North Carolina Newspapers

Tony Lentz 1 Opinions cf The DsHy Tar Heel are expressed on its editorial page. All unsigned editorial! are the opinions cf the editor. Letters and colisnnS represent only the opinions of the individual contributors. Harry Bryan, Editor WednesdayMay 12, 1971 omift its " Associate Dean of Student Affairs James O. Cansler announced Monday that junior transfers will not be required to live in University housing next year. However, Cansler was very quick topoint out that the policy which requires junior transfers to live in University housing is being waived for only next year and that it may be reinstituted in the fail of 1972. "The residence requirement has not been changed," Cansler said. "We are simply saying it will be held in abeyance next year. This seemed to be necessary to provide housing for those who we feel we must require housing for.' Presumably, since freshmen and sophomres are still required to live in University residence halls, Cansler is saying that they are the students the University must provide housing for. And obviously the University doesn't feel junior transfers need to live in dorms since they dropped the whole requirement for next year rather than making the permanent changes the Junior Transfer Forum requested. sab DecoesoMdatioo vote must not be -rushed .Gpdwin, speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, recommended Monday that proposals for the d e c o n s o lidation of the Consolidated University not be introduced in the current session of the General Assembly. Kjf SaUg (Far Sjrri c79 Years of Editorial Freedom Harry Bryan, Editor t Vf alrA Dnmall l4n4ftinn 17 A IMliVb ft ...... IHUIIUill JUU. f Lou Bonds ........ News Editor ) Rod Waldorf Associate Ed. Glenn Brank . . Associate Ed. Mark Whicker Sports Editor Ken Ripley . . . Feature Editor Bob Chapman . . .Natl. News Ed. March Cheek .Night Editor K:. : A Bob Wilson Business Mgr. I re Janet Bernstein ...... Adv. Mgr. Gerry Cohen 'Robert Thonen was a student at East Carolina University, and editor of the ECU newspaper "Fountainhead." I say "was" because Thonen was suspended indefinitely from school Monday for printing a letter to the editor which ended with the words "F you, Leo" (dashes,- ours). The letter was highly critical of ECU President Leo Jenkins. The letter writer was suspended and later placed on probation. Thonen began the year determined to improve the image of his paper. He opened up the editorial page to all points o view, sparking controversy and improving readership, as students became interested in the controversy springing up on campus. More importantly, Leo Jenkins became interested. As visitation became an issue at ECU, "The Fountainhead" caire CD 71 stadleras The University has proven that transfers were forced to live in dorms in the forst place so that those dorms would be filled. The Junior Transfer Forum spent many hours' considering which recommendations to make to the administration in regard to changes in the housing requirement, but Cansler said only that the University housing policy will be reviewed next year when the entire requirement is being waived. It would appear from this that the University really doesn't care about junior transfers but only cares about keeping its dormitories filled. It would also 'appear that the University makes its policies out of expediency rather than a concern for the welfare for individual students. If the junior transfer requirement can be dropped for one year, it can be dropped permanently. ; And the University will do so if it really cares more about students than making money off them. Godwin said there was not enough" time left in this session "to give it (the deconsolidation proposal) the consideration it deserves," and he is right. The Warren Commission, the 23-m ember panel appointed by Gov. Bob Scott to study the structure of higher education in North Carolina, has finished its report but has not yet presented it to the governor. ' And according to Godwin, it will probably be late May before Gov. Scott makes his recommendations to the General Assembly. By the time committee hearings could be completed and the actual discussion of the bill on the floor just underway, it would be almost time for the session to come to an end. The deconsolidation of higher education in North Carolina is a proposal that must not be taken lightly by the General Assembly. ; It is s question that cannot be answered in the short time, the legislators would have to familiarize themselves with the commission report and debate the proposal on the floor. Godwin's recommendation should be accepted and the proposal not introduced until the next session when there is enough time to do justice to the proposal and higher education in this state. covered it. When 28 students were