Page Two
THE DAILY TAR HEEL.
Thursday. Fcbfu-'s, 2. Iv7"
2 fflatlg
77 Years of Editorial 1
Sandra
No Answers, More Questions
The special Student Legislature
committee to investigate the
financing of the DAILY TAR
HEEL has released a report which
appears to come to terms with
matters of the financial "operation
of the newspaper. The report does
not seem, however, to fully resolve
or even attempt to resolve the legal
and philosophical questions which
have been raised about the TAR
HEEL this year.
The basic question raised by the
Committee for a Free Press last fall
was whether the University could
legitimately require students to pay
fees for a newspaper which, among
other things, had a definite political
bias.
Such a pointed question, we felt,
had to be considered with a
double-vision. First, there was the
legal question whether such a
requirement was . constitutional.
And second, regardless of the
legality of the requirement, was it
right, or moral, or fair?
When the Student Legislature
established the special committee
to . investigate the TAR HEEL, a
second opportunity was created to
try to come to terms with" the
two-fold nature of the primary
question legality of the required
student fee. The first opportunity
lay 4n the committee created by
Chancellor Sitterson to investigate
the Whple question of student fees.
The SL committee did: not,:
however, really answer the Free
1 ress committe's question either
I -gaily or philosophically. The only
statement dealing with the legality
of the required fee was this: "We
reaffirm that the allocation of
funds from the student activities
fees is not only a legitimate means
for financing student publications,
most notably the DAILY TAR
HEEL, but is, also, the only
practical method at the present
time."
That statement did not address
itself to the specific question raised
by the Free Press group, namely,
was the requirement really
legitimate?
There is a line of legal statutes,
ranging from the state constitution,
through state legislation, to the N
provisions of the Board of Trustees
which determines what the legal
powers of the trustees are. We
imagine the trustees are given the
legal right to use administrative
discretion in deciding what fees will
be required of students. And we
imagine the Trustess have decided
that students will be required to
pay a fee for a service which the
trustees feel is necessary for the
students, namely a campus
newspaper. -
The report of the legislature's
committee, however, does not
define that string of legal statutes
which accounts for the presence of
the required fee for the TAR
HEEL. That was the basic question,
and it has been ignored.
In addition, the committee's
report seeks to establish a
renovated Publications Board. But
no real mention is made of what
the board's powers would be. There
is a major contradiction in the
report, which is left unresolved,
concerning the matter of editorial
freedom as opposed to censorship.
The report contains the
following statement which
embodies the contradiction:
"Fundamental to the course of
our investigation is the belief that
there exists on our campus a basic .
need for a student-oriented
newspaper existing completely free
from any administrative control.
Furthermore, it is the responsibility
0ar
0
reedom
Ttxfd CcHea
Editor
Tom Gooding
Laura White
Bobby NcmeU
Mary Burch
Art Chansky
Managing EdtOf
News Editor
Associate Editor
Arts Editor
Sports Editor
Bob Wilson
Frank Stewart
Business Manager
Advertising Manager
Saunders
Night Editor this issue
of that newspaper to provide a
voice for all facets of University life
and a forum for the expression of
all ranges of opinion."
The second part of that
statement negates the first part, for
it implies that the "open forum"
nature of the newspaper must be
maintained, and this implies that
someone is going to have to do the
maintenance work. The report
explains later on who will maintain
the "open forum":
"Since the body (the
Publications Board) is legally
responsible for the content of its
publications, it seems only natural
that their control should be rigidly
defined and enforced."
In other words, the report calls
for a free TAR HEEL, but also for
a censoring Publications Board.
And to make matters worse, the
powers of the Publications Board
are not spelled out in the report,
but merely alluded to.
The board would be made up of
students and faculty members.
Some of the students would be
elected by the student body , and
some appointed by various student
government officials and bodies.
Thus, the implication was, the
Publications Board would
"represent" the students.
Some of the powers of the board
would be to serve as ; "responsible
publisher" for the TAR HEEL, to
act as an initiator in recall
proceedings of the editor or a
staff member, and to receive or
fully investigate from any member
of the faculty or Student Body
regarding the TAR HEEL.
