aily lar 'Hee.
Kevin Roddy
21 IL
82nd Year Of Editorial Freedom
ecorn
0 J Jk
All unsigned editorials ere the opinion of the editors. Letters and columns represent the opinions of
(US
D
Crit
b
e
vv us.
Founded February 23, 1?3
Monday, November 11, 1974
tadlsnntts
& COIi11IL!lMF
O
O
Or
nun
It fin
classroom
This week's editorials are devoted to reform of the
Carolina classroom experience. In conjunction with
the Individual Rights Colloquium, our approach will
be to examine students rights as consumers in the
classroom. This, We feel, is a key aspect of a formidable
and urgent campus problem. Already there have been
serious breakdowns in the present system.
To cite a few examples, the School of Education
admitted this summer that it graduated a number of
semi-literate teachers every year. The Journalism
School gives spelling tests each semester and last time
half the students failed. Most Carolina students have
only minimal writing ability, but the best English
professors teach Shakespeare, not the basics. Men in
such vitally important departments as economics are
willing to share their knoweldge in the classroom, but
when it comes to educating the student body through
newspaper columns and other media, they shrink from
their duty. Last semester, there were 4,418 denied
requests for overcrowded courses here at UNC. This
semester, over 9,000 drop-add transactions had to be
processed in the single hectic week now allotted.
This list could be continued, but we should note that
, jt doesn't eveninclude deeper problems such as the way
most students"now treat college as a four-year, liberal
arts employment agency. When studies are important
only as a guarantee to a higher salary, little wonder that
many teachers are profoundly disillusioned. But
students and faculty are always quickest to notice each
other's failings. This pessimism and animosity must
stop in order to meet the present educational crisis.
Together we must rise to the challenge.
Our approach is student-Oriented (naturally) and
very simple, but it is a concrete beginning. Does the
average student get his money's worth from the
institution? Are his consumer rights protected? Is the
present student-faculty relationship satisfactory? As
one may expect, the answer to all these questions is a
quick, resounding "No."
In an effort to remedy some of these problems, we
propose
antmderground, non-statistical Teacher Evaluation
program,
an end to the inflation of academic credit,
mandatory department course previews for each
semester,
extension of the drop-add deadline another week,
a two-level system of course classification,
a revitalized Honors Program, and
an end to student meekness here at Carolina.
Articles on each of these topics will appear this week
and hopefully will provoke discussion, if not solution,
of our classroom dilemma.
The overall effect of this reform package is to move
toward a free market system of education by 1)
improving communication in the university, 2) adding
guaranteed flexibility and variety to the present
system, and 3) stabilizing the value of the basic course
credit.
We realize the inherent lirmtations of our policy in
this university. After all, colleges as a whole do not
operate on a free market basis because few students
can, or will, transfer out. Secondly, state colleges
(because of low in-state tuition and government,
subsidy) are not very accountable either to students or
taxpayers. Lastly, this unresponsiveness is only
reinforced by the size and complexity of large
institutions, which mummify all existing practices in
red tape. But a free market system can work well within
the university, as an automatic mechanism to balance
the supply and demand of courses here, and to insure
the quality of the product. Students are participants in
the educational process, not just stockholders, and as
such have certain inalienable ' rights with the
administration.
Students have the right to develop their abilities as
well and as quickly as possible, unhindered by the
university. They also have the right for their grades to
mean something, so that graduate schools can judge
them on past performance, not just aptitude scores.
Taxpayers have the right to see that their children are
trained to be responsible, if not learned, citizens. And
finally, students and taxpayers have the highest right,
the opportunity to make the existing structure better fit
their needs. This is the task before us now.
We encourage response to our proposals, whether
pro or con. Faculty comments are especially welcome,
ifany faculty dare contribute to a student publication.
The academic situation at Carolina is now critical, and
the DJH is a serious forum for discussion of this
problem. We urge complete university participation in
its resolution.
As Mark Twain once said, you don't
know me without having read my
"Asleep In the Back of The Bus" and
various other pieces that I have had the
good fortune, thanks to the Tar HeeV s
unusually lenient literary standards, to
have printed on this page.