arrested for visitation illegally (how does one visitate illegally?) "The Fountainhead" covered Jenkin's role in supressing students. The paper became openly critical of Jenkins as any rational person would after examining the facts. The ECU Board then passed a rule , banning all unauthorized mass demonstrations, and making it grounds for suspension or expulsion without a hearing to participate in such a demonstration , or to refuse to obey an "order of an officer of the University." According to the -"Raleigh News and Observer," the new rules were drafted by the University's lawyer. The rules are so obviously and blatantly unconstitutional as to not even merit rational discussion. Who is to authorize a demonstration? Since when . in America must a last in a series The least and the most we can hope for is that each of us may penetrate the unknown jungle of images in which we lire our daily lives. That we may discover anew where dreams end and where illusions begin. This is enough. Then we may know where we are, and each of us may decide for himself where he wants to go- Daniel Boorstin "f The mass communication complex of our modern world has 'made us all image-conscious. We are each " encased . " in some picture we wish to project, some form of dress or style of hair we wear like a membership badge. We all smile, sneer and walk with a purpose in mind, attempting to create an image of ourselves which will attract the attention of others. And eventually we find that the image we have worked so hard to project becomes the controlling factor in our lives, creating preconceptions in the minds of others and forcing us into stereotypes. And insulating us from each other, stifling our efforts to recognize each other as individuals. The young people of this generation are fighting this image-cocoon, reaching out toward a new approach to communication and a new meaning for love. - The word love no longer means one-to-one whirlwind on a carpet of flowers. It has grown . in meaning to include all types and means of communication, all the ways we have of collecting ' images of our world and sharing them. It has grown to mean touching, hugging and kissing on a new plane, an everyday plane where we can reach out and say, "I am here with you, it's warm and I like it." And love has come to mean honesty . . . even when it hurts. The kind of sympathetic honesty that lets us know where others see us, tells us where we've been and where we need to go from here. The brand of honesty that puts all" those ugly Freudian nasties up on the table vhere everyone can see them and work them out. The kind of honesty that attacks our psychological unmentionables directly to make us better people, less frustrated and more able to deal with daily life. Love has also grown to mean striking out of stereotypes, reaching out into stripes and polka-dots, bandanas and bells. Making an attempt to define ourselves as opposed to being defined. . . - And making an effort to understand someone else, wherever his head may be, iGNH" (o 1N&I.0 wOKrv 5o u k.j j A ptNf AfV?oPtr. OfW UU01 L! AAP VWfc TB sroM tofgR5 to demonstration be authorized? What is a demonstration? (As Thonen points out, Leo could bust a football game if ECU was losing) Perhaps Leo can now ban all political rallies for candidates for Governor besides himself. Last week, 'The Fountainhead," under its policy of open discussion of the editorial page, ran a 300 word letter to the editor from a student. The letter logically refuted all of Leo Jenkin's policies, and in a fit of desperation ended with the two word explicative. The next morning, the Dean of Students brought charges against Thonen and against the student who wrote the letter. Monday afternoon, the Judicial Board, composed of four students and four administrators, voted to suspend both Thonen and the other student. whatever his plumage looks like. Many times we fail. We are all faced with a complex, pulsating mass communications network pumping us full of unrealistic pap, cramming us to the brim with visual and auditory images that were selected, bred and processed to make us feel good to make us be happy and buy. Buy. Buy. We are all faced with our personal histories, by diaper training which led us all to believe that parts of us are dirty and nasty, that parts of what human beings are should be hidden, apologized for, em harassing. Bob Arrington Even mice have self-respect Student Legislature has been attacked as Mickey Mouse. Yawn. So what else is new? Nothing. But this latest blast -leveled at SL's Ways and Means committee by Presidential Assistant Cam West -is interesting, if not novel. The criticism of the six-member body, as reported in the Saturday DTH, evolved around its failure to report favorably to the legislature on Stephanie Bolick. Miss Bolick, as