THE TAR HEEL
Thursday, August 13, 1966
Page 6
Clear Or Condemn
The Tar Heel is not charging that Chapel Hill
laundries are guilty of price fixing or collusion.
But this newspaper, after careful research, is
pointing to a possibility. There is a doubt. The matter
needs to be cleared up, if not by the laundry man
agers, then by the proper authorities.
Two laundry employes said that they thought there
had been a meeting prior to the raising of prices (the
Tor Heel chose not' to identify them). The employes
do not know what transpired at the meeting, if there
was one.
But if there was, it seems more than a coinci
dence that seven of . Chapel Hill's laundries raised
prices within the next few days.
And even if there were no meeting, it is a bit
strange that they all decided to go up at the same
time. It is also interesting to note that the laundries -raised
prices on the same items.
There is a law in this state that gives the attor
ney general the discretion to investigate this type of
situation, to clear or condemn.
More Food Problems
Chancellor J. Carlyle Sitterson stood up for stu
dents Tuesday and so did Consolidated University Pres
ident William C. Friday.
A member of the State Advisory Budget Commis
sion, which is studying the University budget pro
posals, said the cafeteria management should have
adjusted prices last year to avert the $80,000 deficit.
Joe Eagles of Wilson, referring to a $700,000 request
for the, .renovation of Lenoir Hall, said students should
pay the price.
He also said, "I think you ought to set prices up
to where the operation is self-sustaining. Otherwise,
you have a situation where the State is subsidizing
the student."
Sitterson said renovations have been paid for out
of profits made by the cafeteria and that if prices were
raised again that "one of the main topics on the
campus this fall will be food prices."
Friday said, "I think the State ought to do the
m&jor renovations." .;
Sitterson and Friday are showing foresight in this
matter. If prices go any higher here on campus the
students lill be able to buy a better quality of food
downtown and for about the same price.
And thus endeth Lenoir Hall et al.
Thanks
Somehow, a newspaper cannot let this issue to to
press without commenting on the tragic death of the
New York's Herald Tribune.
The Trib was a great paper, like its parents, the
Herald and the Tribune. James Gordon Bennett found
ed the Herald in the days when newspapers were
the property of the rich, and were literally large enough
to sleep under. Horace Greeley, a brilliant but frus
trated man who once ran for president, was the editor
of the Tribune.
Today's readers can thank Bennett for the vast
foreign coverage of American newspapers, the theatri
cal chit-chat column, society and business news and
too many other things to list. One of the first society
items ever printed in a paper was Bennett's account
of his own wedding.
Greeley had more of an intellectual bent, and to
day's readers can thank him for book pages and a
high sense of honor and professionalism among news
papermen. Now their papers are dead.
And today's readers can thank the unions for the
death of the Herald-Tribune. The paper operated with
an ancient press and outmoded equipment because
unions resisted modernization so adarriantly. And it
was the unions that killed the Trib's chances of sur
viving through a merger. They sought increases in their
wages, already higher than those in any other city.
So today, the Herald-Tribune is "dead, its spark of
genius is gone.
And we can thank the unions.
Rumination And Cogitation
You can' tell it's been a dull
summer when you realize that
the biggest controversy has
been about the blasphemy of
the Beatles.
John Lennon, one of four
young men who are almost
singlehandedly holding up the
valua of England's sagging
pound, has teen scourged and
vilified by disc jockeys and
other assorted hyprocrites, in
cluding a few Ku Klux Klans
msn in Washington, because he
made a statement that was
more truth than fancy.'
What did he say?
"Christianity will go. It will
vanish and shrink. I needn't
argue about that: I'm right,
and I will be proved right.
We're more popular than Jes
us Christ now; I don't know
which will go first rock'n'roll
or Christianity. Jesus was
all right, but his disciples were
thick and ordinary. It's them
twisting it that ruins it for
me."
There it is. A few little
sentences, largely unnoticed
until they were reprinted in a
teen magazine and people like
disc jockeys bagan to take no
tice. A good many of those
fellows who get paid a good
bit of money for spending a
good bit of time playing a
good many Beatle songs put
down the torch of free speech
and took up the cross of relig
ion and demanded that every
thinking Christian place all his
Beatle paraphernalia such
as records, pictures, beach
towels, comic books and what
ever else you can buy with
the Beatles on it in a pile
and burn it. Sort of like a sa
crifice on the altar.
The ingratitude of it all is
appalling. It's simply unthink
able that all those guys out
there in radioland should turn
against their old buddies, John,
Paul, George and Ringo. Even
the English haven't behaved
very commendably. You would
think they would jump to an
aggressive defense of one of
their greatest natural resour
ces, but hardly a peep, yea
or nay, has been heard from
across the sea. Except from
the Vatican, or course, where
an official paper gave the
Bealtes unrequestd forgive
ness, saying the remark was
made in an offhand manner
and should be disregarded.