That second power is a curious
one. What it means is that the
Publications Board, in the specific
manner recommended by the
legislative committee, would have
the. power to begin the proceedings
to fire an editor, if it so desired.
And the manner prescribed by the
committee's report would in effect
judge the editor guilty until proven
innocent.
That is to say: After proceedings
for recall were begun by the board,
and after they had passed the
legislature, the only way the
campus (which elected the editor in
the first place) could have a voice in
the matter would be a campus-wide
referendum. But such a referendum
would have to be initiated by the
respective editor, which would put
the burden on him, rather than on
the Publications Board. -
The effect of the report on the
TAR HEEL, aside from some
concrete suggestions for improving
the operation and efficiency of the
financial side of the Publications
Board and its various publications,
is to invest the Publications Board
with an overly dangerous amount
of power. -
Despite the apprent intention of
the legislature committee to avoid
creating a form of censorship, that
is exactly what it has done.
Ironically, at least one member of
the Free Press group has expressed
his dissatisfaction with such a
result. The Free Press group, he
said, wants required fees abolished;
it does not want censorship.
Bill Blue, chairman of the
legislature committee, has said the
Chancellor's committee on student
fees, when it reports in a few
weeks, will basically support the
student legislature report. That
would be unfortunate. So would
approval of the report tonight by.
legislature.
Jim Eldrid
1
ici tonimeci 10 Dorm As Magic
Note: The following story is true.
Only the names 2nd a few facts
here and there have been changed
for dubious reasons.
Once upon a time there was a boy
named Jack who lived in a small, dark
cubicle called a dormitory room. Jack
was slowly drying up and decided to
move out of the room and off of the large
campus into an old, but still nice and
roomy house. But his mother was poor,
so Jack had to go sell their cow to get the
money for the big move.
As Jack was walking through the
campus with his cow, a nice-looking duck
named Waddleworth came up to him and
said he would buy the cow, but only had
some magic beans to offer. Jack agreed,
and signed a piece of paper w hich stated
that should the magic beans not work,
Jack would gladly live in the dorm room
for another semester.
When Jack returned home, his mother
scolded him for having accepted some
"worthless beans" instead of cold, hard '
cash. She threw the beans out into the
yard and sent Jack to bed without any
supper.
John Agar
What ' Happens To Food Service? Posi-SAGA?
The departure of SAGA Foods from
campus won't be much cause for grieving.
SAGA bought its way into the food
service in the hope of profits and yvhat
with depressing the quality of food and
trying gallantly to liquidate its work
force, it had all the makings of a
successful business venture.
It would have been a textbook
example of sharp management: overhead
reduced by perhaps a third, prices raised
slightly, and lovely profit to send home.
Tough about the people.
What made things even better, the
labor, force was mostly black,
unorganized, and Southern, wfth no
tradition of speaking up in its own
self-defense. The University from a
University administration which affected
to believe neutrality the commitment of
morally superior institutions, no
hindrance was to be expected.
This left only the student body, which
also was mostly Southern, unorganized,
and as at least one sociologist has
pointed out metaphorically black. The
small v core of radical students had a
history of giving their support to people
who couldn't stand the sight of them, and
then going to pieces. You had only to
listen to them talk to know that however
much they Were going to change the
world, they were NOT going to get much
done around here.
Sure, the blacks kicked and screamed a
little, and even struck, when it became
evident that they were to be eliminated.
But, for all the talking the strike elicited,
and all the celebration the settlement
prompted, the strike ended in the total
humiliation of the workers. No strike, at
least that I have ever heard of, has ended
in such obvious and total defeat for the
union.
The strike, precipitated by the
dismissal of ten workers on trumped-up
charges, ended yvith the union agreeing to
the dismissal of sixty workers for
economy reasons. The stage had been set
for further reductions come next
contract, and the union's striking power
against that time had been drastically cut.
