North Carolina Newspapers

14 Thursday, October 10,1996 alip la% aar Uni Jeanne Fnpte editor Office Hoar*. 2-3 p.m. Fridays Graham Brink managing editor Adam Bianchi electronic edition editor fA J World Wide Web Electronic Edition I 4 / J http://www.unc.edu/dth I BOARD EDITORIALS Sporting chance ■ While promoting women’s crew to the status of varsity sport is a positive step, funding need not come from student fees. Congratulations to the women’s crew team in becoming the University’s 28th varsity sport. Praise is due to the Department of Athletics for granting the team varsity status, beginning the 1997-98 academic year, and rewarding the team members for their tireless effort and steadfast commitment. Crew’s ascendency to the varsity level em bodies the ideal spirit of Title DC —guaranteeing equal funding between men and women in col lege varsity sports. In order to create equality, the athletic depart ment added a women’s sport to the varsity ranks, rather than following the lead of other schools and subtracting a men’s sport. While attaining varsity status is an admirable achievement, questions remain concerning po tential sources of funding. A $lO student fee increase is currently on the table as the proposed means of funding the team. Here, as in many cases when an obvious financial need arises for a group with popular support, the University is anxious to increase student fees with little thought or debate. Director of Athletic Business and Finance Mortina Ballen has admitted alternatives to the student fee increase will exist if the proposal is Big nasty posters The barrage of anti-Helms posters mysteri ously appearing throughout our campus and state last weekend was ablatant act of vandalism that brought the level of intelligent debate in the senatorial race down yet another notch. Posters depicting an unflattering visage of Jesse Helms between the slogan “Little White Lies” were permanently glued to public build ings, walkways, highway overpasses and bus stops not only in Chapel Hill, but in Carrboro, Durham and as far away as Charlotte. The perpetrators of this crime showed re markable organization and vigor in their late night operation; however, they have not shown the same initiative in removing these posters. That burden will fall upon the local municipali ties, and it will not be cheap. In some cases, simple cleanup will be impossible and the plexiglass panels on many bus stops will need complete replacement. Carrboro public works estimates that cleanup of their town could cost up to $ 1,000, while Chapel Hill has yet to begin an organized effort. Fornow, we are left with the BAROMETER News flash Young defuncts t Move over, CNN, the FOX network is UNC Young Democrats... enterprising * ' aunc^'n 9 a new ' "unbiased," total | at Mm and bold? More like irresponsible and ~ mßr~ news network to give viewers a now officially deprived of their "active" comprehensive and objective look at ' status by the state Board of Elections, world events. Al Bundy for anchorman? It seems they failed to file a pre-primary report due April 22, 1994. Yikes! Courting opportunity . , Our favorite 6-year-old smoocher and Spirit COOSter most recent media superstar, > No, the myriad of colorful balloons Johnathan Prevette, is taking his school . adorning campus is not the latest board to court. No surprise, the legal Coalition for Economic Justice initiative, foundation of Jack Daly, law student Such colors could only be the happy and publicity hound, is representing the decor of a deflating Homecoming youngster. When's the election? Week. Or is it pro-choice week? OBVIOUSLY THE SALARY VROfeUEM '.Does not in to HouSE£c=EvTi<S AuCfit. SfSTId fx'n A LAW PROCESS©*, ] \ j It f Nrl 1 * stopuft; / *1 &NRRr ' .= — ——H Y — davip -J fNAfc.EL.(_ sHop OWNER. &™ Yale* EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR Jamie Griwold university editor Lain Godwin city editor Erica Beahean state 6 national editor Andrew Park special assignments editor Robbi Pickeral sports editor Joseph Robson sportsaturday editor Jessica Banov FEATURES EDITOR Melissa Mißos ARTS/DIVERSIONS EDITOR Juba Corbin COPY DESK EDITOR Michael Kanarek COPY DESK EDITOR Amy Qaattlebaim DESIGN EDITOR Phillip Molaro GRAPHICS EDITOR Robin Linehan EDITORIAL CARTOON EDITOR Robin Berholl STAFF DEVELOPMENT denied. Prior to putting a fee increase before the student body, the athletic department is obli gated to study every possible source of funding alternatives. As evidence shows, the athletic department is not surviving on mere bread and water, and it is difficult to imagine they lack the sufficient funds to aid an infant varsity sport. The Smith Center construction and the Kenan Stadium expansion were both funded largely by private donations from generous alumni and friends of the Univer sity. Moreover, plans already exist for increasing scholarship money a considerable amount with out help from student fees. When many student organizations remain underfunded because of insufficient student fees, priority does not dictate that athletic teams should have automatic access to student dollars. However questionable the funding mecha nism for women’s crew appears to be, it does not overshadow the inherent good in extending var sity status to a club team already competing at a level of excellence. Next year’s unveiling of the University’s 28th varsity sport promises to highlight the virtues, spirit and sportsmanship now demonstrated by athletes of the 27 other teams. eyesore of partially scraped away posters “deco rating” every available wall of our campus. As if their illegality isn’t bad enough, these posters do nothing to advance a serious or intel ligent debate about the issues in the Gantt-Helms race. The “Little White Lies” campaign is en tirely negative in focus. It attempts to scare voters instead of informing them with images connecting Helms to the Ku Klux Klan and totalitarianism. Ironically, these are the same sort of “scare” tactics that Gantt supporters have criticized Helms for using. While Gantt’s campaign staff denies any involvement in the crime, it would do them well to condemn these posters, as they indirectly tarnish their candidate’s integrity. The poster campaign was an unsanctioned actofwidespreadvandalismforwhichthepeople of North Carolina will have to pick up the bill. We urge local and state law enforcement to vigorously seek out the people or organization responsible for this act, and hold them respon sible for the costs of cleaning up their mess. EDITORIAL X. vfport4. IVW 0$ THIS, 3S\ Oi TH*T ; WOT. THIS OTHER , U * ™ . THlNfe, and. 10\ oil THRT OTHE ft 1 T 1 ; a It! SPIKE ,Wf not o- tute THI ? ° THt ? 