The discontent that 1 express is not
limited to the subject of education or its
by-product', student apathy, but rather
embraces and is embodied in the cynical
attitude with which 1 regard Carolina as
a microcosm of our faulty society.
If the purpose of my writings is to
awaken my fellow students from their
slumbers of apathetic ignorance, then I
don't think that I'm succeeding as an
alarm clock. For most Tar Heels, it is
traumatic enough to awaken in merely
the physical sense long enough to trudge
to one boring class after another,
content in their existence as students,
convinced that they must be learning
isn't that what school is all about?
If it is sheer folly for me to expect to
awaken their sleeping consciousness to
their mundane existence, then I am a
fool. I admit it, and if my periodical
attempts at forcing you all to confront a
situation that is dulling your lives and
corrupting your meager values, then I'm
sorry go back to sleep.
My proposals are many, but the
principal philosophy that they embody
is rather simple. I fail to understand why
so many students are happy and
contented in this existence of pseudo
education; of learning, not for learning's
sake or for your own benefit, but for the
grade and for the instructor. I am totally
disheartened to realize that our
apathetic age, successor to the years of
awareness, however brief they were, has
permeated the existence of everyone.
We may remove Richard Nixon from
office for his wrongdoings, then
completely fail to see that he is merely
the prodigal product of our political
system. We can laugh at people like our
own Mike O'Neal for his absurd
housing fiasco until we finally realize the
time (our time) he wasted by being more
concerned with his personal ego trip of
holding the office, and not caring
enough to get around to representing
the minions that elected him in the first
place.
The politicians that urge us to
participate in the political process to
merely be able to vote, it turns out fail
to consider the farce of the elections
themselves. We are labeled as apathetic
citizens when we don't vote, but what do
you do when it comes down to Morgan
vs. Stevens? Move?
My cohorts urge me to channel this
discontent into positive action within
the system, not as a cynical outside
observer, but as an interested
participant. But cynicism is
participation. It is only through
repeated attempts will we begin to raise
the level of awareness of our fellow
students. But 1 do not feel that we can
accomplish the necessary change of
reality through the system.
Just as the educational combine has
processed all those bright, young
people of yesterday into becoming its
"lackey automatons," so will the system
operate upon all of us unless we
become aware.
Spend some time taking a good,
honest look at yourself and your
existence. If you are satisfied with the
world in which you live, and what is
going on, then stop and look again. But
if you are dissatisfied, please do two
things.
First, direct your criticism to those
who have inspired it. If you are unhappy
with an assignment, for example, let the
teacher know. Don't just write that
paper for your teacher, the way he wants
it written, do it the way you want to
write it. Wouldn't doing it for yourself,
your way, make the whole process more
valuable? Unfortunately, our process of
education is still controlled by the
educators. But if we, in the process of
achieving some awareness of the
deficiencies of the present educational
system can inspire some of the educators
to do the same, then we all shall be better
off. .
Secondly, please join together to try
and raise the awareness of your fellows.
Change cannot be effected by a mere
few. If conditions must be changed, then
it can only be accomplished by a
movement, an aware feeling expressed
by all of us. I feel that change is
necessary, and, if you all don't feel the
same way, I will continue in my efforts
to show you.
Kevin Roddy is a sophomore from
Troy, Michigan.
Letters to the editors
No
equality in discrimination
To the editors:
After reading Algenon Marbley's column
entitled "Reverse Bias Is A Myth," I decided
not to chastise the man, due to his being
president of the Black Student Movement.
Not leaving well enough alone, on the same
day, the Daily Tar Heel ran another column
on the subject, Tom Rice's "Equality and
Institutional Racism."
I have not seen Mr. Rice in print before;
his article seemed to parallel Mr. Marbley's,
except that he put forward a ludicrous
assertion, namely, "Furthermore, it is illegal
for such institutions to ignore an applicant's
race, if his race, due to no fault of his own,
may have harmed his chances of meeting
Gerry Cohen
Small group making a fast buck
specific mechanical requirements.".
Well, as Mr. Rice probably knows but
doesn't realize he knows, Marco Defunis was
discriminated against because he was white.
If he had been a Negro, the University of
Washington Law School would have rolled
out the black carpet.
