a place to learn aca demically and socially. It is not a place only for black students. The goal of the BCC is to educate every one about the black community, its history and its culture. Herein lies the dominant misconception. Understand: The BCC is an educational facility. So how can you argue with students wanting to build an educational facility on campus in order to educate better the stu dents on that campus? To debate this is to debate your reasons for coming to a place ofhigher education. Students come to learn, and the more diverse a place is, the more students it appeals to. So you have a University with some thing for everyone: Students come for one aspect but are exposed to all the other parts of the whole. Thus students get a whole education, not a partial one. This is good. Students should want, no, should fight for any chance of expanding their education. This is exactly what the supporters of the BCC are doing. Why all students don’t accept this and eliminate the need to fight for the BCC is where tensions begin to rise. Tensions rise because people don’t like to accept the cause of diem. Think for a moment about the strong Save Woods and Support The Black Cultural Center TO THE EDITOR: Save Coker Woods and support the BCC. The Guide to Physical Development of the UNC campus, March 1991, shows extensive areas of open space. This is not our University’s testament of solidarity with the rainforests. New buildings have already been built upon designated open space, and one of the uses of “open space” includes parking lots. The Coker Woods, west of the Bell Tower, is not designated as open space, though it is not specified for any of the 45 development projects which “taken to gether ... represent the maximum capacity of the main campus which can be sup ported by planned infrastructure improve ments.” Development of Coker Woods would be forbidden under Chapel Hill law, if it weren’t owned by the University. This uncultivated wooded area in the center of campus soon will be lost forever and its open stream covered over. We have a unique opportunity to de liver two messages that might have been at odds with each other, but are not: save Coker Woods and support the BCC. Richard Mentock GRADUATE STUDENT GEOLOGY Opponents of BCC Hide Behind Intellectual Masks TO THE EDITOR: I’m no longer amazed by the intellec tual disguises whites apply to their racist sentiments, but I am still amused at the trouble they go to. So I would like to thank John Bradley for his column (“University Should Add BCC to Bicentennial Cam paign,” Oct. 4) which provoked enough anti-BCC, racist-in-intellectual-clothing response to give me a few laughs Monday morning. But suddenly, laughing at this type of racist expression doesn’t satisfy me. It’s time to speak up. In particular, I’d like to address one point in Rebecca Cottingham’s letter, “UNC Should Not Atone for ‘White Sins’ of the Past” (Oct. 11). Ms. Cottingham asks why the Univer sity should spend money on a building that is not equally representative of the entire student body but would be “dedicated to the black population.” Hey! Sophomore undecided (and the rest of you out there like her)! Wake up! There are few buildings on this campus that are equally representative of the entire student body and are not dedicated to a specific student population. This doesn’t make them off-limits to any other student population. Howell Hall is dedicated to journalism students, but any student may choose to use the resources of the journalism school and be welcome. Van Hecke-Wettach Hall is dedicated to law students, but any stu dent may choose to use the resources of the law school and be welcome. Similarly, a black cultural center would be dedicated to members of the University community interested in African and Afri can-American culture. A majority of these individuals may be black, just as a majority of the individuals to whom Howell and Van Hecke-Wettach halls are dedicated may be white. But all students would be welcome to use the resources of the BCC, just as all students are welcome to use the resources of the journalism school and the law school. So, the usefulness of a free-standing BCC to Ms. Cottingham and the other anti-BCC racists-in-intellectual-clothing comes down to a choice. Will they choose to use the resources of influence of en vironment on individual de- SCOn BAKER 6BEST COLUMNIST velopment. Now, look at the environment in which the generations of our parents and grandpar ents grew up and think again about the influence these generations have had on our own. We have received, through everyday contact and association, a bombardment of their ideals and values from our births. By the time we became old enough to reason for ourselves and became aware of this environmental influence, it already was ingrained in us. Like it or not, we were raised by genera tions who were tainted by the poisons of segregation and worse. Through them, we receive a tainting ourselves. We receive a mistrust, a misunderstanding and a misperception of other cultures. It is time to recognize our prejudices and actively work to discard them. Other wise, we are stuck with closed hearts and minds. Bickering and senseless arguments ensue, tensions grow between groups and rational thought takes a vacation. You simply cannot say, “I don’t want to talk about it,” and not listen to opposing view points. Nothing can be gained from this. You see, I was once one of those people who said, “I’m not racist, but I don’t want a BCC.” But I sat down with a friend of mine and listened to what he had to say. He asked me why I did not want a BCC, and I gave him some feeble answer about why not a “this” center or a “that” center. I wanted to know what made the black students so special. I know now that these were responses that belied my own prejudices at the time, rather than arguments against a BCC. It is the power elite who act like they are spe cial. It is they who try to dictate what should or should not be studied according to their