R. Michael Leonard
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Kfcr o Editorial Freedom
All unsigned editorials arc the opinion of the editor. Letters and
columns represent the opinions of others.
rcur.Jci February 23, 1S93
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Psst ... in case you haven't
heard about it yet, there is going to
be an election Tuesday, June 4, in
the state of North Carolina; and
maybe you havertV quite made up
your mind, but itiwduld be in the
best interest of us all if youd
consider voting this time.
The voter turn-out during last
May's primary was poor, typical of
the apathy which has settled on the
state, and while many voters have
been sleeping their lives away, the
state senate has been having a great
time with the citizens' money.
Fortunately for the residents of
Chapel Hill and the surrounding
area, they will have a chance to elect
somebody who has consistently
spoken in favor of the programs and
initiatives which will benefit the
citizens of Orange, Chatham,
Moore and Randolph Counties, the
counties of the 16th district in the
North Carolina State Senate.
Charles Vickery has been working
in the interests of this state's
citizenry ever since, he began his law
practice in Chapel Hill; he
constantly expressed concern for the
issues which affected the everyday
7 oi) fj
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low down, pay up
Few industries have been the subject
of as much controversy and complaint
as the automobile insurance industry.
Young people bemoan their higher
policy premiums and others berate
companies for slow claim payments or
opposition Jo no-fault.
The industry has repeatedly presented
explanations for these and many other
consumer complaints, but a new issue
has risen for which there is no defensible
explanation. This is the issue of
premium rates in light of the new 55
mile-per-hour speed limit.
National highway speeds were
lowered last November in an attempt to
save gasoline. When the fuel shortage
eased, the Federal Energy Office
recommended the lower speeds not be
abandoned, to save both fuel and lives.
The slower speeds, it was discovered,
reduced traffic deaths by as much as 30
per cent.
Now, it can safely be assumed that
fewer traffic deaths mean fewer traffic
1
Editor's notebook
Jr.
Ve are lucky to be alive during these
exciting times' seems to be one of the more
popular phrases used by glib characters in
modern times, It has taken its place along
with "the Pope's a Catholic, and a dime
used to get you a cup of coffee, (used to,
please note,) as one of the accepted
Webster's Third Edition of Cute College
Truisms.
All well and good of course if you are
interested in that sort of thing; after all, a cup
of coffee did used to cost a dime and going by
the last time I checked up on him, the Pope
was indeed a Catholic. But, (aha . . . here is
the real crux of this dynamic discourse) are
we lucky to be alive in these exciting times?
I'd be perfectly willing to take a show of
hands on that one.
It's hard enough trying to get people to
forget about some of the less tasteful things
going on in these exciting times, let alone
trying to get them interested in the whole
mess. The voter turn-out during the May 7
primary, especially among college students,
was so pitifully poor and perfectly projective
of the current attitude in the state of North
Carolina, and at the moment, it doesn't
appear to be in too good state of affairs.
Everybody from James Holshouser right on
down the line was too busy patting
themselves on the back because they just
knew all along that NCSU would put those
nasty old Bruins back in Pauley Pavilion
where they belong. (God forbid those
California types should set one foot on
Tobacco Road.)
So, while the lights were being put out in
Greensboro Coliseum, the lights in most
people's eyes and mind seem to be getting a
little dim and faded. Seriously ... do you
Friday, May 31, 1974
Vndkec
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lives of Orange County residents
before he entered into the race for
the state senate and has now
committed himself to take those
issues to the senate floor.
Vickery has worked outside of the
senate to repeal the unnecessary
sales tax on food, while opposing
Duke Power's request for another
rate hike and supporting the
ratification of the Equal Rights
Amendment.
Of even more interest to the
students of UNC has been Vickery's
recent stand on the Utilities Study
Commission, perhaps the most
pressing problem in the area, at the
moment. He has clearly and
concisely analyzed and laid open for
public scrutiny the position of
corporations such as Duke Power
which have been trying control the
energy needs of Orange County. By
doing this, Vickery has again acted
in the best interests of the citizens of
Chapel Hill, citizens who would
have otherwise suffered because of
the commission's actions.
To bypass a candidate with the
integrity, stature and energy of
Charles Vickery would be a mistake
by the voters of Orange County.
issue:
accidents. And, if there are fewer traffic
accidents, then insurance companies
have fewer claims to pay. Since the cost
of a driver's insurance policy is based on
his likelihood of having an accident, and
since everyone's likelihood of having an
accident has fallen by 30 per cent, it
makes sense that insurance premiums
should be lowered by the same amount.
But this has not happened.
This issue was raised when highway
deaths were first seemingly falling.
Insurance companies said they would
"wait and see." They said they wanted to
make sure the lower accident rate was
.not just a temporary trend.