4a HUE ; a* well as othtc obscure * a4 unexplained* legislation. a lies, myths still simmer in America’s melting pot They lied to me in the sixth grade. They lied to us all. My teachers, my trusted leaders and guides through life, all did it. They told me America was a melting pot. This melting pot was not presented as a simile or metaphor, not as a warm and fuzzy symbol, not as a theoretical idea. It was pre sented as a sterling silver, damn-that-pot’s impressive fact. This pot was as real as the Liberty Bell, as glorious as the Statue of Lib erty. It was huge and grand and intricately welded by master craftsmen from a thousand different origins. In the pot, the American Dream was always simmering, stirred by the glorious ghosts of our forefathers. If only I knew then what I know now. “Miss Fairweather, I know I’m just a sixth grade kid, short for my age too, but didn’t we steal the resources to build the pot from the American Indians? Didn’t we force African slaves to grow the vegetables we put inside it? Didn’t we make immigrant workers spend 14 hours a day crafting it? Didn’t we send the pot on tour on a railroad built by mistreated, underpaid Asian labor forces? She might have sent me to my social studies text book. Our book was beige and blue. It was heavy and glossy. My book’s list of past owners included the dyslexic scribble of my neighbor hood bully, but the book looked harmless enough. Across the bottom of the cover, a parade of citizens waved and smiled. They were all friendly looking, happy types. There was a Caucasian doctor with silver hair. There was an African-American mailman. There was an Asian-American nurse. They all had big white smiles and the full range of ebony to ivory skin. “We used to be different and separate,” old Miss Fairweather would say. “But America brought us together. We are all created equally in this nation, to pursue liberty and happi ness.” Belief in tradition, good times shared by other diehard fans TO THE EDITOR: This letter is written in response to the guest column by Jay Posey andßrett Wilson (“CAA policy slights real fans,” Oct. 7). We will also join these fellow fans as they fight the weather and lack of comfort in the name of UNC basketball. We are very upset that the policy was changed, and we will support these die hard fans by joining them to camp out. Although our schedules are extremely busy, we believe in tradition and in having a good time. A commitment to camp out is worth the trouble. The memories alone will last a life time. As for safety, I myself have endangered my life by “traversing” over the uneven bricks on the campus grounds, and feel ready for the next danng, death-defying challenge, that is camping out by the Dean Dome. As for the community of diehard fans that fall under the group of families, it seems that the (Carolina Athletic Association) could apportion a sec tion of the lower level for these students. However, the majority of students who will camp out for tickets —and who really want good seats are the ones who should be the focus. You will definitely find us camping out this Saturday after we win our Homecoming game in the spirit of Carolina fun and tradition. We love this school and everything it stands for. In the case of ticket distribution, the CAA has clearly missed the point. MarkKucera JUNIOR COMPUTER SCIENCE David Wilson SOPHOMORE SPANISH Christianity more than simply 'provisional' moral system TO THE EDITOR: I agree with Mr. Bermel’s assertions (“Rela tivism shows lack of sophistication, dedica tion,” Oct. 7) that relativism is an untenable and unproductive worldview. However, I do not agree with Mr. Bermel’s assertion that Christianity is a “provisional” moral system that will do until society “pursue(s) a more comprehensive and funda mental set of morals.” But what about Birmingham, Ala bama? What about lynchings and riots —many ofthem de nied a few years af ter happening? What about Plessy vs. Ferguson? In 1896, Homer Plessy got on the all-white car of a Louisiana train. He wanted to test a segregation RICHARD RAY HOBSON'S CHOICE law. He didn’t get on at the urging of black community leaders or radical reformists. He did so at the urging of the railroad, which didn’t like spending money on extra cars. This was a good test. It was an interstate railroad, assuring federal, not state action. But more importantly, Plessy looked white. He was, in fact, only one-eighth black. Plessy actually had to tell the other passengers that he was black. When he finally convinced them, he was arrested. The Supreme Court, the high est court above our great melting pot, ruled 8- 1 against him, creating the infamous “separate but equal” doctrine. When addressing the notion that this put blacks in an inferior position, Justice Henry Billings Brown said, “If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it.” Sadly, this excuse went on for a long time. Segregation lasted 60 more years. Between thebookendsofPlessyvs.Fuigusonandßrown vs. The Board of Education, two world wars happened. Hundreds of lynchings. The Roar ing Twenties. The Great Depression. On the basketball court, I’ve been called John Stockton or Billy Ho (“White Men Can’t Jump”) more than once. It has a lot less to do with my smooth shot and nifty passing abili- READERS’FORUM The Daily Tar Heel welcomes reader comments and criticism. 