THE DAILY TAR HEEL
Papre 2
Wednesday, February 28, 19S3
Brian Cummings
life
76 Years o Editorial Freedom
Bill Amlong, Editor
Don Walton, Business Manager
:
What do you think about hiring t
night watchmen for the girls'
dorms?" one administrator asked
the other.
"Well, you know," he answered,
"the problem just isn't that serious
for us to spend all that money. No
one's been raped or murdered
yet"
'.'.'.'..'..'.'..'..'.'..".'.'.".'sr.'.::'.::
XvXv.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v,
; 1
Two Steps Forward,
And One Step Back
Progress in women's rules
around here xloesn't gallop it
crawls.
We are thankful, however, that
it is at last doing evenN that.' For
despite the present Women's
Residence Council moving ahead
on a two-steps-forward, one-step-back
basis, it is indeed moving
farther ahead than any of its
predecessors.
An example was the way things
went Monday night, when WRC
decided to abolish the rule about
coeds' not being allowed in a man's
bedroom off-campus. Further, they
extended visiting hours in fraterni
ty houses to 3 a.m. for girls not
under closing hours.
poth these steps were very well
taken. And for a while there, you
might have thought for sure that
the 20th Century was beginning to
be recognized as a reality at
Carolina.
But fear not, timid readers. This
editorial isn't going to shatter your
long held beliefs' that WRC stands
for Conservatism, Purity and
Restraint. It is not about to depict
the solid, All-American girls of the
WRC as a bunch of avant-garde
miniskirters.
Nevah, suh.
Instead, it means to allay your
fears of such things by relating to
you the final and redeemingly
backward step WRC took. That
was to put in writing that men
couldn't visit coeds in their dorm
or sorority house rooms.
'As one council member put it,
this rule previously had been "only
understood" and Not Written
Down In Black And White.
So fear not gentle reader, there
ine Daily Tar Heel is pub
lished by the University of
North Carolina Student Publi
cations Board, daily except
Mondays, examinations periods
and vacations.
Offices are on the second
floor of Graham Memorial.
Telephone numbers: editorial,
sports, news 803-1011; bus
iness, circulation, advertising
S33-1163. Address: Box 1080,
Ch2pcl Hill, N. C, 27514.
Second class postage paid at
U.S. Post Office In Chapel Hill,
N, C.
Subscription rates: $9 per
year; $3 per semester.
Pamela Hawkins, Associate Editor
Wayne Hurder, Managing Editor
m
Rebel Good, News Editor ,
Kermit Buckner, Advertising Manager
is not about to befall us .soon that
day when men and women at the
University of North Carolina will
be acting just like men and women
anywhere else, visiting in each
other's rooms and such.
No, that day was put off even
farther when the WRC voted to put
things in writing. 1
An Ounce,
Er, Fifth,
Of Pmpf
By JIM SHUMAKER
In The Chapel Hill Weekly
We don't know whether it is
a sound comment on the
drinking habits of
newspapermen, Old Carolina
Grads, or what, but the reu
nion here this weekend of
former editors of the Daily
Tar Heel seemed to be proof
(ranging from 86 to 100) of
something.
Hugh Stevens, a former
editor now reading for the law
at the University, was saddled
with making many of the ar
rangements for the reunion.
Among his chores was that of
seeing that hard potables
would be in good supply for
the merrymaking at the
Inn.
Mr: Stevens left the matter
of quantity up to the fellows at
the Inn who is knowledgeable
about such things.
"I think twelve to fifteen
cases ought to do nicely," the
gent at the Inn suggested.
"Fine," Mr. Stevens said,
and turned to go.
"Wait a minute," the Inn
expert said. "Who did you say
this was for?"
. "Old editors of the Daily
Tar Heel," Mr. Stevens
replied.
"In that case," the expert
said judiciously, "you'd better
increase that by ten or fifteen
percent."