Well, six months have passed, and it is
now clear that this is not just a
temporary trend. The National
Highway Safety Council recorded 35
per cent fewer deaths this Memorial
Day weekend than last.
It's time the insurance companies
stopped offering excuses and lowered
their policy rates. This is one swindle
they should not be allowed to continue.
college luamdllboolk
remember anything that has happened in
this state since the NCAA playoffs? Most of
you probably heard rumors about a primary
sometime back in early May, and the only
reason some people noticed was because
election returns kept running across the
television screen as Fanny Flagg was about
to get hers on the ABC Tuesday Night
Movie.
Bloody exciting, times alright.
About the only thing I've heard students
on the UNC campus express disgruntlement
on is the absence of the crossword puzzle in
the Summer Jar Heel Seems the summer
session professors have done an unusually
good job on putting students asleep during
lectures this time around. It's agreed that the
loss of the crossword puzzle is indeed a sad
occurence, due to a particular lack of
pecuniary sources on the part of the Tar
Heel, but it's rather hard to accept that
crosswords are the most pressing problem in
the Chapel Hill area at the moment.
If you are one of those people that has
been looking for something to occupy your
mind lately, let's get back to the problem at
hand and set all those thought waves on the
right track. Now don't think I'm harping on
the subject, but are we indeed lucky to be
alive during these exciting times? (If you
have read to this part and are still thinking
about the crossword puzzles, go back to the
beginning of this article and start all over
again; you've missed something.)
Hopefully you are one of those rare and
intelligent people who are reading this article
to find out what my view on this pressing and
important matter is, and it is . . . dramatic
pause for effect . . . that you should feel
lucky to be alive during these times, exciting
Where
The river talks, you know. It speaks in the
two a.m. darkness and shatters peaceful half
sleep in the laurel. Its voices mingle with
half-dreams, and tense up and begin to reach
for the knife hidden in the boot beside your
head. Then you smile, and realizing that only
the river is speaking, you lie back and listen
to its soothing sound. As you listen the last
quarter comes rising above a nameless
mountain. It catches for a second on the
cracked limbs of a barren pine and then casts
silver rays through rocks and leaves to the
mica that suddenly shines on the ground
around your bed.
Thank God for the Southern
Appalachians. They are the range of life, the
hills of trees and falling water. They are good
Anglo-Saxon names like Chunky Gal, Cat
Gap, Charlie's Bunion, Hawksbill and Big
Butt. They are romantic names like
Thunderhead and Standing Indian. They are
Indian names like Cullasa ja Nantahala,
Tallulah and Cheoha, names that roll off the
tongue like the water flowing by logs and
mossy stones.
They are green in the summer, so richly
r
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cenne off .
Gerry Cohen
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'he well.
One of the best guarded secrets in
Orange County is that a Democratic
primary for State Senator and County
Commissioner will be held on Tuesday,
June 4.
The primaries result because in four
of the five local races, no candidate
could get a majority on May 7.
In the State Senate race for two seats,
Russell Walker, Carl Smith and Charles
Vickery are in the running.
I believe that Vickery and Walker
off transmms
or not. If you're not exactly overjoyed at the
prospects of being alive in the word, move
over; I'm sure there are lots of people who
are existing in a lower form of life who
wouldn't mind at all to be in those Kalso
Earth Shoes of yours.
Face it, you've got it pretty fat here in the
comfy little confines of Carolina. No matter
what's wrong with Chapel Hill's local
college, it's still comparatively soft in
relation to what's better known as the "Real
World," all the more reason to be on the
look-out for ways to improve the living
conditions of this place. Comfort should be
earned, not accepted or taken on account of
one's birthplace.
Deplorably, some people have just taken it
for granted that they are alive in this world
and are too busy looking for a nice soft place
to park their carcass to notice what's going
on around here. What they do most of the
time is spout little truisms like: "The Pope'sa
Catholic; and while on the way to academic
fame and fortume they fail to note two of the
most important truisms of all: "you don't get
something for nothing, and "we are lucky to
be alive." We are lucky because as far as I can
tell, feel free to check me on this, we are the
only animal to possess the ability to
contemplate its own existence.
That means we are given a whole lifetime,
(the Bible sets it at three score and 10 years)
to sit around and figure out just whatever it is
that our existence is. Now I have personally
used up almost one score of those allotted
years just getting to this point here; I think it
would be wise to get moving to pay back
whoever is responsible for all this with
whatever amount of time is left before
whoever it is decides to collect.
m o un ia in r iv.ers i
green that they astound the eye and mind.