If blacks want equality, why have quotas
at all? If blacks feel discriminated against
because of their color only, why don't they
appeal to the numerous local and federal
agencies that are specifically designed to
handle this type of discrimination instead of
broadly claiming that blacks should be hired
or admitted simply because they happen to
have dark skin?
Assuredly, we will never eliminate racist
beliefs, but by the same token, we will never
foster equality by discriminatory measures,
regardless of what has taken place in the
past. And any way you slice it, reverse
discrimination is discriminating.
Clarence Kelley
52 Hamilton Road
Each day's news carries bigger and
bigger stories about the worsening
shape of the nation's economy. One of
the worst parts of the situation is the
widespread public feeling that a small
group of people is making a fast buck.
The oil, antifreeze, sugar and coal
situations are perhaps the worst. Most
Americans suspect that the oil
companies deliberately encouraged the
crisis to raise the price of oil products. In
the last year, for instance, oil companies
profits have gone up from 30 to 120 per
cent, depending on the company.
Business page speculation also indicates
the oil companies buried even larger
surpluses in their account books to
make themselves look less greedy.
The antifreeze crisis was pure
corporate ripoff. One company, holding
eight percent of the market, went out of
the market. Additionally, one of the
major ingredients in antifreeze is
supposedly an oil derivative, which
might indicate a 50 per cent jump in the
price of that one component for the
manufacturer.
But a large part of the price of small
quantity items is usually transportation,
retail markup and advertising, and the
cost of the ingredient is small.
With only an eight per cent drop in
production capacity (and we don't know
if all that capacity was even used last
year), why should prices rise from $2.50
a gallon to almost $8?
In the sugar caper, sugar prices at the
wholesale level have risen in the last 1 1
months from SI 3 per hundred pounds to
$50.
Industry spokesman indicate a nine
per cent increase in world sugar
demand, coupled with a two per cent
drop in production. Why should this
cause a 380 per cent increase in prices?
Sources also indicate Amstar, the
biggest sugar producer, will report a
1,128 per cent increase in profits this
year.
The American people seem willing to
make sacrifices to fight inflation. But
small groups of people should not be
able to profiteer. The commodity
exchanges, which were designed to
stabilize world markets and assist
farmers, have become a tool of the rip
offers. Big financiers and Arab interests have
apparently used their financial reserves
to bid up the price of sugar in a possibly
contrived panic.
The working man is asked to take the
brunt of the attack. In the last year, coal
prices have gone from $9 a ton to $31,
because coal is a substitute for oil. Many
of the big coal mines are owned by big
oil and power companies enabling them
to manipulate prices in a non
competitive situation.
Coal workers have asked for better
health and safety conditions, portal to
portal pay, and hefty wage increases.
Coal executives refuse, saying they will
have to increase prices, and consumers
would not like the result.
But the demands of the coal workers
are not inflationary. It is not a special
case. The big coal moguls have
exploited the energy shortage to triple
coal prices. They could probably triple
miners wages, and have higher profits
than in 1973. But they are unwilling to
:pay the miners by cutting profits, and
keeping prices stable.
American society creates many of its
own problems by incredible amounts of
waste. Spending in unproductive areas,
like defense, should be curtailed. While
much of the decisions will have to be
made by the federal government, such as
an energy conservation program, we can
do our own part.
To begin with, we should stop buying
quarter pounders at McDonalds, with
all the cardboard packaging and
garbage that wraps it up. This kind of
excess is one of the most visible elements
of waste in our plastic food society.
Secondly, stop buying and using sugar.
It isn't dietarily necessary, and we can
stick the speculators with big surpluses.
Another solution is a hard one for
many Americans to accept. It includes
the realization that our capitalist
economic system, with its incentives to
ripoff, waste, and destruction, is one of
the major components in our economic
mess.
The energy industries, such as coal,
natural gas, petroleum, and all the
utilities, should be nationalized. Energy
determinations should be made not by
profit motive, but by national needs,
and this can only be made by the
government.
It is, in the interest of the private
energy companies to produce, produce,
and produce, and manipulate supply for
private gain.
But some simple calculations will
show that a coal supply of 1000 years at
no growth in demand can last only 160
years if we grow at 4 percent per year.
We can't let this happen.