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. Bring letters to the DTH office at Suite 104, Carolina Union, mail them to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 or email forum to: dth@unc.edu. Though Christ is the only real answer “to the questions of justice and truth,” he in no way claims to be the great moral teacher that Mr. Bermel paints him as. Christ was and is the only living Son of God, the Messiah in essence, the only way to establish a relation ship with God. God came down to the world as the incar nate Christ for the purpose of pulling down those barriers which separate man from God. In Christ’s death on the cross, sin and death are overcome. In his resurrection, we have life. God came as Christ for the purposes of “abolishing) the law” and reconciling man to God (Ephesians 2:15-16). Christ came to reclaim and restore what had been lost: man’s relationship with him Mr. Bermel appears to posit that Christ and his teachings are an answer to the moral dilem mas of today, but Christ says much more. Christ says that he is the answer to more than moral dilemmas but to life itself. If Christ is real and he did rise form the dead, then he should be considered as more than a great moral teacher, but what he claimed to be: the only way to live in the relationship God in tends between man and him. Jesus has left us with two commandments: to love God with all that you are and to love others as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). These statements are more than just the heart of some moral system. Jesus’ words direct us back to the only answer to morality and life itself: God and a Zty Satly ear Hml ties than with my pastey white thighs and the way I wear my socks. I’ve heard Beavis or Butthead more times than I like to admit, which is due less to Metallica apparel than to my melon-like head and spongy long hair. None of that really gets to me. Not all labels are bad. They tell you what’s in your food and are required by law. Until the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, there wasn’t even any chicken in “potted chicken.” But with people, labels can be dangerous. Look at tiie Jews in the Pit. What are they whining about now? They’re protesting the First Amendment or something. Look at the puny, Anglo Saxon, Western European mutt, heathen, anti-Semite Daily Tar Heel columnist coming out of the library. I’ll bet he’s good at drawing swastikas. Look at the blacks sitting by the Undergrad. Look at the whites sitting everywhere else. Look at the Asians by the Union. Why don’t they speak English? I’ll bet they’re talking about calculus, or orchestra practice. Look atthe Mormons by Davis. For Christ’s sake, I hope that jerk doesn’t come over here. Labels exist. Race relations programs won’t change that. Neither will speeches in the Pit. This column has all the power of a dead gnat in themeltingpot. Change can only happen on an individual level. Multiculturalism is a good thing. Building brick walls out of it is not. Think about how Americans thought and acted when Plessy was kicked out of the melting pot 100 years ago. Think about how they think and act now. It’s definitely better. I’d drink water after any one of you, regardless of my ancestor’s stigmas. Think about what it will be like 100 years from now. Think about how future generations will look back on our time. Try to act more like they might. Richard Ray is a senior journalism and creative writing major from Greenville. relationship with him through Christ. Jonathan Kaplan JUNIOR HISTORY/REUGIOUS STUDIES Constitutional rights also apply to local conservatives TO THE EDITOR: I find it very “interesting” that The Daily Tar Heel is speaking ofFirst Amendment rights and is even thinking about a lawsuit because newspapers have mysteriously disappeared. It was only last semester that individuals were openly caught stealing free copies of The Carolina Review. Yet that case was cited by the liberal DTH for everything except First Amendment guarantees of speech and expres sion. The individuals broke the same law that the DTH is now citing. This was hardly the case last semester, when the DTH lambasted not the criminals or the thieves eliminating The Carolina Review’s constitutional rights, but the victims. The DTH ignored the victim’s freedom of press and the students’ right to know. Die Board Editorial “No Joke” (Oct. 4) only made Die Daily Tar Heel appear more slanted and biased. Three lines prove just how hypocritical the DTH is: “At the heart of our country and our University stands the basic freedoms to speech and press;” “Part of our First Amend ment freedom is not just the ability to print a 10-page paper, but also to let others read that paper;” and, “Silly pranks have their place, but a college campus is not one of those places.” If the First Amendment is truly revered by the DTH, then why doesn’t it apply to conser vative groups? The Carolina Review was about 10 pages, same as the DTH, and a prank was played on a college campus. Yet the criminals and the case against them was dismissed. Funny, isn’t it, how the DTH only holds the liberal view in the spotlight, and never cites the First Amendment when a conservative speaks. James K Mills POLITICAL SCIENCE JUNIOR Editor's Note: In The Daily Tar Heel editorial, * Not-So- Free Publications" (Feb. 13) the board supported the Carolina Review’s First Amendment freedoms: Though these publications are free, a limit exists to how many issues an individual can take. Allowing anyone to acquire every copy of a publication... unjustly curtails other students' access."