They are wet and full of life from the deep
rotting mulch on valley floors to wind
sculptured trees on their highest peaks. In
March they are a leafless brown, and the
shadows and contorted shapes of trees are
clear. They include pine woods, stately
forests of oaks and beautiful mountain
balds. Their sides are often covered by
massive thickets of entangled
rhododendron, and spruce forests ridge
walk their highest reaches. They are a
thousand million places and things, each one
amazing and beautiful in its own way.
You can see the Southern Appalachians
by driving, but the only way to get to know
them is by walking. Only by walking can you
feel the steepness of Pilot Mountain or know
the immense size of Mount Mitchell. Only by
walking can you see Hawksbill cast its
shadow at sunrise or camp in a cave at the
top of seven hundred foot Whitewater Falls.
A car in the Pisgahs shows nothing but
views. Your feet can show you Shining
Rock, the smell of a fir forest and the rolling
meadows ot Tennant Mountain.
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offer the most progressive platforms as
candidates for the Senate. Vickery, a 31
year old attorney, has taken strong
positions for ratification of the equal
rights amendment, for repeal of the sales
tax on food and for abolition of the
death penalty. He has also issued a
strong statement in support of
Consumers Utility Corporation, the
local consumers group which is trying to
purchase the UNC utilities. His
candidacy represents an issue oriented
bid for an important state office and
in North Carolina, candidates have
traditionally avoided the discussion of
issues.
Walker has also endorsed ERA and
the repeal of the regressive food tax. As
a delegate to the 1968 Democratic
Convention from a Republican county,
he courageously supported the anti-war
resolutions which were soundly
trounced by the LBJ regulars.
While Smith has also stressed
consumer oriented issues, he is tied in
strongly with the Chapel Hill business
community. While more liberal than
most in the State, there are clearly two
better candidates in this race.
Any registered Democrat or "no
party" voter in Orange County can
participate in the runoff, even if he or
she did not vote in the first primary on
May 7. Individuals continue voting in
their old polling place even if they have
moved, as long as the move took place
after April 8.
Traditionally in Orange County,
liberal candidates have led the ticket in
the May primary, but got swamped in
the June runoff as Chapel Hill voters
failed to vote again. The importance of
having two progressive Senators from
this district makes it critically important
that there be a high turnout next
Tuesday.
EHZZI
taraaf-inaarCT: ECXE MXEBXM1MX3SMSZBB
I have leapt into a deep pool at the bottom
of a ninety fool waterfall on Jacob's Fork. I
have camped in the ruins of an old cabin at
Cat Gap. I have looked down into Tullulah
Gorge from Standing Indian. I got to all
these places by walking.
The walking is hard but the wonder never
ceases. It is the wonder of mist blowing
through giant spruce trees on Mount
Buckley. It is the wonder of a crawfish in a
high mountain spring. It is the wondcrof the
ridges which stretch into one another until
the eye strains to see beyond.
Yet, these Southern Mountains begin
somewhere. Eventually you go up some
steep hills, you go west of here. You can sec
the Blue Ridge in South Carolina from 1-85
if it is clear, but I wouldn't say that this
highway is in the mountains.
In North Carolina they don't include
Crowdcr's Mountain or Hanging Rock, but
the South and Brushy Mountains are
definitely in their number. A geologist could
tell you about the Blue Ridge Fault, I
suppose, but science doesn't have the only
Chan Hardwick
ranM
Sometimes my conscience bothers me.
The damn thing stings the comfort I feel
when walking around this rich campus, or
when I lie out in the sun all afternoon, or
when I pick up The Daily Tar Heel and
expect to read a couple of columns on
politics, one on drinking beer, and a few
angry letters about the parking and the guy
who rates the movies. I think we're better
than all that.
I am responsible for a few of those trite
little pieces which try to draw together the
threads of everyday life in this town. They
are mostly simple things which look for the
inner significance in picking up the laundry,
or some underlying importance in having a
beer. It is an effort to isolate the mundane
under a microscope which, when done with
style, wit and sensitivity, can be interesting.
My conscience wonders whether it is
worthwhile.
Our generation has apparently dropped
the mask of student unity and activism.
Perhaps this is best, as there is some doubt as
to whether it ever existed except in the minds
to those who feared it. Of course, the best
violence was on the set every night or so. but
to most of us it was as much a curiosity , thrri
as the SLA is today. Now we are comfortable
in our role as apathetic youth, at least until
somebody tells us that the opposite sex
The County Commission race pits
Norman Walker, Melvin Whitfield,
Tom Bacon, and Jan Pinney. In the first
primary, Pinney finished second in the
student precincts, behind Norm
Gustaveson, who won without a runoff.
In another crucial race, Durham
county voters will choose a district court
judge. In the first, pimary, Jim Keenan
got 34 per cent of the vote in an activist
campaign, while Gantt got 21 per cent.