Gerry Cohen is a UNC law student
and a member oj the Chapel Hill Board
oj Aldermen.
h O r4 urn tL i
... " i
fcMMWWWl I,,,..!.- khihiui n.niiii JIIT fl A -" M J U U V k ... i j
413-78-6282
'tied' to crime
To the editors:
Kevin Roddy's "Asleep at the Back of the
Bus" is indicative of the outright disgust one
can safely express for systems on the whole. I
agree with him in theory, but unfortunately,
find it difficult to practice what he preaches:
especially since the paper he used to
generalize on the ills of education was mine.
Tuesday morning "the system's lackey
automaton" (my teacher) and his diffident
students bound me with red tape to a
standard (Style No. 475) plastic chair, and
stuffed down my throat not only my
biographical B.S. on Kesey, but also
hundreds of pages filled with the factual
garbage of every other dempsey-dumpster
department on campus. To further punish
me for being an accessory to the crime of
Kevin Roddy, I was forced to watch a movie
over 100 times, showing a boldface A
plummeting into oblivion, my eyes stapled to
my brows. Unsatisfied, they devised an
"assignment" for me, "now tell the truth
about education." Brainwashed as I was, I
could not help but submit this letter.
413-78-6282
Q-5 Estes Park Apartments
Piatt's opinions
best kept to self
To the editors:
We would like to comment Rorin Piatt on
the depths of ass-ininity he projected in his
article "Discrimination Immoral" in the
Nov. 5 DTH.
We are delighted to know that Mr. Piatt
has been given the authority to decide who is
qualified and who is not as far as entrance
into this university is concerned.
Considering that he gave no facts to
substantiate his arguments, Mr. Piatt's
conclusions are apparently only his personal
opinions, which would have been better off
kept to himself.
If Mr. Piatt just happens to have enough
"intelligence" to use standardized tests as a?
measure of qualification, then he fails to
realize that blacks or any other minority
group cannot be judged accurately on the
basis of a white middle-class standardized
test. Of course, we don't know what Mr.
Piatt used to measure the qualifications of
every black, woman or other minority on
this campus, because he skillfully avoids any
factual data. Moreover, if Mr. Piatt's
allegations were correct, the academic
challenge of this university would
automatically, . eliminate all of these
"unqualified minorities."
As far as Mr. Piatt's reference to the
supposedly discriminatory nature of the
BSM is concerned, if the activities on this
campus were diversified enough to include
special interest, there would be no need for
groups such as the BSM. The BSM also
serves to support the rights of black students,
who, because they are a minority group, are
often neglected by this "liberal"
establishment.
Furthermore, we wonder if Mr. Piatt has
even had a black instructor or for that matter
a black woman instructor. Can you imagine
Rorin Piatt in Afro-American Studies?
Mr. Piatt audaciously states that "a
university which appoints a faculty whose
numbers correspond (percentage-wise) to
the racial or sexual composition of its
students will lower the quality of its
education." This is obviously an implication
that the mere presence of minority
instructors lowers, the educational quality
of the university. This thought is totally
ludicrous, however, if the educational
quality of this university has been lowered in
any way, Mr. Piatt is evidence of what
substandard education can do to a person.
Allen Johnson
752Hinton James
Chiquetta E. Shackleford
207 Cobb
Ballet marred
by faulty sound
To the editors:
Kudos to the good people who brought
the excellent "Six Stars of Ballet" to Chapel
Hill on last Saturday evening. It was an
enjoyable experience to see these fine
dancers. One complaint: Why can't this great
University borrow, buy or rent a
decent sound system for Memorial Hall. The
recorded music's reproduction for the ballet
evening was scandalously bad and must have
been difficult to dance to. Surely this is not a
difficult fault to correct.
R.C. McLaughlin
The Daily Tar Heel
Jim Coopor, Greg Turosak
Editors
Kevin McCarthy, Managing Editor
Osrbsra Holtzmsn, Associate Editor
Gary Fulton, Assoclstt Editor
Joel Drink! ay, News Editor
Hsrrtst Sugar, Features Editor
Elliott Vernock, Sports Editor
fJartha Stsvens, Hssd Photographer
Jim Grlmsley, Night Editor