If People
There is a state law that prohibits
drinking on government property. The
meaning is explicit: the University cam
pus is government property, so dormitory
drinking is legally and officially frowned
upon. The enforcement of this law'is a
vital issue. ' '
Just suppose, in your wildest im
agination, that it were possible for a
dorm resident to drink and still somehow
escape punishment. This would mean, if
it ever happened, that the law was not
being enforced effectively.
If this were the case, then the state
would outwardly condemn drinking for
dormitory residents, but' by failing to en
force its own rule, it would secretly con
done it. This paradox of attitudes con
stitute what is known as hypocrisy. The
results of such hypocrisy can he .
demoralizing to both the state and its
citizens.
First, the state would be neglecting its
own responsibility. The enactment of a
law carries with it the state's obligation
to enforce it now. If the state did not ef
fectively enforce the. law prohibiting
dorm drinking, then the state would be
choosing to ignore, escape, or somehow
conceal its duty.
The inherent deception in this neglect
' would be a strong indication of corrup
h . i it
pnc more ;i)Crt
tetters To The Editor
To The Editor:
In an article for the Feb. 25 Greens
boro Daily News entitled "Students
Upset, but Resigned to Draft Call," Fred
Hechinger (a writer for the N.Y. Times
news Service) reports the results of a
series of interviews of students in the
"leading graduate schools" in the coun
try, from Yale to Stanford. Though there
seems to be a diversity of opinion among
those interviewed,' as Mr. Hechinger al
lows, the general sentiment, or "What ap
pears to be the majority view," is the
following a statement quoted from a
first-year law student at Columbia:
"Unfortunately, I believe the majority of
the country supports the war and until
my views against the war pre-dominate, I
vwill follow the law of the land."
Of course, any critical person must
realize the arbitrariness and error factor
t of such a random sampling as Mr..
' Hechinger apparently made. However,
one important conclusion is reached and
is represented in the statement quoted
above. This is something every American
male, between the ages of 18 and 26 (or
perhaps 28), who is liable to be called by
the draft, must face. If the "law of the
land" dictates that you will serve a given
period of time in the armed forces of this
country, if public opininon seems to "sup
port the war," then you will be asked to
make a choice: do you follow the ma
jority opinion and, like one of so many
lemmings, march dutifully into the sea?
Or do you opt for individual conscience
and accept the penalties which the "law
of the land" and public opinion dictate?
Several college newspaper editorials,
including those in the Amherst Student',
have chosen to look on the brighter side'
of the recent abolition of graduate stu
dent deferments. Perhaps, they say, this
will force the apathetic or indifferent
among us to make a decision and, I
v would hope, refuse to allow ourselves to
be used to continue a military and
,; political adventure in Southeast Asia
which is completely without justification
And wouldn't it be ironic if, with
thousands of students populating our
federal prisons for refusing to be drafted
this nation were forced to recruit our
f older citizens and make of its Vietnam
occupation force an army of old men and
beardless youth, like the Viet-Cong?
When Johnson and his henchmen
answer their critics which begin to
resemble something like a vox populi
by asking them to supply the answers to
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State
Really Brumk Em,
tion in administrative matters. At best
the state would be irresponsible. '
It is essential for any voice of authori
ty to enforce its rules. One may well
wonder what purpose there is in a regula
tion if it is not enforced.
The state could not believe that a law
would enforce itself. It if forgot its
obligation, the government would be
pursuing an unrealistic course. Moreover,
if the students realize that they can get
away with breaking the law, then they
lose respect for their government.
Such failure of the state to cope with
its realistic problems would lead beyond
its own corruption. It would begin to af-.
feet the students. As the law would go
unenforced, it would go unnoticed.
Students would lose their awareness of
what is legal and would depend more on
their personal judgment. The law would
become worse than useless and more
undesirable than mere dead weight.
If the state enforced some laws and
ignored others, people would hardly know
when the government means what it
says. It would seem that the state were
unable to make, up its mind. The real
danger here would be the threat of in-,
consistent treatment of a single law
sometimes but not always enforcing it.