own personal prejudices. I finally realized that the BCC is about education, and I began to wonder what made me so special. How could I deny a the BCC to understand black culture and to break down the racial barriers they have been building for years? Or will they choose to stand outside the BCC and remain in ignorance, fear and hatred? The nature of the University guarantees that if they open their minds and check their prejudices at the door (and even if they don’t), they will be welcome at the BCC. Because the resources of the BCC like the resources of the journalism school and the law school— will be available to all students, there is no question that the University should financially support the construction of the BCC. Doug Nicholas GRADUATE STUDENT JOURNALISM UNC Acted Disgracefully To High School Students TO THE EDITOR: Some birthday party we threw! The 200th birthday of the “fine” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was nothing short of a complete embarrassment and disgrace. Chancellor Paul Hardin sent a letter inviting one high-school band and chorus from each of our 100 counties to perform at the Bicentennial “Celebration." The plan was to have the mass band in Kenan Stadium practicing at 3 p.m. The mass choir was to rehearse at 3:45 p.m. At 5 p.m., 10,000 chorus students had not made it into the stadium. Asa matter of fact, a great number of those 1,000 invited guests never made it into Kenan Stadium. The University has had 200 years to plan and organize this extravaganza that was nothing short of a disaster. I did not attend the festivities, but as I sat watching the event on television, I thought of my younger sisters whose chorus had been invited to sing. They are both Duke fans and consequently anti-UNC. I looked at my roommate and said, “Maybe now Emily and Laura Lee will understand ‘Carolina Fever.’ There are 200 years of tradition and diversity in this place. The very first state col lege in our nation! There’s nowhere on earth like the Univer sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Maybe now they can under stand why I love it so much and why it is so special to me.” Unfortunately, the events of Oct. 12 have changed my glorified opinion of this place. My sisters and the rest \ of the Beddingfield High School mixed chorus rode a bus for two hours each way to get to Chapel Hill. They waited in line for seven hours and never entered Kenan Stadium. They waited in the cold for seven hours with no food, no water and no bath room facilities to be turned away after the ceremony had begun. To make matters worse, my youngest sister, who is 14, was on crutches because of a broken foot. She did not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance, but after standing for seven hours she collapsed. Emily had to be taken to a chaperone’s car by campus police. I guess that was her “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” What’s even worse is that at 5 p.m. Wednesday, she was just beginning to regain feeling in her leg. I have never been so outraged in my life! My university, my beloved university, is an embarrassment. With the poor organi EDITORIALS BCC to those who had valid reason for such a center? This is a center that will offer me a chance to learn. This can only be seen as a benefit to the students and commu nity. It can only harm those who benefit from our ignorance. The BCC will be a place where any student can go to leam about an important and greatly ignored part of the American society. Yet, some have called it separatist. How can you call a facility that encourages participation by all “separatist”? It is more separatist to ignore the cultural contribu tions of all races to American society. reamSmm The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments and critcism. Letters to the editor should be no longer than 400 words and must be typed, double-spaced, dated and signed by no more than two people. Students should include their year, major and phone number. Faculty and staff should include their title, department and phone number. The DTH reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity and vulgarity. zational and planning skill shown by the bureaucracy here it’s a wonder we’ve made it through2ooyears, and it certainly makes me doubt seriously we’ll make it through the next 50, let alone 200 more. The almighty politicians that attended the ceremony, and as a result of their de lays kept the students out of the stadium, shouldnotunderestimate the students’ fury. They will be voting in our next presidential and gubernatorial election. President Clinton’s speech centered around the theme of change and education. Tuesday night these children were educated. They were taught about the delays ofbureaucracy and political untrustworthiness. Winifred Baldree SOPHOMORE EDUCATION University Must Take Blame for Band Mishap TO THE EDITOR: Thousands of youngsters from through out the state practiced for months and dedicated a day or two to attend our Bicen tennial. Through no fault of their own, they were denied the opportunity to dem onstrate their hard-won musical expertise to the president and to the citizens of our state. It seems shameful to blame this monu mental foul-up on “an eager public who occupied the seats set aside for the bands." The mess seemed due to lack of planning and/or coordination concerning guidance and seating of the public and band mem bers. There were many dozens of security personnel and uniformed police, but an astounding scarcity of any who could take initiative in helping or guiding the visitors. I assume they could not because they were not briefed in detail, and there was obvious lack of coordination. Whatever the reasons, the blame is ours internally for this blot on an otherwise impressive ceremony and should not be The BCC is going to be an educational facility. It will be a place built with private funds but built to serve and teach the pub lic, reaching out to the University and its surrounding community. We are here to leam, to