The only thing SAGA couldn't
control, or cope with entirely, was the
effect of its dubious public relations. The
picketing, the aura of moral ambiguity of
SAGA's management, the constant
charges and - countercharges rather
wearied people than convinced. them of
anything. Just the name, SAGA made a
rm
But !o! The next morning when young
Jack awoke and peeped out the window,
the beans had sprouted into giant red
vines and undergrowth which had
engulfed the entire campus.
Fighting his way through the jungle.
Jack arrived at a caMie where the Housing
Office used to be. As he entered the
enormous building, he heard a big
booming quack declaiming, "Fee Fi Fo
Fum, I need money. Gonna get me
some."
To his great surprise. Jack saw his
friend Waddleworth transformed into a
giant duck. Jack's old cow was over in the
corner being milked dry by a number of
very busy little men. And on top of a
weathervane (which was pointing
southward) sat a large eagle laying rotten
eggs-
"What am I gonna do?!" lamented
Waddleworth. "All this large castle and
no one to live in it. I wonder what the
problem is, I've offered rooms to so many
people and they don't want to live here.
Maybe they don't like me."
. "No, that's not it," chirped young
Jack. "I think you're a very nice man.
person want to eat elsewhere. That was
all it took.
Now there are various proposals for
replacing SAGA. The most intriguing is
the establishment of a cooperative run by
the workers. Probably the University
would initially be required to finance it,
perhaps with a long-term, low interest
loan, since the workers have little or no
resources themselves.
Ideally, this is the most equable
solution. In practice, it probably won't
work. Doubtlessly, the workers can get
'financial backing somewhere, and they
can get skilled management advice, and
whatever else they need to stock and run
the campus eating places. But where will
they get customers?
Both University Food Service officials
and SAGA "officials, in their time,
complained that they weren't getting
; enough patronage. Given a chance, the
workers, too, may someday make that
complaint. The need is for a solution
Letters To The Editor
eacier
To the Editor:
J In the issue of February 4, 1970 you
report that four persons were convicted
,0f various charges stemming from the
'food workers strike last falL In reference
to three of them you state that they
"allegedly" committed certain acts. Since
the persons concerned have been
convicted, the use of the term "allegedly"
is incorrect. Although I am not a law
student, I believe the word is used only
prior to a verdict, based on the
presumption of innocence.
i; Your use of this expression in your
article of February 4 casts doubt on the
correctness of the decision and thus also
casts aspersions on the court. This is just
one more example of biased reporting
and castigation of our established
institutions, in this case our courts. Your
article is also one more reason why
financial support of your newspaper
Critical Of
Except that your beans didn't work.
They just made a terrible mess, and made
it verv difficult for me to fmd rr.v wav
here'
"Well, I'm so sorry," said
Waddleworth. "But now that you're here,
don't you want to stav?"
"No. sir." replied Jack. "I found a
much nicer place to stay where I can
cook my own food and live my own life."
"But, young Jack." pleaded
Waddleworth, "I provide all those things
in my castle. Look, you can have that
room there. The one you've been living
in. See, it has four nice walls and a bed.'
"But my food-"
"Don't worn- about that. I have a very
reliable chef who will prepare all your
meals and see that you get them piping
hot for only a small price each day."
Just then, a large rat in a dirty chefs
hat ran in, kicked Waddleworth in the leg
and stepped on his right web.
"What's that for, Sacha?!" whelped
the large duck.
"I'm fed up," replied the chef. "I can t
make any money here. All those black
swans down at the lake. Thev're more
which, first of all, guarantees that there
will be customers.
One tactic would be to put those
dormitories not presently on a food plan
. on one. This yould be analogous to the
University's decision to require students
to live on campus an additional year. It
would probably be the worst solution,
but it's a thought.
A second alternative . is the
re-establishment of the University Food
Service, Currently, there are legal
limitations on the salary the University
can pay its employees. But a bill could be
brought . before the state legislature to
enable the University to pay a
competitive salary to someone capable of
running the food service justly, with a
modicum of "quality, and at the
break-even point.