U i pCrhqnS
It
Plod e
now . .
I
Off Affairs In
their own questions, their own vacuity
and despair is evident.' Why not give
them one decisive answer, at the polls in
November by refusing to give a mandate
to either he Democratic candidate or the
Republican candidate, both of whom are
incapable of compromise or new thinking
on this tired issue? Perhaps, as Russell
Baker suggests, in his prediction of what
January 20, 1969 will bring (Post, March
9, 1968), this will happen and, for the first
Wrongs And Could-Be Rights
Of UNC Student Government
To The Editor:
There is a social contract at UNC
between the student body and student
government. Student government is
presently breaking its half of the con
tract. What is the contract? Members of the
student government receive powers and
prestige in return for serving the student
body.
How are they breaking the, contract?
They are not serving the student body.
The politicos have isolated themelves
from the student body. They are not what"
the students think, feel, or want. They
are too busy playing at being big-time
politicians to care.
Politicos feel that the fact of their
election gives them the right to do as
they please. Election is used to create the
myth of the justice of their position.
After election they are not truly respon
sible or answerable to the student body.
The politico plays a role at the ex
pense of the student body. His ideal is to
create the image of a little Everette
Dirksen or Bobby Kennedy. Publicity
means more to him than service. Student
wants are sacrificed to the game of "let's
PreVhen a bill comes before student
legislature, politicos do not judge it on its
merits. They judge it by their image.
That image consists of being liberal or
being conservative.
Another "sand box" game is called
narty politics. If the UP proposes a bill,
then the SP must block it. Mickey Mouse
and Donald Duck battle it out while the
student is ignored.
With such inconsistency, the law
authorities could undertake a complete
shift in attitudes without warning. The
students would become frightened and
bewildered by government decisions,, and
such capricious .ethics would create not
only a credibility gap but a morality gap
as well.
Drinking is legal in private but not in
public. Since dormitories at UNC are on
government property, they are public. It
seems strange, but the reason that you
may drink at a local restaurant and not
in your dorm is that the restaurant is
private and your dorm is public pro
perty. If a place of residence is considered
private and a dorm is a place of
residence, then the dorm drinking pro
hibition is not justified. However, the
issue at hand here is not the. legal justice
ut law enforcement,
the laws were not enforced, the
primary abuse by the state would be
hypocrisy. The drastic effects of this ir-
responsible abuse would be corruption,
confusion and demoralization to both
students and the state. In short, the
government; would be grossly unfair.
As a relief to one and all, enforcement
of the dormitory drinking law is nothing
to worry about. It may not be the most
6ri ye
us
if
1
time in almost 150 years, neither can
didate of the two major parties will be
able to achieve a majority. Perhaps, in
another bit of irony, none other than
George Wallace will be, by process of
elimination, the "protest candidate" in
November. What a sad state of affairs
for America.
Peter C. Gerdine
Carrboro
v The result of these child's games is
not only ignorance of student wants, but
also many specatcular fiascos.
The blunder of the Carolina Greek
Sheet is a clssic example of buffoonery.
Student money was appropriated for a
frat newspaper without any in
vestigation. A staff had not even been
organized. After two issues of
regurgitated AP wire releases, the paper
folded.
Each year at election time, politicos
run frantically from room to room pro
mising dorm refrigerators and South
campus transportation. These promises
are forgotten rapidly after election.
Politicos have very short memories.
Once in office, politicos wish only a
quiet year. They fear a smudge beside
their name because they see their office
as a stepping stone to a big job or a grad
school scholarship. In their fear of mak
ing waves, student interests are sacrific
ed. They diddle away their time in petty
politics and thus break their half of the
contract. ,
WHAT MUST BE DONE?
Why is endless debate necssary in stu
dent legislature? Why not substitute
grass-roots democracy in its place?