everyone who follows the SG mish-mosh knows, is Joe Stallings' newly appointed Assistant for Internal Affairs. When the Ways and Means committee report was made public at the Thursday session of SL, West no doubt equally outraged because of the committee's tabling of his own and Steve LaTour's appointments to the Summer School Board denounced the action as "Mickey Mouse." Ways and Means, he said, had allowed their philosophical differences with Joe Stallings to interfere in the prosecution of "trivial matters." West pointed out that the Bolick appointment was sent to Ways and Means as a courtesy, since the office of Assistant for Internal Affairs need not be confirmed by legislature to be official. (Miss Bolick was confirmed anyhow, as it turned out). The action of six people, West appeared to be arguing, had hindered "Joe and I" from proceeding with positive student programs. Oh, come OFF it, Cam! By no stretch of the imagination can the committee report be held THAT harmful. West's own criticisms, in fact, seem more indicative of a mouseketeer attitude than do the actions he criticizes. WTien the other student said he was sorry and wouldn't write such a letter again, his sentence was changed to indefinite probation. Thonen had pleaded not guilty, and subpeonaed Leo . Jenkins to testify, because he considered Jenkins' prior actions to be part of the issue. Jenkins refused to come, because he "eventually would have to review the case and didn't want to prejudice himself." Thonen and the thirty students attending the hearing walked out after the letter from Jenkins was read, and Thonen was cited for contempt. Seems to me they cited the wrong person. ' . t - v After the Judicial Board had finished off Thonens life as a student, they removed him as editor. The Student Publications Board then appointed a new editor, a girl on 'The Fountainhead" (rA i I 1 And we are all faced with our fears. The fear that people won't understand, the fear that we won't be liked. The fear that well fail. The fear that well he left alone if we don't follow the crowd. And the fear that people will realize how weak and human we really are. This is where we must draw the line of battle. We must force ourselves to accept the fact tha being a human being is just that. Not being a clothes rack, or a member of the student body or of the sophomore class. We must force ourselves to live openly, to feel keenly and to respond honestly. Let's look at the facts in the case: Point One-made by West himself.: The matter was substantially trivial. Miss Bolick did not need the approval of the Ways and Means members. Why raise a stink about it, then? Because, obviously, West didn't consider it so trivial. He didn't stop-or perhaps he did-to consider the committee's reason for reporting Miss Bolick unfavorably. Namely, the young lady's incredible refusal to respond cooperatively, or even civilly, to the committee's questions. "She acted," commented one member, "as though talking with us were beneath her dignity, as though she viewed us with contempt. We couldn't approve her and retain our self-respect." Odd behavior, if true, coming from someone sent before the committee as an "act of courtesy." Yet the report was borne out-by the testimony of every committee member-including that of chairwoman Kathy McGuire. 'The report was unanimous, remember," she pointed out. "We felt that since SL confirmation was unnecessary and since we wouldn't hold Rod Waldorf 1 . Richardson's one . of . tjiose . four-year college men who won't graduate, would like to come back but knows better and has a low lottery number. Richardson has been called for his pre-induction physical here in the waning days of his college career. The letter said he was to report to the army hospital at Ft. Bragg anytime day or night for , the final step in his evaluaiioh."-a Monday morning appointment. So he arrived at the base bus station sometime after eleven Sunday night. "How can I get to the hospital?" The station operator is a big man in civilian clothes who looks like he just retired. "What do you need to get to the hospital for?" he said, not asked, mind you, but said. "Pre-induction physical, you see, my letter says ..." "At midnight on Sunday? Take a 'cab." . Outside, only one cab. "Can you take me to the hospital?" Cabbie looks up, expresses disgust and grunts. Richarson gets into the cab. After a good five minutes the cabbie is reading-he's on the last leg of his journey. (Ed. Note. Richarson is about 22, has a beard and somewhat long hair, covering his ears and most of the collar of his tweed sport coat. Not to mention the gray pancake hat he always wears.) Cab drops him at the hospital. Inside "You come to join this man's army?" "Well, not exactly, I'm suppose to report here for ... " "Pre-induction physical huh? Well, see that light over there? Go across the street and go into the room where that light is and they'll give a bunk in the barracks." 