Somebody asked Lennon if
that made him feel better,
and he said, "If it makes oth
er people feel better." Score
one for John.
The whole inflated contro
versy, obviously created and
inflamed by some radio and
newspaper men who ere jeal
ous of the Beatles' indepen
dent financial status, has open
ed a regular Pandor's Box
full of questions.
Are the Beatles really more
popular than Jesus? For that
matter, is peanut butter more
popular than Jesus? (If you
WEVILS:
Well, I didn't get my five
A's -
481
Ernie McCrary's
think that's silly, tell any kid
that either the Bible or all
peanut butter have to be ban
ned from his house, and see
which one he wants. to keep.)
Somehow all the wailing and
moaning is reminiscent of the
"God is dead" controversy,
when everybody runs around
saying, "God isn't dead. . . Is
he?"
Lennon had a point when he
said what he did, and it's un
fortunate that so many peo
ple didn't take the time or in
telligence to really find, out
ECC Needs Light
To The Editors:
It is a combination of con
flicting values that character
izes a University nominally
standing for "those finer
things" which broaden man's
horizons, and hence, produce
the "educated man" along
side the same university
which, in reality, attempts to
depersonalize the man it hop
es to aid in educating, and
thereby, "trains" rather than
"educates" and produces men
who are less than men, lack
ing in the individuality which
they should rightfully possess.
Such is an unfortunate com
mentary on the University.
Consistent with the previously
stated views on individuality,
I do not shrink from the stat
ing of my personal views on
the situation. I see and feel
and lament the process of for
ces working toward a deper
sonalization of me, an indi
vidual who holds uniqueness as
an important element. I focus
upon, as grounds for my com
plaint, the clear - cut con
frontation of discrimination for
the Negro female student of
the University.
At the beginning of a school
session, when "female the Ne
gro" arrives at the dorm to
which she has been assigned
and received all information
concerning her housing, near
ly every case she realizes that
she is that "female the Ne
gro, that though the Univer
sity housing authorities claim
to make the greatest attempts
to place together women who
can be judged to be com
patible from the diverse infor
mation they gain, that the pri
mary consideration in her case
is her unique color of skin,
her "negroidness " rather
than her system of beliefs,
goals, values as judged by or
ganizational activities, religi
ous preference, etc. Ideally,
and practically for genuinely
educated people, the latter con
sidered collectively, has the
importance. It would do the
University much good if it
proved true to its lofty goals
to its individual student,
who perceives, in this case,
Goodbye college life.
what he was talking about be
fore they jumped on his neck,
For those who investigated his
remarks and still feel that the
bedrock of Christianity had
been threatened, I only have
pity. They're waving their in
security like a flag wh"?n they
make such a ruckus about a
shaggy singer's opinions on
theology. It's tempting to think
about the old saying about how
the. truth hurts, but let's not
push the matter any further.
But about that peanut butter
business. After thinking about
it carefully. ...
the presence of an infringe
ment of her freedom in that
she is identified as a Negro
and only that. The University
has taken no noticeable steps
to correct the situation. It is
long past time that it should
have taken all of these steps,
but evidently it has taken
none. I do not speak of my
specific housing placement (if
one case of a Negro placed
with a Negro were atypical,
there would be no problem).
Rather, I speak of the mass
placement of Negro female
students which is not coinci
dental. It is against this which
I protest because it is this
which is noticeably discrimi
natory and depersonalizing.
B. Sherrill White
East Cobb
To the Editors:
Re your recent editorial on
university status for East
Carolina College. Although
most of your readers would
"surely agree that a university
is not built from "slander
back-biting, demogoguery and
log rolling," I wonder if con
sidered editorials are often
created out of name calling
("sly, wall-eyed Dr. Leo Jen
kins") and irresponsibly vague
forebodings ("and North Caro
lina's lawmakers might still
buy the East Carolina bill of
goods").
East Carolina College shares
with its sister institutions cer
tain common problems (e.g.,
the sometimes youthful and
myopic exuberance of student
newspapers), and your editor
ial mgiht better have been de
voted to a consideration of
these problems unless you're
thinking of applying the Gold
water formula to North Car
olina and would like to saw off
ytour Eastern seaboard. If
your argument has any basis
in fact, why not trouble to pro
duce a reasoned analysis which
might conceivably bring light
to a dark and desolate Green
ville? Sharon German
East Carolina College
English Department
BYRLW
I wonder if I can flunk the
draft test. . ..- -
3L