Each dorm senator and representative
has approximately 30 constitutents. In
less than 2 hours they could ask the opi
nions of the members of their dorms. The
results would then be submitted to the
dorm legislature representatives, who
w ould vote according to the result, yea or
Borrm
O 6 O
reasonable or comfortable of laws, but it
is indeed enforced.
Don't kid yourself nobody just
nobody gets away with drinking in the
dorm. And it's a pretty good thing, too. If
the law were not enforced you can see
what a mess we would be in.
Total Isolation
To the Editor: v
President Johnson has waged a
winless and costly war in Southeast Asia
for over three-years and now he plans to
help offset the resulting balance of
pa3ments deficit by taxing almost all
Americans abroad.
There is an evident contradiction. The
foreign policy of the United States has
travelled the entire length of the con
tinuum from the isolationist policy of the
first decade of this century to the present
policy of intervention. The contradiction
lies in the new policy of cultural isolation
at a period when foreign military in
tervention has almost reached its
height.
Americans are rich, but they are not
rich enough to pay the 15 per cent (on
every dollar per day over $7) and
possibly 30 per cent (on every dollar per
day over $15) tax on all money spent
abroad plus a' 5 per cent steamship or
. airline tax on transportation to their
foreign destination. Such will be the case
if Congress passes the recent ad
ministration bill that hopes to encourage
Americans to stay home for their vaca
tions. Those abroad for more than 120
, days for reasons of trade, business, or
education will not be affected, the pro
blem is that the bill affects not just the
vacationers but anyone who remains
abroad less than 120 days.
Foreign research is vital to the
scholarly work of thousands of American
professors. This research is necessary for
many of them in order to maintain an ap
propriate level for continued academic
instruction. Most of these professors are
resident 'professors and in the past could
not simply take a year off to do research
abroad. Instead they have often found
time to get the job done in the, summer.
Who now? Does the administration
realize it may be responsible for a
decrease in academic standards across
the country?
What will happen to the thousands of
students who complement their . educa-
tions by a summer of study abroad? Also,
"no longer will students find they- can af
' ford'J to spend a summer in a European
" home" experiences that have been
shown to do wonders for the promotion of
understanding, toleration, and peace
between individuals and countries.
With its many obvious loopholes, this
tax could rival the present income tax.
An example would be the facility with
which one could conceal money or
traveller's checks during departure.
Because the tax will be paid on the dif
ference in the money held by the
traveller on departure and return this
may prove to be an effective method of
getting around the tax. The government
-will be rewarding the adventurous dis
honest. The administration has apparently
overlooked the role played by cultural
diffusion in the growth of the United
States. Future growth will be impeded if
such a bill restricting foreign travel and
association is passed. We only hope
Congress will see the light and kill this
. bill, remembering that in isolation are
sown the seeds of intolerance.
. Jay Fleishman
nay. Month-long debate in legislature
would be cut to 15 minutes.
It can be argued that legislative
debate gives voice to minority opinion
and dissent. In place of the present
system, the proponents and opponents of
each bill would draw up arguments for
and against the bill. These would be
published and posted in public places.
The students would -be able to make an
educated choice on each bill.
Official referendums would be held at
the request of one-fourth of the
legislature instead of the present two
thirds. Two hundred signatures on a peti
tion coming from the student body could
also necessitate an official referendum.
Why should a military tribunal be
permitted to convict students? Why is
there no jury system? A system of jury
duty could be established so that each
student would be required to serve on a
jury at least once in his four-year stay at
UNC. This would eliminate favoritism
and railroading of innocent students.
Why are antiquated Women's rules
permitted to exist? A referendum should
be held among all women to determine
female student opinion. If a majority
voted against the disliked rules, then a
Women's Attorney General and staff
would be appointed which would not en
force those particular rules.
The honor system would not be
destroyed. Rules against cheating, steal
ing, etc., would continue to be enforced.
By this action, students would simply
refuse to convict their peers for things
which they do not believe are crimes.
Bruce Strauch