My own choice would be a plan for
running the campus cafeterias as modified
cooperatives, with profits going partly
into decent salaries and fringe benefits for
workers, and partly into promotional
DT
71 tt nn
in
should be entirely voluntary and not
dependent on compulsory levies from
Don't Forget
Nurses Dorm'
To the Editor:
Erica Meyer was absolutely right when
she stated at the conclusion of her
Campus Quiz that "Unfortunately, some
people after having looked at it (the
campus) for a couple of years no longer
really see, notice or remember." One of
the features which Miss Meyer has failed
to notice is Nurses' Dorm, one of the
largest women's residence halls on
campus with spaces for 290 girls. For the
past four years, Nurses' Dorm has
received the Carolina Women's Council
award for being the most active women's
dorm. While it is true that we will be
forced to abandon our dorm next year,
we at Nurses'feel that we should not be
neglected during the last year of our
existence. Residents of Hall 2-B
Nurses' Dorm
ID
interested in floating arour.d ihJn
working. And those lou ter.ar.: v,-;
have, complaining about my food ar..i
prices. I Quil!"
And out he stomped, drag;;r.i his tj ;
behind him.
Turning to Jack, Wadd!euor:h sa
"You see. son, some of the prober x
have here. But it is a nice place to
honest. But I'm afraid I'll hae to a
for vour $169.50 now."
"What for?" asked Jack. a!armt:.
"Your room rent," replied the d.;,k.
"But I told you I won't be iniro
campus next semester. Ie (ow-.i j
house."
"I'm sorry." drooled Wadd!cuor:h,
"but remember this piece of paper ou
signed?" And he pulled out the eor.:r.vi
Jack had signed when he had reenwd th
magic beans for his cow.
"But the magic beans DID work." sa i
Jack. "Or did they?"
"Oh yes. they did," chortled the dVv
"But not the way you expected."
"Wait a minute. You can't charge rr.t
for sen ices never rendered."
"Oh, my boy, you speak in uth
complicated legal terms. Just pay t;p.
You'll still receive all the benefits of o;:r
room in the castle."
"But I don't WANT to live in the
castle," cried Jack.
Very dejected, Jack left the castle and
crawled through the undergrowth ur.t;!
his clothes were all red and his face
bleeding from thorn scratches.
A very busy little man scurried up to
Jack and told him that not only would hi
have to pay his $169.50 before receiur.g
his second semester class schedule, but
also Jack's cousin Arnold (who was
coming to the campus next year) would
have to live in the castle for two years
before he could even be offered any
magic beans.
"But," said the little man, "you can
now keep that sophomore girl you've
been dating out ALL NIGHT!"
"O-wow," moaned Jack, as the little
man scampered away, spreading more joy
around the undergrow th.
Three days later, the bodies of Jack
and a pretty sophomore named Gladys
were found frozen in the aboretum.
And they lived happily in the ever
after.
MORAL: Don't be like Jack; pay your
debts before you -go.
expenses. Control of the eating places
yvould be given to students either
through the kind of arrangement which
runs the Student Union, or, perhaps
better, through the government of various
dormitories.
Let each large dormitory, for instance,
take over the management, assisted by
the University, of a cafeteria. Let the
students redecorate; bring in beer; bring
in quick foods. We show campus flicks
for free a good show, but why not show
them in Lenoir, still for free, but with a
food charge of $1.50 a person? Why not
bring comboes in at night? Chape! Hill,
what with Hector's and Roy Rogers',
STILL could use some evening
entertainment.
Why not let each dining hall assume us
own character? Let them serve different
kinds of food. Let one serve Mexican, one
Swedish, one seafood . . .
What I mean to say is, we all have to
live, you know. Why not enjoy it?
leFminolo
students.
Kent Gardner
317 Brandvwine Road
Chapel Hill
-!:
The Daily Tar Heel is published
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Student Publication's Board, daily
except Monday, examination
periods and vacations and during
summer periods.
Offices are at the Student Union
BId, Univ. of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514. Telephone
numbers: editorial, sports,
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