better ourselves and those around us. These are the same reasons for which the BCC will be built. This is not a matter over which to fight. The BCC is a matter over which to cel ebrate. Scott Baker is a senior chemistry and political science major from Charlotte. charged against a well-behaved general public. Pierre Morell BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS UNC Should Apologize to, Compensate High Schools TO THE EDITOR: Asa UNC alumna and a resident of Chapel Hill, I was proud to attend the Bicentennial Convocation at Kenan Sta dium. But I was deeply embarrassed for my school to see thousands of high school students excluded from performing at the ceremony after they had been invited to participate. These young people had practiced for the event for weeks, had traveled for hours, had been in Chapel Hill all day anticipat ing the big event. Instead they, their par ents and their teachers had a bitter lesson in civics. The excuse given for not letting them play en masse was that some of the seats reserved for the bands and choirs had been taken by the public and that all the musi- dans were therefore not seated together. So? People could have been asked to move. Or the musi rians still could have performed. Perhaps the ensemble work would have been a little off—so what? The audience would have cheered heart ily for the kids, mis takes and all. Even thousands ofprofes sional musicians would have a diffi cult time all playing together. These students had been promised something to be able to play for their president—and the promise was bro ken. Young people have a strong sense of injustices, and they will remember the hurt for a long time. They also are future voters and perhaps future UNC alumni; many of their teach ers and parents also are alumni. And they all have been alienated by what happened at Kenan Stadium on Tuesday night. On this issue, University officials have earned a solid F. All might not be lost. UNC should send a letter of apology to every high school represented at the Bicentennial. And then it should invite the performers back to campus in the spring for a picnic on Polk Place and a concert at Kenan all ex penses paid by UNC, perhaps out of its sports megabucks funding. Then all that talk we heard at the convocation about today’s young people being the future of UNC would at least sound sincere. JaneS. Gabin CHAPEL HILL UNC Attorney General’s Office Will Provide Quality Defense Editor's note: The author is the student attorney general. You have been accused of cheating. The possibility of suspension looms before you —and not for a mere week like in high school, but for an entire semester. Distressing thoughts cloud your mind. Who is in charge of the pro cess? What are my rights? Who will defend me, and is this person qualified? The Office of the Student Attorney General handles all matters involving the Honor Code. The attorney general pro vides students with fundamental services when they have been accused of cheating. Initially, the attorney general explains to the student his or her rights according to the Instrument of Student Judicial Gover nance. These include the right to know all evi dence, the right to face their accuser and the right to refuse to respond to self-in criminating questions. Yet, most impor tantly, these rights also include a presump tion of innocence. The attorney general also provides the accused student a defense counsel to pre pare a defense against the complaint. The counsel operates under the advocacy prin ciple, which defines the counsel’s role as an advocate of the defendant. This means that if the defendant pleads not guilty and confesses guilt, the defense counsel is not obligated to share that infor mation. Consequently, the investigative counsel serves as an advocate of UNC. If the accused student Is not satisfied with the defense counsel appointed by the attorney general, then the student may choose any student currently enrolled to serve as his or her counsel. But this is seldom the case. Staff mem bers are carefully chosen each year and must meet rigid standards to be certified. Last March, 30 students were selected to serve UNC as attorney general’s staff members; 40 percent of these members are Article's Timing Showed DTK's Lack o! Discretion TO THE EDITOR : Oct. 12, 1993, marked the historical Bicentennial of this great University. The culmination of the Bicentennial Celebra tion was the convocation address deliv ered by the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton. In anticipation of the celebration, I picked up a copy of Tuesday 's Daily Tar Heel. I was shocked and displeased with the headline that I saw reading, “NC Poll: Clinton’s Approval Rate Falls.” It is not the text of this article that upsets me but rather the timing with which it was placed on the front page. The staff of The Daily Tar Heel should have used better discretion in its reporting of this survey. While it was a newsworthy poll, the article’s placement on the front page of the Happy 200th Birthday, UNC edition of the Dai l y Tar Heel was an em barrassment to the paper and the Univer sity community. It is my hope that upon future visits from honored guests that The Daily Tar Heel not tarnish these events with thought less headlines. ToddE. Gordon GRADUATE STUDENT SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH No Security Existed At Kenan's South Date TO THE EDITOR: I am one of about 20,000 people who could have killed President Clinton when he spoke the other night. Like I said, about 20,000 of us walked in the south gate of Kenan Stadium com pletely unsearched. The gate opened and we flooded in. Sure, it was great not to have to wait in line, but think of how easily any crazed suicidal jerk could have taken out the most powerful man in the world. If you feel that this was a mistake that the Clinton administration should not have made, please write a brief letter (one sen tence is enough) to Mr. Clinton himself (actually his letter-reading staff) about it. All you