Most of Keenan's support came from
the black and Duke University wards.
Keenan's candidacy represents a
strong break from the usual North
Carolina justice, where the rich get off
lighter than the poor, who stay injail
and get poorer legal assistance. If
Keenan can win, it could indicate a
change. Durham county expects an
especially light turnout in this race.
Tuesday, June 4 is when you get to
choose who will represent you in
Raleigh. Many have complained that
the Sixty-Third General Assembly was a
ragtag bunch, passing anything big
business wanted and shortsheeting the
consumer. Next Tuesday is the voter's
chance to remedy that.
When voters don't vote, this is a clear
signal to the politicians that they can get
away with anything, because the voters
don't care. One of the most stunning
things to me is that when I ran for
alderman last fall, 55 per cent of the
voters came out, quite high for a city
election.
But on May 7, only 34 per cent of the
voters came out for a U.S. Senate
primary. If we can't do better than that
next Tuesday, then our political system
will be in sad shape.
Remember, you can vote June 4 even
if you did not vote May 7 (as long, of
course, as you are registered to vote
here.)
Elliott Wcrnock Editor
Valerie Jordan ......
Joel Crinxljy
Jaan C wallow. .......
Key
Alan Dsbort.. ....
..I.!anag!n3 Editor
......... Mtws Edllcr
Attocistt Editor
Sports Editor
Features Editor
nrsrx:
answer.
When 1 was small, there was a certain
strange rock beside U.S. 321 north of Lenoir.
That rock was my marker, and once I went
north past that rock. I was in the mountains.
But now I like to think of the mountains as
beginning near Hog Hill in the rolling
farmland of northwest Lincoln County. On
the way from l.incolnton to Cat's Square
you pass a stretch of road called Recpsvillc.
A great aunt of mine teaches school there
and right down the road from her lives Uncle
Michael Kiscr. the man for whom I'm
named. My Great-Grandfather Kiser lived in
the big white house on the turn, and my
father's father is buried in the churchyard
just down the hill. On most days you can
look out across a rolling hill or two and sec
the South Mountains rising up along the
Cleveland County line. On a clear day you
can see Grandfather Mountain to the north.
In half-seriousness I often refer to the
Southern Appalachians as my mountains,
and when sentimental I like to picture them
as beginning at the county line.
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cannot live next door to us anymore then
the outrage. Unlike bombings and racial
hatred, the problem is too petty for the
principle, so it dies.
Apathy is now the rage. It is fashionable in
the way that non-comlormity and radical
methods were in the class of 68.
The fact remains that most students are no
more apathetic now than they were then,
except that then it was called individuality.
This translates into saying that everyone, to
a greater or lesser extent, is not apathetic
about himself. Individuality is still around.
Wealth is once again fashionable.
Fraternities are coming back. Scott
Fitzgerald is bigger than ever. And Chapel
H ill is still the hotbed of Southern liberalism.
The truth is, of course, that the world does
not live on beaches or in country clubs. The
world in many quarters is a starv ing, disease
ridden, poverty-stricken wreck. It staggers
onto our color televisions nearly every night
described in grave tones by Reasoner or
Cronkite. We somehow feel justified that the
magnitude of its problems is diminished by
changing the channel.
In a rather perverse waypejaps,we,areas
weakened as those who arecaught jn the
''throes' of a famineV-When one considers that
as a society, though not necessarily as
individuals, we have become immune to the
desolation on our street corners, to the
barren minds of our leaders, so that not even
the youth get fired up over injustice and
sacrifice, then it may be possible to
understand that the ebb of caring about
people and values has left us in a state of
moral bankruptcy.
Those who protested and rioted just
before us seem now to have been expressing
an incredible frustration toward a world that
has always cared about the same things.
There was little that a group of people, even
perhaps an entire generation, could do about
such a huge destiny. See how we look back,
to the twenties, to the fifties, to the sixties?
So, there is a good deal to be cynical
about. There are all these big. tyrannical
generalities to tell us how ineffectual we are.
1 don't believe it. 1 don't believe any of us
walk through this world feeling controlled
by some strings attached to vast, nebulous
generalities. Such thinking is best left to a
comfortable armchair where we can relax
and cast a jaunticed eye on the whole of our
knowledge. I don't believe anyone thinks of
himself as caught in some web ofmoral loss.
We are the ones who walk around campus,
pick up the laundry, read the paper, and
waste a night now and then over a beer
confident about the future, and we cope very
well. I just hope we do as well as we think we
can.
Even though my conscience will ever beat
against the thick, gray wall. I shall continue
to magnify the common place, hopefully -with
style and sensitivity, but. in the end.
even this is a beer drinking story.
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