'Who ended her editorial in Tuesday's paper with the same explicative. Thonen indicated the entire staff of the paper is willing to fight on the issue of freedom of the press. "The Fountainhead" is a student newspaper in the same status as The Daily Tar Heel. The paper is funded by student fees, although the editor is chosen by the Pub Board and not by a student body vote. Thonen, with the aid of the American ICivil Liberties Union, filed a suit in Federal District court last Friday asking a temporary injunction against the prosecution against him. That motion was denied, although Thonen has hopes of eventual court success. The issues in the case are simple. An arrogant and thoughtless administrator, jj, KjJ LLr JL JL mS m To reach out toward a new meaning for life, and a new concept ion of love. To draw love and life a little closer to each other. To touch. In closing for the year, I'd just like to say that it certainly has been hairy in this little comer of The Tar Heel. I hope you've enjoyed the ego trip, the nutty stories, the pompous philosophical pondering. And I hope you can forgive the mental -and typological slip-up. Keep up your sense of humor, rest your head for the summer and live the way it feels. And above all. peace. up any SG business, an unfavorable report was the only honest report we could render." The testimony, then, outlines the actual facts: that the Ways and Means members were insulted and took a relatively harmless course of voicing their displeasure. They did not even work to get Miss Bolick defeated Thursday night. West's implied contention that important business was held up due to the action just doesn't hold water. Point Two: Philosophical considerations played no part in the report. Again recall Miss McGuire's reminder the report was unanimous. Not everyone on the Ways and Means committee differs ideologically from West and Stallings. Some, but not all. Committeeman Tom Allen summed it up, "She just wasn't very friendly at all." In short, a Student Legislature committee has been criticized for an action that hindered SL in no way, that acted only to uphold their self respect and that could be offensive only to Miss Bolick and her personal friends. And that last observation, after all, may be the crux of West's gripe. Tl o 'VLWllUillvDlL inn The soldier turned to back into the hospital. "And if you can, stay out." Accross the way and in that lighted room, Richarson is "issued" a blanket, two sheets, a pillow and a pillow case and given intricate instructions how to get to ward 38 where he is to "take any of the bunks that don't have nobody sleeping in them or don't have no sheets on it." Okay. Down a hall that doesn't have an end, into a dark room with bunks lining the walls and the loudest radio coming from nowhere Richardson has ever heard. It's after midnight. The radio is playing some cold Chuck Berry tune. The morning light wakes Richardson. Must be at least eight-thirty, maybe nine. Appointment at eleven. Back to sleep. Wakes later. Ought to get up. Wash face brush teeth, get dressed and such. Pass a guy in white hospital clothes in that endless hall. "What time you got?" "Five to seven." Richardson still doesn't know he got himself into that one. He leaves, the radio still playing from wherever it was coming from. Back in the' hospital the same guy, again with wise counsel to stay out signs a meal ticket and sends Richardson down to the enlisted men's mess for breakfast. Not bad for an army meal. Richardson hopes it's his last. After three hours in the clinic and more EM advice to stay out, Richardson finds out the army thinks he's their kind of man and they're looking forward to seeing him in khakis real soon. Walking back to the bus station, a GI in a car gives him the peace sign and later an MP gives him subtle but emphatic clinched fist; from his jeep. Richardson gets on the bus wondering about national security. Oh well. Leo Jenkins, who has been quoted as saying he "doesn't care what his students think about him" is determined to silence all criticism.' To do this, it is necessary to eliminate "The Fountairihead," or turn it into a meek mouthpiece for the university administration. In this controversy, "The Fountainhead" is completely in the right. It is no crime to use an obscenity in the editorial page of a newspaper, and the first amendment riht of freedom of the press must be defended to the last inch because of people like 1 o Jenkins. To do any less would turn the university into a police state. Hitler would have been proud. I hope students at ECU wEl seek , indictment of Leo Jenkins for conspiring to violate the civil rights of the ECU student body.