have to do is address the enve lope to “President Clinton, 20500”, and it will get there. This is easy and too impor tant for us to ignore. John Heilman SOFHOMORE ENGLISH Faculty Should Not Gripe About Athletic Program TO THE EDITOR: The Nike deal with the athletic depart ment is complete. The Chapel Hill and the University lawyers have approved it, and John Swofford has again shown that he can explore, develop and then bring to fruition a unique project that will benefit more than 700 UNC sftidents. Of course, Dean Smith continues to show his class and concern for his basketball family, the athletic department and our gr eat Univer sity. In this time of what should be great celebration with regard to anew discovery within an academic community, there still seems to be a small yet vocal minority of faculty members who complain about the success of others. Where is your sense of learning and discovery? To those people, I say welcome to America and free enterprise. For heaven’s sake, leam about America and at the same time leam something about an important part of our University community the athletic department. Some of tire things I read are totally irrational, and teachers are supposed to help educate those with irra tional, uninformed ideas. Monday, October 18,1993 minority stu dents. The staff clearly repre sents the diver sity of the stu dent body. This diversity is crucial be cause the staff handles viola tions by stu dents of differ ent ages, sex, race and sexual orientation. i TUCKER BALI j GUEST COLUMNIST Coupled with our diversity, the staff recently has completed two weeks of train ing workshops, several of which prepared members to handle sexual assault cases. Handling assault cases has been a contro versial aspect of the judicial system. We recognize the sensitivity of these cases and have taken significant steps to make our system more efficient. Last year, the Committee on Student Conduct proposed several amendments to the Instrument to improve our system, amendments that both prohibit the admis sibility of a victim’s prior sexual histoiy and that allow a victim to be present during the entire hearing. In addition to this, each assistant attor ney general and select staff members will receive more detailed training from the Orange County Rape Crisis Center. Handling academic and disciplinary cases is a serious matter. Members of the Attorney General’s Staff understand the needs of the defendant and are qualified, trained and certified to make sure every defendant receives a fair hearing. Through our diversity and intensive training, the student body should feel con fident that we will provide a quality de fense and that justice will be served. Tucker Ball is a senior from Atlantic Beach, Fla. Every coach at Carolina is a teacher of very elite pupils. Each of us work a stagger ing amount of time, and frankly, it’s fun. But the results of every test we give are scored against teachers of pupils at other schools, and those results even end up in the paper. These coaches don’t begrudge other departments for their success, so relax, vocal minority. I suggest strongly that you take your creative skills and work to solve your own budget concerns. Frank R. Comfort HEAD SWIM COACH Political Correctness Not For College Republicans TO THE EDITOR: I would like to draw your attention to a major problem in the Wednesday article titled “College Republicans Protest President’s UNC Visit.” I realize that po litical correctness is rampant on this cam pus; however, as the leader of UNC Col lege Republicans, I refuse to participate. The UNC College Republicans will fol low by Republican principle, includingthat of being politically incorrect. I am not the chairwoman of the College Republicans. I am the chairman. Amanda Scoggins FRESHMAN ECONOMICS DTH Review of Loreieis Too Critical, Not Insightful TO THE EDITOR: Not being a connoisseur of arts and entertainment I may not be qualified to offer this critique, but I couldn’t have been less annoyed with Wendy Mitchell’s re view of the Loreieis’ Jurassic Jam (“Visi tors Steal Show at A Capella ‘Jam,’” Oct. 4). Ms. Mitchell made every effort to make the whole event one great competition between the groups. From the headline, “Visitors Steal Show at A Capella ‘Jam’,” (note: a cappella was misspelled) and throughoutthe article with statements like, “The Rochester Yellowjackets were the winners Saturday,” Ms. Mitchell exudes a style that belongs on the sports pages. I might add that headlines establishing a certain tension among groups where none exists seems to be a common theme with this year’s DTH. Ms. Mitchell went out of her way to offer criticism at every turn. One simply needs to read the opening sentence to get a feel for what is to follow. While it is impor tant to offer critical insight on an event, I feel Ms. Mitchell’s comments were high on criticism and low on insight. I do not mean to attack Ms. Mitchell personally, but I feel that she, of all people as arts and entertainment editor should recognize the importance of evaluating an event on its merits and providing both positive and negative criticism that is in sightful or, still better, constructive. In addition, such criticism should be given in a concise manner that is not steeped in speculation. Had she done her home work she would have discovered that the Loreieis made every effort to bring more women and minorities to this year’s Jam, but due to a traditional lack of support and funding for such groups, many were un able to make the trip to Chapel Hill. I feel the Loreieis gave a cappella fans of the UNC community an opportunity to enjoy a variety of a cappella groups and styles this past weekend. It is a shame that their efforts and recognition on a national level goes unnoticed and underappreciated by much of the UNC community. Garrett Martin JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES 11
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 18, 1993, edition 1
11
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75